Hj reports: Kao Salon Division Hub Network 2023
Published
30th May 2023
by hjiadmin
The southern coast of Spain was the location for the Kao Salon Division Hub Network 2023, with many of the brand's leading salons flying in for two days and nights of business inspiration and networking fun.
The future was the focus as Julie Winchester, Kao’s UK General Manager, welcomed delegates: “Our agenda is very much about looking forward and how we can thrive for the future and success, and our aim is to leave you all feeling positive about what is to come."
Creating the vision for your salon of the future, Liz McKeon looked back before looking forward, questioning: “Why did it take a pandemic to make us realise how important we are to the customers in our world? We must never lose sight of how important the industry is and leverage these learnings for the future.
“You need to build your business model around being more financially successful – focus on fewer clients coming back more often and spending more money as we can’t be all things to all people; every staff member needs to be a financial asset to your business including front of house, and every client must have a positive financial impact on your bottom line. Your clients are happy when they are spending money and feeling good about themselves – so let them spend! Offer them aftercare products and don’t apologise for doing so.”
Retail trends expert, Jack Stratten, continued the forward-looking theme. “We have clients who are digitally native, they are cost-conscious but love luxury, pro-digital but love a story, demand speed but slow experiences and are spending more than ever on luxury items," he explained. "You need to use your space to build a community in a novel and different way, and elevate your services to attract a specific group to build that loyalty. Blend experiences so a client can enjoy a coffee or retail space and give them something that will keep them coming back and wanting to share.”
Purpose and clarity were the buzz words of 2023 for Bianca Miller-Cole, a finalist of the BBC’s The Apprentice, who helps individuals and organisations build powerful personal brands. “You need to start by building the story, covering all the sensorial attributes – what do you want clients to feel in your salon and how will you solve their needs? You need to build your visibility and convey your purpose and what you want to be known for. Enable your team to be intrapreneurs and allow them to seek out problems and solve them; and have a willingness to pivot when you are clear on the vision for your business and its key stakeholders. Networking should be reciprocal and help individuals and the community as a whole - but you must be clear about your goals.” A firm believer in making your dreams a reality, Bianca continued: “Buy a note pad and write it down as this activates your subconscious mind and aids clarity.”
Creating your own future was the theme that Caroline Sanderson picked up. “The formula I have created allows you to step back from your salon to earn more money and enjoy more freedom," she shared. "I discovered this by observing what others were doing and stopped investing in things that don’t make money, focusing on the things that did. There are four big issues that salon owners have to deal with – staff, time, ourselves and profit. Often, the business owner is the busiest of the tools, but that has to change – and you need to commit to making it happen. You need to prepare yourself, your team and your clients and give yourself a fear-free foundation by changing your mindset, marketing the salon to generate income, give time to managing a high performing team and instilling standardised operating procedures in the maintenance phase.”
We all use artificial intelligence in some form and Kao’s head of customer marketing, Nathan Agland, delved into the topic. “The AI market is worth €136 billion with 38% compound growth between 2022 and 2023 and is forecast to reach €15.7 trillion by 2030. With 85 million jobs due to be eliminated by 2025, 97 million will be created so there is good news.
“The recent innovation ChatGPT is a generative AI chatbot that took five days to reach one million users and with human prompts, can help generate ideas, inspiration and content. The better the prompts, the better the output which is immediate, but responses can be very literal and not insightful.”
The final speaker of the Hub Network 2023 was entrepreneur Claire Brumby. “Everything is possible if you’ve got the nerve, and I have zero tolerance for comfort zones as life begins at the edge of your comfort zone. You need to be a positive disruptive influence in your business, and if you add innovation to this, you have the best chance of success. When the fun goes out of anything, the passion dies and although change is inevitable, how you respond is your choice.”
Wrapping up an inspirational two days at the Hub Network 2023, Kao’s Director of Sales, Mitch Lucas, said, “Passion is contagious so let’s look to the future, collaborate and work together to help each other grow.”
Did you know that Kao Salon Division are sponsoring Manager of the Year at the British Hairdressing Business Awards? You can check out all of the finalists here.
“You need to build your business model around being more financially successful – focus on fewer clients coming back more often and spending more money as we can’t be all things to all people; every staff member needs to be a financial asset to your business including front of house, and every client must have a positive financial impact on your bottom line. Your clients are happy when they are spending money and feeling good about themselves – so let them spend! Offer them aftercare products and don’t apologise for doing so.”
Retail trends expert, Jack Stratten, continued the forward-looking theme. “We have clients who are digitally native, they are cost-conscious but love luxury, pro-digital but love a story, demand speed but slow experiences and are spending more than ever on luxury items," he explained. "You need to use your space to build a community in a novel and different way, and elevate your services to attract a specific group to build that loyalty. Blend experiences so a client can enjoy a coffee or retail space and give them something that will keep them coming back and wanting to share.”
Purpose and clarity were the buzz words of 2023 for Bianca Miller-Cole, a finalist of the BBC’s The Apprentice, who helps individuals and organisations build powerful personal brands. “You need to start by building the story, covering all the sensorial attributes – what do you want clients to feel in your salon and how will you solve their needs? You need to build your visibility and convey your purpose and what you want to be known for. Enable your team to be intrapreneurs and allow them to seek out problems and solve them; and have a willingness to pivot when you are clear on the vision for your business and its key stakeholders. Networking should be reciprocal and help individuals and the community as a whole - but you must be clear about your goals.” A firm believer in making your dreams a reality, Bianca continued: “Buy a note pad and write it down as this activates your subconscious mind and aids clarity.”
Creating your own future was the theme that Caroline Sanderson picked up. “The formula I have created allows you to step back from your salon to earn more money and enjoy more freedom," she shared. "I discovered this by observing what others were doing and stopped investing in things that don’t make money, focusing on the things that did. There are four big issues that salon owners have to deal with – staff, time, ourselves and profit. Often, the business owner is the busiest of the tools, but that has to change – and you need to commit to making it happen. You need to prepare yourself, your team and your clients and give yourself a fear-free foundation by changing your mindset, marketing the salon to generate income, give time to managing a high performing team and instilling standardised operating procedures in the maintenance phase.”
We all use artificial intelligence in some form and Kao’s head of customer marketing, Nathan Agland, delved into the topic. “The AI market is worth €136 billion with 38% compound growth between 2022 and 2023 and is forecast to reach €15.7 trillion by 2030. With 85 million jobs due to be eliminated by 2025, 97 million will be created so there is good news.
“The recent innovation ChatGPT is a generative AI chatbot that took five days to reach one million users and with human prompts, can help generate ideas, inspiration and content. The better the prompts, the better the output which is immediate, but responses can be very literal and not insightful.”
The final speaker of the Hub Network 2023 was entrepreneur Claire Brumby. “Everything is possible if you’ve got the nerve, and I have zero tolerance for comfort zones as life begins at the edge of your comfort zone. You need to be a positive disruptive influence in your business, and if you add innovation to this, you have the best chance of success. When the fun goes out of anything, the passion dies and although change is inevitable, how you respond is your choice.”
Wrapping up an inspirational two days at the Hub Network 2023, Kao’s Director of Sales, Mitch Lucas, said, “Passion is contagious so let’s look to the future, collaborate and work together to help each other grow.”
Did you know that Kao Salon Division are sponsoring Manager of the Year at the British Hairdressing Business Awards? You can check out all of the finalists here.
