Re-setting, re-framing and re-thinking salons is vital if we are to survive. Businesses need to adopt the mantra ‘adapt or die’ and the tried and tested saying of ‘find products/services for your customer, not customers for your product/services’ has never been more relevant.
With customer behaviour changing and client numbers reducing, coupled with people leaving it longer and longer between appointments, making sure salon owners and managers don’t carry the burden of responsibility for staff performance is vital.
Where there are problems, there are solutions, but we know every action has a consequence. I spent Lockdown 1 restructuring my business to help weather the storm – changing the way I looked at the business and making sure the team fully understood what they needed to do to ensure we safeguarded the future for all of us.
With such uncertainty and a different way of living and working, salons have suffered, as all close contact services have. But we can future-proof our business models and adapt to these changes, and I hope to help salon owners do just that. Whatever size salon you have, the challenges are the same. Re-booting how we do things is not just advised, but essential.
SALON REBOOT: The Series
There are many educational platforms out there, but rarely much from salon owners who are also on the front line.
In my e-learning and webinars I cover four crucial areas which anyone running a business in the hair or beauty sector should think about. I’ve had to adapt my tried and tested principals to help any salon scale up or down and meet the uncertainty this pandemic has brought, and I hope that sharing my learnings may bring any salon owner some clarity and perspective.
The challenges and uncertainties salons face can be overwhelming, so never has it been more important to share information and work for the common good.
Accountants and advisors may be helpful, but insider knowledge or what realistic benchmarks we can operate to is something they can’t help with, as they are sector-specific.
Looking at a business with fresh eyes is hard in this challenging times. I take salon owners of any size through a series of ideas and checklists to help them bullet-proof their business for the future.
Not only can the learner access this information as and when they choose, but I hope to explain it in a user-friendly way using ‘hairdresser speak’ not jargon. Knowledge is power, and knowing we’ve done all we can and health- checked and MOT’d every area of the business helps us feel more empowered as leaders and motivators.
Faced with dwindling turnover and mounting costs, decreasing client numbers can feel like we are powerless. My e-learning will help salon owners feel more in control and give them ideas to maximise productivity, reduce costs, restructure their teams and feel like they are in the driving seat again.
SALON REBOOT Business Series has been developed to help you if you don’t know where to start or want to deep dive into a particular area and is hosted by Hellen Ward, of Richard Ward Hair & Metro Spa. With over 30 years experience managing the salon’s business, Hellen is widely acknowledged as one of the industry’s business gurus.
What is available?
• Salon Reboot E-learning – complimentary, over 30 minutes it introduces you to four key business pillars to get you started: income, costs, team and clients.
•Salon Reboot Webinars – £49 each, come to matching two-hour in-depth webinars running January
Anyone can join, simply register on L’Oréal Access for free and search SALON REBOOT.
Ie.lorealaccess.com
