There comes a time when every salon owner dreams of bigger and better things. If business is flying and you’re inundated with loyal customers to bursting point, then it might be time to set up shop in other locations. That’s not to say it’s easy. Growing your brand is always a tricky prospect: outside of the heavy financial investment you’ve got to consider, honestly and pretty ruthlessly, whether you can sustain the quality and personalised environment you’ve spent years building up.
Here, we catch up with Darren Messias, Managing Director and all-around creative whizz behind the KH Hair Group. One of the UK’s firmly established chains, KH Hair Group are made up of 22 salons, situated all over the country; with a lengthy company history and expert business savvy, read on for Darren’s top tips around expanding your salon…
Creating a solid foundation…
Even as a successful single salon owner, it’s a big decision to decide to expand your business by opening more sites. Before considering growing your business by expanding it into multiple locations, you need to make sure your training structure, customer service and career paths are well defined and as strong as possible. Getting these basic factors right is so important because these are the things that come together to shape and define your brand – and how you want the business to be perceived by your teams, your clients and your competitors.
Check out more advice on creating a great salon atmosphere.
Measure your current capacity…
If you are considering taking the plunge, we don’t really feel there is a right or wrong time for this but it’s vital to make sure the infrastructure behind everything your business does is tried and tested. Sometimes, salon owners consider expanding when their existing salon has become so busy, there is no room to take the business to the next level. This can be frustrating both for the clients and aspirations of the salon team, so if the business has reached this point, this could be an ideal time to consider expansion.
Can you promise the same quality?
Before you sign on the dotted line, as with any big business decision, it’s time to weigh up the pros and cons. The pros are that your brand is very likely to become stronger in the public eye, both to prospective clients and potential employees looking for a career in the industry. Of course, the financial rewards can also be greater. However, one downside to expansion is that it can be very difficult to monitor and maintain quality and service across multiple salons.
Read more on growing your salon brand.
Any last tips?
Of course, you don’t have to open more salons in order to stay competitive. There are some extremely successful independent salons out there and big doesn’t necessarily mean beautiful. Remember, the bigger your business becomes, it can become harder and harder to monitor and maintain quality, so there really is something to be said for having just the one salon to focus on!
Have you been inspired to stretch your brand? If you’ve got any more insights to add to our discussion, don’t hesitate to tell us!
Follow the KH Hair Group on Facebook @KHHairGroup
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