Resources for salons during the coronavirus

Table of contents

*Update* 24/06/20 – Government have released the safer workplace guidelines & reopening date confirmed for hairdressing salons in Scotland.

The government have published the safer workplace guidance for close contact services. This includes information about PPE for practitioners, social distancing in the workplace and risk assessment. Read the full guidance here. 

Hairdressers and barbers in Scotland are allowed to open from the 15th July, however, other personal services must remain closed until further notice.

See our salons reopening section.

*Update* 23/06/20 – Reopening date confirmed for hairdressing salons in England.

This afternoon, the Prime Minister has announced that hairdressers are able to reopen on 4th July in England. This does not include spas or nail bars at this time. The guidelines for salons in England are due to be available soon. Wales is due for review on the 9th July where a date may be announced then. 

See our salons reopening section. 

*Update* 19/06/20* – Reopening date given for Northern Ireland, warning about allergy testing before officially reopening and health and safety training for staff allowed prior to official opening date.

See our salons reopening section.

The date that has been confirmed is 6th July for Northern Ireland, however this is subject to the virus being contained. We still await confirmation on the dates for England, which is set to be 4th July at the earliest. Scotland have not announced a date yet and Wales will assess the situation on the 9th July as to whether salons will be able to reopen from the 13th July. No guidance has been released for Wales yet. 

You are not able to carry out any allergy testing for clients before your definite opening date. This must only be carried out when you are able to reopen officially.

You are, however, able to carry out staff training before your reopening date, but this must be limited to health and safety and new guidelines or policies not hair or beauty training and you must still remain closed to the public. Read more on NHBF.

*Update 18/06/20* – NHBF has requested urgent publication for reopening guidelines from the government.

See our salons reopening section.

A letter has been sent to the key government ministers from the NHBF, requesting salon reopening guidelines. It stresses the need for clarification on health and safety advice and ample time to put measures in place to enable salons to reopen safely when given the go ahead.  

*Update 01/06/20* – Second and final taxable grant available for the self employed & changes to the job retention scheme.

See our financial help section.

A second taxable grant will be available in August, for the self employed. This will be paid in a single instalment and is worth 70% of your average monthly profits, up to a maximum of £6,570 this time. The first grant applications close on 13/07/20.

In June and July, the government will continue to pay 80% of wages up to £2,500, including NI and pension contributions for the hours the employee doesn’t work. Read more on this in our help for employers section. For more information check out this Gov.uk page.

*Update 21/05/20* – Salons able to operate  a ‘click & collect’ service for retail from June 15th.

See our what can you be doing while your salon is closed section.

From the 15th June 2020, salons are able to operate a ‘click & collect’ service for retail products. Orders must be placed either online, telephone or via messaging. You are not able to open for any other services and must remain closed. Clients are not able to enter the premises to pay for their items and must maintain social distancing upon collection. Implementing timed slots may be worth thinking about to avoid too many people arriving at one time. 

*Update 20/05/20* – Apprenticeships.

See our financial help section.

New apprenticeship guidance has been released from the government. It includes information on how the government are offering support for apprentices and employers during this time, safer working guidelines for training and assessment including remote training from providers where possible and extensions to assessment time frames.

*Update 11/05/20* – Provisional reopening date for salons.

See our salons reopening section.

A statement has been released this morning from Dominic Raab stating that hospitality and ‘personal services’ such as hair and beauty salons and barbershops in England will not be able to reopen until 4th July at the earliest. Read the full statement on NHBF website here. 

Introduction

This post will be kept up to date as more details are released, so be sure to bookmark the page and return at a later date. 

This guide is to help salons during the Coronavirus. You’re probably all sick of hearing about these ‘uncertain and unprecedented’ times we are currently living through, unfortunately it is a reality we are all having to come to terms with. 

As hairdressers it is a particularly tricky time to carry out our skills. We work so closely with our clients and colleagues. Which has proved very difficult to continue business as normal during lockdown. 

We all want answers about when we can begin to reopen, and how things will look when we are eventually able to welcome our clients back through the door. 

The uncertainty and seemingly mixed messages from the press can prove frightening for all of us. 

One thing I can say for sure, is please take what you read in the media with a pinch of salt. Don’t be disheartened by some of the articles. The best we can do is wait until we have had the road-map, and officially given a date with which we can work towards. 

With all this in mind, I have built a list of reliable resources for salons during the coronavirus that references publishings by the hairdressing industry and government websites. The main objective is to help us find a little more clarity, sift through the rubbish out there, and get down to the facts at present. 

