Beauty-Business

Creating a brand is complex, time taking and often, an expensive activity. The competition to get clients in modern day business world is intense, competitive and often cutthroat where chances of success are slim and failure is a real option. Beauty salon business subcategory is a difficult business to execute properly.

How to manage your beauty related business?

There are numerous factors involved in operating a successful salon business. These factors range from the traditional factors like location, ability of staff, capacity, service range and customer satisfaction to the modern elements of social marketing, use of information technology based processes and customized marketing techniques depending on each customer.

Next generation setup for Beauty Salon Businesses

In order for the customers to stay loyal, salons need to understand their customers. No matter of the underlying market dynamics, loyal customers are the best marketing tool for a business. In order to stay competitive, market surveys and having competitor intelligence is crucial.
A business cannot function in isolation any more, unless the product or service offered is unique and extremely rare. Businesses have evolved, it is the responsibility of the owner to keep offering customers value for money. As long as the customer gets the value, they will keep coming back for more creating a loyal customer base and a recognized brand.

Essential elements to drive better results for Beauty salons:

1. Shop Concept

The salon should have an identity. The location, services offered, features available and customer service should all augment the identity. For a small to mid-sized business, service overload becomes a nightmare. Variable costs increase and service becomes less targeted. Depending on the location, the owner must create a clear concept and concentrate on creating a niche. A salon created in a high class area has the potential to create a premium buffer; the same benefit is not available to a mid-income located store. The identity can be created through market research and studying models of existing businesses. Once this identity is clear, the clarity it offers help creates business opportunity. A salon focusing on hair treatment, hair accessories and cutting will be cheaper to operate in a working class neighborhood. This niche will then provide constant revenue stream for other operations to work and augment the shop.

2. Brand Identity

The brand is a promise that is made to the customer. It provides an instant recall and shares the mind space in the head of a customer. Creation of a brand in salon business depends on the quality of the service. Brand and shop concept go hand in hand, a fifty square meter salon with a spacious and comfortable lay out aiming to provide the customers with maximum relaxation can build a brand around this feature. A smaller shop where layout is tight can create a brand with providing fastest, no delay service. This careful maneuvering not only helps create a disadvantage (limited space) into an advantage (fast service: higher turnaround of customers) but also helps in increasing satisfaction and revenues.

3. Graphic Design

The visual aesthetics play an important role in providing the artistic ability within a person. Impressive graphics are rudimentary practice in the beauty industry. A salon with a badly made logo, poor color combination in the decor and layout and badly done promotional material is a big negative factor for a salon. Get professional help and create graphics that are impressive and visually appealing. If you are unable to create a beautiful image of your own business, chances are you will not be able to attract customers.

4. Print

Brochures have been traditionally very important and play an important role in customer awareness. A brilliantly designed brochure, flex panel, hoarding or a poster are great ambassadors of a business. Understanding the locations to place your print media though is highly critical and depends on the budget and size of the salon. Wedding chapels, bus stops and other daily commute places offer good opportunity for posters to be placed depending on the core competency of the salon.

5. Photos

This is one area where the beauty salons really need to up their game. Provision of high quality photo services can become a game changer when it comes to getting clients. A salon targeting weddings and celebrations can include not only providing hair and make-up services but also provide the ability to capture the event with photo shoot. This provides an additional service which can be bundled with a discount to get the clients to agree. Digital photography is as much a science as it is art and it requires about six months to one year with professional equipment, training and practice to become really good. Provision of in-house services to already established photographers can also boost sales.

6. Video

Video service can be the crowning glory of a salon. It is a technical job that requires equipment as well as knowledge about cinematography and editing. Video service can be high revenue generating activity providing the salon with a definite positive edge over competitors. This however requires professional training and the skill develops over a period of years before it can provide customers with complete satisfaction.

7. Media

Interviews, Advertising, Press Releases

Small salons normally will not have access to television advertisement unless localized cheap channels are available. Local celebrity interviews play an important role in getting good promotion as endorsements are more sought after in comparison to advertisements. The local magazines are also a great place for targeted advertisement, market research in circulation figures of different magazines will provide access to targeted demographics. Newspaper ads are a cheaper alternative as well; they can also be used to create a positive image about the salon.

8. Marketing Tools

Campaigns, Events and Promotions

The best way to maintain cheap operations is to get repeat customers. Loyalty campaigns like loyalty cards, referral schemes and monthly meet and greet events are great modes of getting repeat customers. Discount promotions for repeat customers, specific week day promotions based on lower customer turnover or special occasion like “Mother’s Day” etc. promotions are very handy for beauty salons.

9. Use of Information Technology and Software Development

IT in the form of dedicated software provides an immense opportunity to manage and schedule time where it is needed. These dedicated software’s eradicate the emphasis from tasks which are of lesser value; inventory management, payroll, cash flow, expense charts and other repetitive tasks that consume a fair portion of the owner’s time. Time utilization from such tasks to other more useful areas is very important for the business. There is also ability to handle loyalty programs and customer profiles along with on-line booking and scheduling capabilities which augment user experience.

Conclusion

With a clear concept, a proper brand, consistent and well thought of marketing strategy, creative message and appeal to customers, augmented services like video and photo shoots and IT infrastructure beauty salon owners can create a competitive edge and a next generation business model that will be highly profitable for them.