Amanda Sautel, owner of Aphrodite Esthetics, gives a client a facial. After opening the shop, Sautel reached out to SCORE Indianapolis for free business mentoring, which has made a large difference in her operations.
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Starting a new business was equal parts exhilarating and terrifying.
When Amanda Sautel decided to start her own skincare company, Aphrodite Esthetics, it was a chance to realize her own vision after working as an esthetician for years. Yet even as the Greenwood-based business got off the ground, she admitted she felt stuck.
To help her more fully realize the potential of Aphrodite Esthetics, Sautel reached out to SCORE Indianapolis, the local branch of an organization offering mentoring and business eduction. She was paired with two mentors, and since mid-2023, they have guided her through her struggles and successes, helped her with marketing and assisted her in hiring a bookkeeper.
Their impact has helped her business turn a corner, Sautel said.
“It’s been super helpful for my business,” she said. “
Sautel founded Aphrodite Esthetics in 2022, offering brow services, facials and full-body waxing. She has been a licensed esthetician since 2019, first finding an interest in skincare because she wanted to help customers with their makeup application and proper skincare would help the makeup lay better.
Soon, her mission changed.
“I’m all about helping people get their skincare right, to generally feel more confident in their skin,” she said.
Sautel relished the opportunity to pursue her vision for the business. But owning a business forced her to take on a variety of responsibilities beyond her esthetician duties. She sought advice on how to make the operation as a whole more efficient.
Her search led her to SCORE Indianapolis.
“I’d never really heard of it before, so I went to look at it. I saw it was a free mentorship, so I didn’t have anything to lose,” she said.
SCORE is a nonprofit organization and a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration. A team of more than 10,000 volunteers across the country provides free mentoring, workshops and educational services.
In the Indianapolis area, more than 70 volunteers are part of the group. The local organization provides more than 3,000 mentoring services to small business owners each year through one-on-one counseling and workshops.
Sautel was paired with two local volunteers, Dennis Dunlap and Scott Potterack.
“She was a delightful person to work with, so gracious and very dedicated to providing a great experience to her clientele,” Dunlap said. “The driving force behind her is she has a real passion for the business.”
All three gathered together to talk about the concerns Sautel had, and how to address those issues. They worked on the Aphrodite Esthetics website and helped her tweak her pricing. The mentorship also prepared her to hire a bookkeeper.
They’d meet once a month, and the mentors would give her “homework” to be prepared for the next session.
“I like to cross things off my list, so if I have homework, I’m going to make sure it’s done, especially being that I’m a solo business owner. The success of my business rides on the work I do; if I don’t do the work, nobody else is,” Sautel said.
Sautel plans to continue working with SCORE, after having such a positive experience with it. She hopes her experience with it can serve as an inspiration to check out the organization.
“It’s a really great resource. I’m so glad I went and looked at it,” she said. “They’re freely giving away their expertise, and I think that’s awesome. They’re trying to help other people succeed in what they do.”
AT A GLANCE
SCORE Indianapolis
What: A nonprofit organization and a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration providing free mentorship, workshops and educational services to small business owners.
Who can apply: SCORE mentoring is a free service offered to any aspiring or established owners of a business in the United States.
More information: score.org/indianapolis
