DAY ONE: TAKE CONTROL OF BUSINESS #salonsmart18

Sunday marked the return of Salon Smart 2018, Creative HEAD’s sell-out business networking event. Hundreds of salon owners descended on Park Plaza Riverbank hotel to glean pearls of wisdom from the stellar line-up of speakers and they were not disappointed.

Sally Montague kicked off proceedings to talk in-house apprenticeships, external education and industry-wide training in her session Educating Derbyshire. With a decline in apprenticeship applications and those who applied unemployable, Sally shared how she devised a five-star apprenticeship plan, which through a combination of local press, open sessions and client word-of-mouth, took the mystery out of apprenticeships. The result? 389 eager applicants, serious about a career in hairdressing. With this recipe for success and growth, it’s no surprise that Sally’s six-strong salon group is set to add another two locations in the very near future!

Then it was over to Creative HEAD Editor Amanda Nottage, who shared the stories of two inspiring salons, Most Wanted Supreme Team 2017 Lloyds Hair and Sixth Sense Salon, in a Case Studies segment on Transforming The Team. She walked the audience through impressive demonstrations of teamwork that not only impact the salons internally but ripple out to the surrounding communities. Simple notions but with a strong message, Danielle, Manager of Lloyds Hair explained that “We look after the team and then the team look after the clients” while Sixth Sense have “Ten Commitments” that Owners Dean & Dean have implemented to ensure staff and clients are all made to feel like somebody.

Next up was Andrew Mulvenna, who captured the audiences’ attention with an honest and inspiring tale of his 30 years in hairdressing, dubbed The Belfast Experience. When he realised that his salon wasn’t driving profit, despite award-wins and seeming success, Andrew made bold changes which resulted in him losing 90% of his team, followed by his business partner. What may have caused most to shut up shop, only spurred Andrew on to reasses every aspect of his business and embark on some fresh ideas – the latest of which is a three-storey salon with 50 styling stations and a barber room. As Andrew put it “I’m putting all my chips into this move.”

Creations salon owner Carolyn Sweeney along with 3·6·5 Education’s Ken West, combined to command the stage in their session Call of Duty. Carolyn discussed taking on “flatlining” staff who are stagnating, failing to bring in real money for her business and themselves. She turned to 3·6·5 Education’s Ken West for help, and he joined her on stage to illustrate how together they looked to turn those on the slippery slope back into growers with a dedicated You+ programme.

With the General Data Protection Regulations being implemented on the 25 May, Salon Smart welcomed Laura Knight, director of brand communications consultancy KWS to lift the lid on what it all really means for salon businesses and the steps you need to take to avoid penalties. While the prospect may seem daunting, it undoubtedly will bring a multitude of benefits, including a much more engaged database. As Laura put it “Make sure you know what you have, why you have it, where it is and what you do with it.” It was for all, a Data with Destiny.

Things moved on from rules and regulations to business rebels, as Amanda Nottage returned to the stage with a second round of case studies around Breaking The Mould. In the spotlight this time was Sophia Hilton’s Not Another Salon – a refuge for renegade spirits and those bored with the regular salon experience.

From its ‘#CoolToBeKind’ mantra to the shop’s no judgement policy, “Not Another Salon’s united messaging and strength of branding has made the salon a globally recognised name, and all this from a business that is still under 3 years old,” Amanda concluded. “They may have started as underdogs, but Sophia and her team are definitely shaping up to be leaders of the pack.”

Scottish Power then reigned supreme, with delightful duo Jennifer Linton and Joanna MacDonald of Aberdeen salon Linton & Mac, taking to the stage. Their salon only opened in 2015 (after attending Salon Smart that year) and shortly became positioned in the top five per cent of the city’s 152 salons.

How did they manage to achieve this in a saturated market? “We knew we had to offer clients something they couldn’t get anywhere else,” said Jennifer. “We provided progressive hair and beauty services all under one roof and now have more than 6,700 clients.” The duo attributes their success to always involving the whole team in the decision-making, collaborating with others in the industry, knowing their target audience by staying ahead of the trends and offering a price structure that caters to all clients.

Next up, a live panel debate, where the many ways of Taking Control of your Business were under discussion. Laura Knight reassured the room that the costs of GDPR is massively outweighed by the opportunities it presents in terms of segmenting your database and better targeting your client communications. “This will help you build engagement in a very noisy world,” she said.

Hari Efthymiades of Most Wanted 2017 Best Salon Team-winning barbershop Cut & Grind urged salons to “be a family, and treat everyone with love” when it comes to their team. “Young people today don’t need 9-5, they want more. We hire our space out for events and they get involved, it’s more than just the same old same old everyday”.

When Creative HEAD publisher Catherine Handcock asked the panel whether they thought hyper-customisation is the way forward for the industry, Jane Williams, owner of Reed Hair replied: “Always make sure it’s something your clients want – ask them. If clients don’t want it then it won’t work.”

“We do need to get ahead of what’s happening on the high street,” added Salon Success’s Simon Tickler, “and it’s about how you go about doing that – hyper-customisation is one way… But we are broken as an industry,” he warned. “We’ve got to find a way through.”

All in all, Sunday set an inspiring tone. It was clear that there are key concerns affecting salons right now but with so many tales of success and stand-out skill, the future is looking brighter than ever.