In 2018, if your beauty salon is nestled within a booming metropolis, it simply isn’t enough to only open your doors between the hours 9am-5pm. These days, clients want their treatments ‘on demand’ and at a time that suits them.

The fast beauty movement

Fast beauty has long since been a part of the growing grooming culture of New York. And in recent years, major cities in the UK such as London and Manchester have followed suit.

As a beauty salon owner, we understand that you want to elevate your business to:

  • Attract new clients
  • Increase your profits
  • Meet supply and demand
  • Position your salon ahead of your main competitors

We have previously interviewed Dharmash Mistry of Blow Ltd to discover how Blow became one of the largest ‘fast beauty’ suppliers within the industry. Here we share smaller-scale approaches to adding an extra dimension to your business.

Adapt your working hours and offer enticing incentives… 

Perhaps you want to appeal to a workforce darting between meetings who want to look their best at all times? With this in mind, you could offer speed treatments such as blow dries or gel manicures on a special lunchtime discount, providing you have the manpower to fulfill the demand.  Not only do these discounts entice customers to try your beauty salon out, but it also positions you as the go-to establishment for a pre meeting blow out.

Offer services when your clients need them most…

Early morning in the time period between 6am and 8am are peak times for clients getting ready for work. Open up your salon to cater to these people – if you’re nervous about trying something different, take part in a trial run for a month or so. Market your salon to let people know you’re open for ‘pre work’ make-up or nails and see how clients respond.

It’s important to not overcharge clients for these convenience services – as a major player within the service industry,  it is your position to serve your customers when it suits them and when they’re likely to require your services.

Think of the out of hours event and occasion services…

Networking is a great tool in the service industry – You could try aligning yourself with local companies such as corporate organisations or consultancy agencies. It may be that you can find mutually beneficial ways to work together – Perhaps you could negotiate to become the go-to salon partner for helping people get ready for events for award ceremonies.

By thinking of different ways to market your beauty business, you are opening up more possibilities to increase your client roster.

Fast beauty doesn’t just mean speedy services…

It also means being both proactive and reactive to the ever changing landscape of the salon industry. When we spoke to Sharmadean Reid, founder of Wah Nails, we discovered that in order to stand out in the market, you have to sell your clients an entire lifestyle. For example, Glasshouse salon have a successful multichannel approach to their brand,  offering a hair salon destination, an online lifestyle journal and an ecommerce store.

Of course, you don’t have to expand your brand to those levels from the off. You can start on a smaller scale by beginning to align your services with the same look and feel. We recommend starting with your social media accounts, ensuring you are sharing a constant output of work that you are proud of.

In summary…

It is important to be constantly watching your competitors and how other beauty salons are navigating the industry. Nobody gets it right all the time, but we recommend being brave and giving new services, hours and treatment offers a try. And as Dhamarsh and Sharmadean have both proved, growth can certainly come from experimenting.

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