Huong Luu didn’t expect to become a small business owner, and she had to hit the ground running to keep her business running.
As one of this year’s Grit & Wisdom award winners, she explains how staying grounded in her community helped her build something she can be proud of.
To learn more from Huong and the rest of this year's Grit & Wisdom winners, visit ADP.com/GritAndWisdom
Huong Luu, Owner, Luu Color Center
What I really, truly love about running a small business is the ability to build something based off of my vision, and watching it grow and evolve as I have grown and evolve. But I do believe that every business, regardless of the size or of the industry, it's really ultimately built by us people, for other people.
And I think that perspective really keeps me grounded on what truly matters. We are, you know, in this we're a little bit in the service industry. Like I have clients who come into our store. They're really stressed out. They want to make sure, you know, they're picking out the right color for their home, where they're raising their kids, starring their family or in whatever stage of their life. And nowadays, everything is just so expensive, from material supplies to labors that it could be very, like daunting So it's just being able to like, you know, put people first versus, you know, people coming in and saying, okay, tell me what you want. Here's your product. Good luck. God bless.
Ithink it really comes down to understanding and having proper expectations and the commitment that goes with it. For me, I always thought like owning a business means I could wake up whenever I want to wake up. I can work whenever I want to work. You know, really having that glamorized part of entrepreneurship Unfortunately, that's just not the reality, especially when you are taking over a new business you're trying to build, you're trying to grow, you're trying to expand.
And for me, I'm just really thankful that, you know, every time I did have to cancel or every time I had to miss like a friends or families or a loved ones big milestone, they really gave me grace and understanding and patience while I was working through that, and they really supported me. So I think also having the right people behind you is really going to help make or break it, because it does get really frustrating, and especially when you're comparing yourself to other successful entrepreneurs on TikTok, on social media, they seem to have everything you know together.
But again, just reminding ourselves that we're not seeing what goes on behind the scenes. And of course, it is also very scary because right now I'm not only responsible for my livelihood that helps support my family, I'm also responsible for other people's livelihoods as well, and making sure that, you know, I give them a work culture and environment that I can be proud of at the end of the day.
