Business Cycles

Over the past 50 years the salon industry has undergone some fairly major shifts in both  the business models and the business cycles we experience. There are many reasons for these shifts.

Prior to 1970 you would have been hard pressed to find a handful of haircutters. Now however, the opposite is quite true, most stylists who have been in the industry less than ten years know very little about "styling" hair. Most stylists today would say that they learned to cut hair because that's what the styles dictate.

The result of this shift is that now in order for a stylist to have a thriving business they need 500 clients where they once only required 50. Why? When stylists focused mainly on combing and styling hair clients returned on a weekly basis to have their hair done. A stylist with 50 weekly clients was busy about 50 hours a week. Now, a stylist who cuts hair must maintain a much larger client base to stay that busy (if you cut each person once every six weeks, and you can cut one person every thirty minutes that's a minimum of 480 clients).

This created a major shift in the business model that salons developed in order to remain competitive. Marketing, advertising, training, departmentalization, specialization, greater mobility in the workforce, and mass media had a major role in shaping how salons would operate. It was no longer satisfactory to just open your salon and serve the neighborhood ladies who got their hair done once a week, now salons had to sell their services to a wide and more sophisticated audience. Now our clients digest the latest fashions on a weekly basis as dictated by their favorite sitcom stars, and we are forced to keep up with a constantly changing dizzying array of pop hair fads.

The next major shift came with the graying of America. As our client base and the largest demographic segment of the population get older color has become the driving force in many salons. Now, if you want to maintain a client base you MUST offer color services.

How has this affected the business cycle in the salon industry?

If you look at the early sixties most of the styling was still backcombed, but that was before Mia Farrow and "Rosemary's Baby." Vidal Sassoon got the job of cutting Mia Farrow's hair for the film, and he managed to get his name worked into the film's script. The movie was controversial, which was the greatest thing that could ever have happened to Mr. Sassoon. The film took the heat for it's subject matter but EVERYONE was talking about Sassoon and Mia's cut.

He struck a chord with American women and they flocked to salons demanding Mia's cut. It was cute, but more than anything it was simple. The cut WAS the style, and women looking for freedom found a new freedom in this type of non-styling, and a champion of that freedom in Vidal Sassoon. The rest is pretty much common knowledge, Sassoon turned the styling world on its ear and bouffant styling died a not so natural death, but along with it died the old business model of maintaining a weekly clientele.

At that time there were seasonal peaks and valleys that stylists could count on to structure their business and their time. Holidays were going to be much busier because everyone had parties to go to and they had to get their hair restyled for each occasion.

Today, people come in once prior to the holidays to receive their normal maintenance of cut, color, or highlights, but since they normally style their own hair there really isn’t as much of an up-tick in business as their used to be. Yet, I still hear stylists talk about the “busy” season as though November and December were going to be a magic bullet to solve their financial woes.

As far as I can tell the days of the “busy” season are long gone and are not likely to return until some clever stylist figures out a way to bring clients back to the salon on a weekly basis again. The way to accomplish this is as clear as it was when the Official Hair Fashion Committee of the National Hairdressers Association developed lacing and boufaunt styles as a means to drive clients into the salon back in the late 40s; it has to be something the client can’t do themself.

The only driving force shaping fluxuations in business that are decernable are related to weather; both climatic and economic. When storms are in the forecast clients stay home; when sunny skies are predicted, clients come more often. However, smart salon managers will prepare for any storms on the horizon by offering shelter to their clients and prospective clients. Package deals that lower the cost of service, discounts, and specials, will always draw clients in. Excellent customer service and a desire to perform high quality services will keep them coming back.

So the next time you hear someone talking about the “busy” season, give thanks that you have masterd the skills you need to satisfy even the toughest clients demands, and the service required to capture their loyalty.  It is only through attention to your technical and interpersonal skills that you can maintain a competitive edge regardless of the changing business models or cycles in business.

Pro Salon Solutions
pro-salon.com
Dallas, Texas 75248
phone: 469-441-8771