Creative HEAD January 2020

#BusinessEdit
KEN’S CLINIC
GOT A BUSINESS HEADACHE? LET KEN WEST, DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS
EXPERTS 3•6•5, OFFER A PERSONAL PRESCRIPTION
KEN’S DIAGNOSIS
Glad to see you’re planning ahead Thomas. When
salons forecast their budgets for the year ahead, many
fail to include what is possibly one of the most important
investments of any business – education. The word is
‘investment,’ because without education how do you and
your team continue to grow? There are three types of
education that all salons should invest in.
The first is product education. This is invariably provided
free (or should be) by your suppliers but not all salons take
advantage of this. Without it your team lose confidence and
with a lack of confidence their upgrades will reduce and
so will their creativity. Their retail sales
will also drop off and retailing is vital for
creating client loyalty.
Second is skills education. Too often
hairdressers believe that they don’t
need to carry on developing their skills
but this is far from the case. We must
all continue to improve what we do.
New techniques are constantly
being developed and fashion
is an ever-evolving beast.
It’s very easy to become
a dinosaur, and we know
what happened to them.
We are in one of the most
competitive industries
and complacency can be
disastrous. I have seen
many salons and stylists
fall from their ivory towers
because of complacency.
How can you
spend your
education
budget so that it
benefits the entire
team, rather
than certain
individuals?
THOMAS HILLS, TH1 HAIR
New skills can be learnt in many ways. Manufacturers
often provide skills education – our parent company, Salon
Success, provides such education for the salons it supplies.
There are many academies that provide skills education
but I would suggest you select carefully. Reputation is vital
so ask other salons you know for recommendations. Spend
your money wisely. The best value skills education can
often come from within. Many of the skills I learnt over the
years have come from asking those around me who were
better than me at a particular skill to share their knowledge
with me. Together we can grow.
The third type of education is business building. This is
often overlooked in the belief that if you get the first two
right then our businesses will naturally be successful. This
is so far from the truth and I have seen many beautiful
salons, full of talented and creative stylists, fail because of
poor management as a result of lack of business education.
Obviously companies such as the one I am part of, 3•6•5
Salon Education, provide comprehensive programmes
for owners, managers and stylists to help them to grow.
However this can also sometimes be available from your
suppliers, although it often tends to be biased toward the
use of their products as well.
Any or all of this education can be delivered to groups or
to individuals. All I would say is: if you invest in educating
an individual, always protect your investment and ensure
that they share their knowledge with your team.
Finally, be passionate about learning and education. It
should be at the top of your budget and not the bottom. If
you don’t believe me, look at the Apple model. It believes
in education so much that it delivers education to its teams
every day in its stores.
DO YOU HAVE A BUSINESS HEADACHE YOU’D LIKE KEN TO HELP WITH?
Email him directly on KenW@365Hair.com or tweet us at @creativeheadmag
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CREATIVE HEAD