The Business of Beauty

Whilst speaking at a recent expo in London, a British industry figure began to tell me just how vibrant and progressive the Australian beauty industry is. Now I certainly agreed, after all, I am extremely proud to represent our industry overseas and believe that in many areas we are as good as anywhere in the world. Certainly experienced Australian therapists should not feel at all over awed by their American or European counterparts. But the comment that really rocked me was that “Since records have been kept, the Australian industry has grown in size and income every year without fail. Even through wars, depressions and recessions, stock market crashes, droughts, floods or famine, the Australian industry has continued to grow.”

I am not sure what surprised me the most, the fact that the industry had continually grown or that I gathered this information from a source so far from home. So I decided to undertake some research of my own (and may I add that this was not such an easy task).

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Today’s modern beauty salon has changed dramatically, even over the past few years. Technology has given us wonderful new equipment like IPL and micro-dermabrasion, products are loaded with powerful anti-oxidants and our knowledge of how these fabulous products interact with the skin has improved substantially. Add to this the increased awareness of our clients through a myriad of lifestyle magazines and television shows and it is no surprise that professional aestheticians are under enormous pressure to continuously improve their skills.

I believe that one of the most important sets of skills are those concerned with skin analysis. It is obvious to everyone that we must all be adept at reading the skin and recognising conditions before determining the best method of addressing these concerns. That goes without saying. But the role of the skin analysis as an integral sign of our professionalism has become more important than ever.

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In a world where so many people grizzle about their lot in life, it is always heartening to hear about someone good and honest and down to earth who is achieving exceptional success. I trust that this story inspires more people in the industry to strive for greater success and push to maximise their true potential.

In writing this article I am quite deliberately trying to highlight three important points:

1. That when someone has a love of the industry, dedication to their goals and a commitment to hard work, then anything is possible.
2. The importance of seeking expert business advice and coaching to nurture you in areas of weakness.
3. That there are a myriad of exciting opportunities that exist for therapists in this constantly evolving industry.

This story actually starts some twenty five years ago when an enthusiastic young therapist by the name of Gay Wardle decided to open her own salon.

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Now anyone who has sat through one of my seminars or utilised my salon consultancy services will know how big I am on planning. Very few small businesses are just instantly successful. Success usually involves some carefully thought through planning.

We have all driven through a new area believing we know our way and wasted time taking wrong turns. The smart thing to do would be to stop the car, look in the street directory and arrive at your destination via the easiest route. The problem is that we all think we know where we are going, we are in too much of a rush to stop the car and using a directory is such a hassle. The same analogy can be used in business planning. We know pretty much what we want to achieve in our heads, we get so busy working in the business and producing a plan is too difficult. Well it doesn’t have to be. Here are a few pointers to get your planning started whether you are a new business or have been established for years.

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In my experience there are only five ways you can make more profit in your salon.

1. Attract more customers
2. Encourage clients to visit your salon more often
3. Convince them to spend more each time they visit
4. Reduce your overheads
5. Retain more of your existing clients

That sounds simplistic enough, but the reality is that most salons overlook the easiest and most effective method on this list - Retaining existing clients.

I am constantly amazed at just how many customers are on salon databases that haven’t been into the salon in months and months. After all, we spend hard earned money on advertising, brochures, business cards or expensive shop fit outs to attract them to us in the first place, so why would we let this money go to waste after just one visit?

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