Recruitment is currently one of the biggest challenges for salon owners and managers throughout Wales and the rest of the UK. The number one reason being wage levels.
Our first ISA Connect event of 2024, hosted by ISA Training and Salon Help is a series of events dedicated to future-proofing your salon business.
Owner of Salon Help, Carl Hinder, who recently spoke at the event, offered invaluable insight into pricing strategies, long term investment, and salon recruitment, encouraging businesses to rethink their approach from their traditional role as salon owner to business entrepreneur.
Pricing it right
When opening your salon, the first thing you traditionally do is check your competitor prices. However, 80% of salons in the UK are at financial break-even or operating at a loss. If you follow the competition, you have an 80% chance of doing the same thing. Using competition as your guide is a big mistake.
You hear a lot of people say, “If you’ve got a problem in the salon, put your prices up.” That’s not the right approach. We need to have correct pricing. Salon pricing isn’t just about increasing your prices, it’s about having accurate and correct prices too. These prices come from a mathematical calculation, not an emotion.
Salon owner to entrepreneur
So many salon owners don’t pay themselves enough. They take out a little bit when times are good and leave it in when times are tough. Salons tell me all the time, “I just love the services that I do.” Salon owners have got to make a step change and behave more like an entrepreneur, and less like a staff member.
Salons will never have any profit if they keep their prices down to stay competitive. You don’t have a financial responsibility to your clients and their family. You have a financial responsibility to you, your staff and your family. Salon owners need to change their way of thinking about pricing. You can’t have a successful business unless your prices are right.
Investing for the future
When we look at staffing, we often think we can’t afford them. If you want to achieve financial stability, and be rewarded with time flexibility, then you have to look to the future. You have to invest now for the future of your business.
Apprentices don’t stay apprentices for long. If you lose a stylist, you could potentially lose £2,000 a week or more. So, hire an apprentice and be prepared for when you need someone to take over. It’s cheaper to invest £100 in an apprentice than wait until someone leaves, and then attempt to hire someone at the same level. Remember what you think is a cost now is just an investment for the future.
Recruiting outside the box
Why are people leaving the hair and beauty industry? The number one reason is money. Stylists and technicians are quite rightly asking for better wages and salon owners can’t afford to pay them because the business isn’t set up correctly. If you don’t have staff, then the growth of the business is limited. We have to change our approach to business and recruitment, and this includes apprentices.
Apprenticeships are not just for 16-year-olds, we have to think wider, and we have to be prepared to create our own environment. As an example, there’s a whole movement happening in the UK employing ex-convicts, that you could explore. You’ve got people who are already trained in the industry that you can bring back into the salon, if the recruitment offer is strong enough, sometimes people who’ve had their families and want to come back and do something for themselves.
Everything is in your control; we just need to think differently.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to Carl for sharing his expertise at our recent ISA Connect X Salon Help event. For more information on salon coaching visit – https://www.facebook.com/groups/salonhelp / www.salon-help.co.uk or get help with pricing here – https://salon-help.co.uk/pricing-app/
You can find out more about our Level 2 and 3 apprenticeships in hair, beauty and barbering.