But I also want to cover a little on some ways we can use this down time to help us move forward in a more positive light.

So let’s take a look at some frequently asked questions that we are desperately seeking answers to, starting with the burning question with which we still don’t have a concrete answer for…

Salons reopening

When will salons be able to safely reopen?

*Update* 24/06/20 – Government have released the safer workplace guidelines & reopening date confirmed for hairdressing salons in Scotland.

The government have published the safer workplace guidance for close contact services. This includes information about PPE for practitioners, social distancing in the workplace and risk assessment. Read the full guidance here. 

Hairdressers and barbers in Scotland are allowed to open from the 15th July. Other personal services must remain closed until further notice

*Update* 23/06/20 – Reopening date confirmed for hairdressing salons in England.

This afternoon, the Prime Minister has announced that hairdressers are able to reopen on 4th July in England. This does not include spas or nail bars at this time. The guidelines for salons in England are due to be available soon. Wales is due for review on the 9th July where a date may be announced then. 

*Update* 19/06/20* – Reopening date given for Northern Ireland, warning about allergy testing before officially reopening and health and safety training for staff allowed prior to official opening date.

The date that has been confirmed is 6th July for Northern Ireland, however this is subject to the virus being contained. We still await confirmation on the dates for England, which is set to be 4th July at the earliest. Scotland have not announced a date yet and Wales will assess the situation on the 9th July as to whether salons will be able to reopen from the 13th July. No guidance has been released for Wales yet. 

You are not able to carry out any allergy testing for clients before your definite opening date. This must only be carried out when you are able to reopen officially.

You are however able to carry out staff training before your reopening date, but this must be limited to health and safety and new guidelines or policies NOT hair or beauty training and you must still remain closed to the public. Read more on NHBF.

*Update 18/06/20* – NHBF has requested urgent publication for reopening guidelines from the government.

A letter has been sent to the key government ministers from the NHBF, requesting salon reopening guidelines. It stresses the need for clarification on health and safety advice and ample time to put measures in place to enable salons to reopen safely when given the go ahead.  

*Update 11/05/20* – Provisional reopening date for salons

A statement has been released this morning from Dominic Raab stating that hospitality and ‘personal services’ such as hair and beauty salons and barbershops in England will not be able to reopen until 4th July at the earliest. Read the full statement on NHBF website here. 

The Prime Minister spoke yesterday evening at 7 pm making slight changes to the current lockdown restrictions here in the UK. The new government message is to ‘Stay alert. Control the virus. Save lives’. 

This message has confused many across the country. The ‘road-map’ that was set out did not seem to offer much in a way of clarity for most, including us in the hair and beauty industry.

However this morning, Monday 11th May, Dominic Raab released a statement stating that hospitality and ‘personal care services’ such as hair and beauty salons and barbershops in England will not be able to reopen until 4th July at the earliest. See the full statement on NHBF website. A further update is expected later following the NHBF meeting with representatives from the Department for Business, Energy and industrial Strategy this morning.

This post will be kept updated as we know more, so check back for the latest information.

The National Hair and Beauty Federation is a great source for hairdressers and beauty professionals. 

They provide reliable information which is regularly updated, so you can be sure the information provided is accurate and helpful, all of which we need at this time.

They also have a coronavirus information hub with daily updates and continue to work with the government ensuring salons and barbershops are not allowed to reopen until it is safe to do so and clear guidance is available on PPE. Keep your eye on their posts as they have proven very informative.

How will salons look when they are able to reopen?

This is another situation in which we are all frantically trying to envision, “what will salons look like when we are able to reopen?”

With the current government guidelines being to keep a 2 metre distance from one another, it is no wonder we are struggling with the concept of being able to return to work and maintain the safety of staff and clients alike. 

If we take a look at what other countries have done to tackle this issue, we may get some idea of what the government may propose for us. They have already mentioned that the use of face masks ‘could be useful’ in the transition back into work, which makes sense given the close proximity in which we work.

Across Europe hair salons have been among the first businesses allowed to reopen when lock-down restrictions have been eased, this may be a positive sign of things to come for the UK to follow. 

It is understandable there are mixed opinions and concerns about whether hair salons should fall in the first category of businesses opened, as they have been in other European countries.

Germany have recently reopened their hair salons to customers and this article from the BBC has outlined their steps taken to suppress the spread of the coronavirus within salons.

