WHEN IS A SALON MORE THAN A SALON?

When Phoebe and Richard came up with the concept for NAKED, they didn’t want to be just another salon –NAKED had to be special. They were both working as Creative Directors in different salons in the Midlands and wanted a new challenge. Devon was chosen as the location of their new endeavour and a beautiful building was found. It was important for them that the salon was eco-conscious, so they joined the Green Salon Collective and ensured all their products were vegan and sustainable. They also wanted something that embodied their passions beyond hairdressing.

Phoebe has a degree in fine art, and over lockdown they found themselves selling some of Phoebe’s commissions and Richard began sculpting. This found a way into their new business in the form of an art studio. The final piece of their puzzle was adding a coffee shop as they liked the laidback culture that surrounds coffee shops and they thought it would add an extra dimension to NAKED.

The Ultimate Marketing Machine

This concept of creating a brand allowed NAKED to become somewhat of a community hub. People would wander in for a coffee or to see the art and would therefore have a chance to check out the salon and meet Phoebe and Richard in a less formal way than if they were just looking for a new hairdresser. This allowed them to build a rapport with potential customers where they already were, rather than using traditional marketing to push them to where they wanted to be. Opening up the studio space for events accelerated this, and now the studio regularly holds life drawing classes and moon circles.

To complement their business, it was important that Phoebe and Richard had the best software to manage it. As they are a self-employed salon, Beu was the obvious choice for them as a software provider. Working in their previous salon Phoebe and Richard had experience with other software providers, but Beu stood out for all of the features aimed at businesses with self-employed staff. They loved the fact that self-employed staff could add their own bank accounts and get paid directly, while sharing a card reader. This makes a huge difference, especially when it comes to VAT registration. It also means that everything is run under the same system for stylists who rent a chair, and the front of house can manage all staff diaries regardless of whether they are employed or self-employed. Phoebe and Richard also love how configurable the system is, allowing them to fine tune everything for each staff member. They are also able to run the coffee shop and the art studio through Beu in addition to the salon. The final points that made them choose Beu was how clean the software is to use, along with the low cost, and the fact that every staff member has their own login and can access the app from anywhere to check their diary, and ensure the business is ticking along nicely.

NAKED’s Top Tip

If you ever have to make the decision to increase the cost or cut the quality, always maintain the quality. When costs are the focus, quality drops.