Anna Field from The Paddington Beauty Room, talks to Switzer about successfully running a bricks and mortar salon despite the challenges in the market currently.
Anna was asked by Switzer, an online portal for small business owners, to discuss how she had successfully overcome challenges, grown and invested in The Paddington Beauty Room despite the economic downturn. “I was only too happy to discuss my beauty business as often salons are judged as not real businesses but just a girls’ past time. I am only too happy to help improve our industry’s reputation and show that we are businesses with cash flow, HR, marketing challenges,” she said.
Anna mentions several challenges on the show including the growth of online shopping. She says the greatest challenges are educating customers on marketing and being able to price competitively despite, as a bricks and mortar business, having many more included costs.
Another challenge is the dropout rate of beauty therapists from the industry. “It has been my observation that most therapists drop out and change careers as they have become bored. There is so little training in the industry provided by employers. Too often therapists may have five years’ experience but the reality is they have repeated one year five times,” says Anna. “One of the key ways to keep good staff is to help them develop their skills.
“Too often you hear bosses of small businesses say it is so hard to find staff who care as much as they do. Well of course they don’t care just because you do. It is your job to give them a reason to care by showing them what is in it for them, that you will also benefit from. Often the best therapist in the salon is the salon owner and as the owner with years of experience it is also important to share your knowledge and make the time too.”
Anna also discusses money saving solutions: “In the past twelve months I have renegotiated everything (products, electricity, merchant fees, etc.) with every supplier to ensure I am getting the best deals I can to minimise costs. I have also educated my staff on wastage and the very real effects it has on business my decisions. Most salons run on 20 per cent of service sales as usage, we run on a 7 per cent.
You can view the video here:
The Paddigton Room are stockists of Deramlogica. Visit www.thepaddingtonbeautyroom.com.au for further information.