After 41 years in the trenches as a working hairdresser/salon owner and now President of Hairdresser Career Development Systems, I feel I have earned the right to speak out and voice my concerns and opinions about the plight of hairdressers, salon owners and our profession as a whole.
Before we can find solutions to owning a successful salon , we need to address the and find solutions to the many challenges of salon ownership.
Below are just some of the challenges that salon owners face in building and growing their businesses:
- Preventing and Overcoming Staff Turnover and Rising Business Costs : How can we grow a business and raise profits with a merry go round of business and staff instability.
- Combating Staff Pirating – recruiting hairdressers from other salons will not bring loyalty to your salon. Honesty and a code of ethics is the only way to achieve long term success.
- Lack of an apprenticeship employee training program
- Lack of unity among salon owners
- Booth rental issues
- Inability to find quality help
- Price and commission wars
- the list goes on and on
As salon owners we can no longer fight these obstacles and challenges in isolation. We as professionals must unite and make our salons and our profession a profession we can all be proud of. We must address the above deep rooted obstacles and challenges that salon owners face daily in their salons and we must do it now!
Although I am expressing my own views and opinions, I know many of these concerns are shared by thousands of hairdressers, salon owners and open minded educators I have had the privilege of meeting personally at trade shows, and seminars I present throughout the United States and Canada. I am talking about committed professionals who work hard daily in their salons trying to reach higher levels of excellence personally, professionally and financially for themselves,staff, and their families.
Unlike the large product companies, manufacturers and special interest groups who have manpower, money and resources to promote their products and viewpoint, the working hairdresser and salon owner has very little time, money or resources to fully express their views and their educational and business needs.
I am sure many of the special interest groups may not agree with this article and will profess everything is well in keeping the status quo. But isn’t it time that those of us who work daily in the trenches of our salons have an opportunity to voice our concerns and take control of our own destiny?
As a fellow salon owner/hairdresser you can be assured that I will continue to seek out solutions to these challenges that will help you turn adversity into great opportunities. As president of Hairdresser Career Development Systems I am committed to helping you raise your standard of living and improve the quality of life for yourself and your family. It is time for salon owners to unite and address the above challenges that are causing turmoil in our profession.
Please read my blog about the need to unite through a Salon Owners Summit conference, which will be a first step in taking control of our salons and our profession. If there is enough interest I will provide further information.There is power in numbers.
Together we can and will make this industry respond to our educational and business needs.