Investing in you - This month Maria Dowling explores the secret to successful salon ownership

This month I started doing something for myself. Something that is helping to me develop as a salon owner, a manager and an individual.

Some of you may have heard about the EIDEAL Santi Business Leadership Programme; a few of you reading this may already be part of it. The programme is a creative and fun platform that gives salon business owners and senior managers the opportunity to grow and develop their skills in both management and running a business. Run by Susie Santiago of Santi Development Programmes, and in collaboration with EIDEAL, the programme allows salon owners to come together, share experiences and learn from each other. The programme is made up of a series of fast paced seminars, one to one coaching and webinars where business owners can pick up really smart, clever tips and solutions to the problems they have in the salon that they can implement either immediately or over time, over the year.

One of the things I like about the programme is that it creates a fun, creative environment but it is also confidential. Obviously as salon owners it is important to retain a certain degree of confidentiality in a group environment but Susie has created a platform where business owners are able to develop in a safe, confidential environment with her as a mentor, a guide as such.

When I first looked at the programme, quite a few of my fellow salon owners and senior managers were going through it at the time. Tara Roux of Kalm Salon said, “The key thing for me is having a mentor. I’m so busy mentoring my own staff in my business that I often forget about myself so it’s really good to bounce around issues and challenges with Susie in my monthly meetings”.

Another like-minded salon owner, Deborah Whitehead of Gloss Academy, said, “It has definitely made me stand back, look at the business and look at myself. It has made me realise that it doesn’t have to be me that does everything; I can get help from others”.

It then got me thinking about what makes Susie and the EIDEAL Programme so effective. Susie’s experience and credentials as a business coach and trainer in the beauty
industry makes her the perfect woman for the job! Susie understands where we are all coming from and has great expertise in hospitality, PR, marketing and recruitment, which adds variety to her coaching technique.

She rightly says, “Salon owners have little to no time to invest in their own self-development. They’re looking after other people, developing their team and making sure all staff are working well together as well as focusing on customers all the time. Where is the time to invest in their own development?”

When we look at salons and spas, we often believe that they all effortlessly succeed, staff remain constantly happy and motivated, and clients are forever in abundance. This isn’t always the case so it is importance for owners to continue to self-develop and upskill. The programme allows us to manage the salon more effectively, become a skilled leader in communications and management, and gives us the tools to take our business to the next level.

What does the course cover?

• Financial planning and targets – where are you now and where do you want to go?

• Personal time management and productivity

• How can you manage to take time out to plan how you get to where you want to be?

• Branding, marketing, promotions – what you say to your outside audience

• The client journey

• Recruitment, team development and motivation

• Delivery of salon services and retail – how you ensure your business stays on target

• Communications – does the language your salon speaks to the team and the customer, reflect your brand?

Maria Dowling is creative director at mariadowling salon and has been a colourist for more than 20 years.

For more information call: +971 4 345 4225 Follow mariadowling on Instagram @mariadowlingdubai