With a career in the hair and beauty industry spanning over 30 years,Lesley Wilks has owned award winning salons, achieved personal business awards and worked for large companies in the salon industry , giving her a wealth of both business and practical knowledge of what makes a salon successful. After selling her business over 8 years ago, here she launches her salon Lesley Wilks Advanced Beauty, quickly building up a celebrity clientele and revisiting her first time passion as a successful aesthetician and skin expert.
BeautySourcing: As an award winning salon business owner, can you introduce us what is the key point to make a successful salon? Do you have any advice or any message for all the people out there that dream to start a business?
Lesley-I believe a successful salon is having a clear brand identity and focusing on what makes you stand out from your competitors. Don’t be tempted to offer too many treatments. Keep it simple, focus on what you are good at doing and make yourself the best at it.
My advice when starting out or looking to open a business would be only to do it if you are passionate about what you do, and focus on training in what you truly love, not what you feel you have to offer or you won’t put 110% into it! Source reputable training companies not the cheapest or fastest qualifying ones. Confidence and your client approach is almost 50% of what will make your business grow, so make sure you grow yours too!
A business is very lonely at times, so create a good network of other like minded people to get advice from and bounce ideas off, such as social media industry groups etc.
BeautySourcing: Lockdown policy affects a lot for salon business; many small salons went out of business. Any tips you can share with us to get your salon through this uncertain time？
Lesley-Use these times productively rather than in a negative way. Maybe take a good look at your business model and profitability. Are you offering the right treatments? Is there anything you could be offering that clients go elsewhere for that you could do? Are you a busy fool (spending long periods of time in treatments for little revenue?).
Don’t worry about the current situation right now; we can’t unfortunately change that. However we CAN change the future and make it so much better. I sold my large salon 8 years ago during a recession losing a lot of money. However, I decided to just be on my own and push myself again into training with the best mentors and building my name from nothing again. It can be done if you have determination and love what you do.
BeautySourcing: Covid-19 changes consumer behavior. Home care and DIY skincare becomes hotspots during pandemic period. What you think about the next trend in salon industry during post-covid era.
Lesley-We have already seen a huge rise in the home skincare and facemask market which is brilliant for salons to see a surge in higher retail sales. Clients have got used to having great skin and won’t want to stop by going back to a bad routine. I think more aesthetic and results driven treatments will definitely be a ‘must have’ and a huge rise in treatments such as microneedling, microdermabrasion and skin resurfacing treatments. Trends will include less lip filler and on the whole a more natural, glowing look rather than overdone.
BeautySourcing: Can you predict the challenges or opportunities that the salon industry will face once the epidemic is over? Is there any possibility to see a big boom of salon business?
Lesley-I think there will be so many opportunities for the salon industry and indeed challenges after this pandemic. However, I think it has made us all stronger in business by way of having to reevaluate things we maybe take for granted before. Looking at revenue and costs, staff productivity, companies who have supported us or not, any one factor of these has been a huge lesson for us all.
New friendships will have been formed through networking groups, and training will be at an all time high, so everyone’s motivation levels should be lifted! It may take a while to recoup some of the clients who may now be used to doing their own home treatments. We will need to raise our game and offer things they can’t get at home as well as give great service to show our clients what they have missed!
My best advice would be ‘plan ahead, create the buzz’, but most of all ‘enjoy being back!”
