I love these two quotes from Benjamin Franklin. “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” & “The only thing that is more expensive than education is ignorance”.

Interestingly, some enquiries regarding technical education are not taken up because the salon owner thinks the investment isn’t worth the price. A common comment is ”I pay for the training and then they leave”. Try not to confuse price with cost. Price is what you pay the provider. Cost = Investment (price) minus Return. When you embark on an education program looking at investment v’s return on a weekly basis is an eye opening view point, quality education actually costs nothing.

For example, the PRICE of an investment of $3000 in cutting education over 12 months is $58 per week. If you are educating an apprentice, after six months they would start returning $500-$1500 per week. Your $58 per week investment just returned $13,000 to $39,000 it could be double the following year. There is no COST, you have a minimum profit of $10,000. Even better, when your apprentice leaves you’re miles in front, and the return in additional income, not to mention client satisfaction, would keep your salon’s cash flow and reputation positive.

A majority of clients who have been surveyed over the years place value within the service, and the relationship with the salon team at the forefront of their reasons for returning, a high level of skill was an expectation that is non negotiable, your clients expect that what is advertised, will be delivered professionally every time.

I was consulting recently with a salon owner who was restructuring her price list. The Salons new focus was the very lucrative and demanding demographic, Ladies 40 years plus, who have short hair and regular colour service.

Her plan was to hand the new clients to her 2nd year apprentice whose cutting skills were very basic. This owner was going to give 15-20 clients per week to an undertrained apprentice, the potential income for the Cut & Color was up to $5300 per week, however the $75 per week education plan we suggested was deemed too expensive? That’s 1.4% of gross return. The problem is, you only get one go at this market, cutting skills must be exceptional. Exceptional cutting skills only come with an investment in education and lots of practice.

Put bluntly, if you advertise fast haircuts, they had better be fast. If you advertise colour expertise, you had better be an expert, If you Advertise Fashion Edge Hair Styles, your teams skills had better be right on the edge of fashion. Only when you deliver what you promise, will you attract and keep your target market.