Some of the guidelines being introduced include:

  • No waiting area
  • No magazines
  • No dry cuts
  • Ideally no blow dries
  • Face masks for both hairdressers and customers
  • Gloves must be worn until a clients hair is washed (but can be removed for the cut itself)
  • No talking face to face – the rules say, any communication during the consultation must be done via the mirror and kept to a minimum
  • Salons must record the names of their customers so that contact tracing of infections can take place if necessary
  • Salons must wash gowns after every use to avoid the spread of infection
  • Cuts by appointment only to avoid customers waiting in the salon
  • Customers and hairdressers must keep 1.5 metre distance, except when the service is being carried out
  • Fresh air must be circulated, the rules specify this should be 100m3/h per hairdresser
  • Customers must wash their hands upon entry to the salon
  • Scissors & tools must be thoroughly disinfected between uses, as well as hairdressing chairs

They outline that business is not as usual, as we can see from the new rules they have instated above. They state that the regulatory body says the rules are necessary because by its very nature, hairdressing is intimate. 

The United States has also seen some salons reopen in some areas. This article in the Telegraph describes how one salon owner has been running similarly to the German salon guidelines with additional temperature checks on clients as they enter the salon.

What can we learn from salons in other countries that have reopened?

 

It looks like we will have to be wary of overcrowding in the salon and only book one customer in at a time. This means no cuts between colours etc. This will also mean we can only work at approximately 50% capacity due to the restrictions. 

We will likely have to work less days, if there are a number of stylists in one salon (depending on the size of the salon), to comply with the social distancing measures or increase opening hours and split shifts between stylists.

We may also be following guidelines for hair salons similar to those laid out in Germany, but await the official advice given by the government before making any speculations.

Will we need to wear face masks?

We briefly touched on this above, and there is no clear guidance at present as to whether hairdressers will need to wear face masks when we return to work. We hope that use of PPE will be addressed when looking into hair salons reopening safely. 

I think it is safe to assume that with the NHBF working alongside the government, it will be a concern that is raised as a priority.

Here, they have posted about their communication with the government and assured us of their efforts to protect salon owners and staff. 

This post from NHBF, highlights their efforts to deliver the message that salons should only be reopened when it is safe to do so. 

As previously mentioned, when looking at what other countries have done to help stop the spread of infection in hair salons – they have been instructed to wear face masks. From this we could make an educated guess that this will also be the case for salons in the UK, but we will await official confirmation.

How to prepare for the post covid-19 rush

 

While we are unable to work in the salon and hope to have an exit strategy outlined in the coming days, it is important to be prepared for when we are able to open again.

We have already discussed the potential new measures that may come into play such as operating at half capacity and how the likelihood of wearing face masks may be our ‘new normal’. 

Over at Salon Services they have posted about ‘How to prepare for the post-coronavirus rush’ where they offer helpful tips on ‘Staying in touch with customers’ and ‘Creating pamper packages’ among others. Check out their post for some inspiration!

Communicate with staff

When given a date to work towards, communicate as early as possible with your staff about how you are going to proceed and adapt, with safety at the forefront of all your decisions of course.

Contact clients

Calling your client base to check in and inform them of your date to reopen will no doubt be on your checklist to reopen. 

You may also want to think about the order in which you contact clients, perhaps the ones that were cancelled in the first week of lockdown should be the first in the queue? They will be well overdue a haircut and am sure will be eagerly awaiting the good news!

Consider offers / discounts

Another consideration may be to offer free haircuts to any NHS/key worker clients that you may have. When the dust has settled for the NHS, a pamper session may be welcomed and offering your services for free, is a small gesture to thank workers for their hard work during the coronavirus crisis.

Professional Beauty have published an inspirational post on: how salons support the NHS amid Coronavirus outbreak. In this they talk about ways in which salons and other businesses have adapted their workplaces or services to help out the NHS.

In these times of uncertainty it unmasks the compassion of the human race and we can really see the good in helping others, much like the NHS have helped so many people whose lives have been affected by the Coronavirus.

Client consultations

Finally, it may be an idea to ask your clients when arranging to book them back in, if they have used any home hair colouring products. 

If this is the case, you will need to dedicate some time ahead of the allotted appointment, to performing a skin test and strand tests before proceeding. 

Read my post on the importance of skin testing here. 

Useful guides to help your salon when reopening

The NHBF are currently working on a free guide to help salons in their anticipation to reopen. This will be available to everyone in the industry and NHBF members will also be able to download a range of free templates, including information posters and communications for staff and clients. 

Keep the page bookmarked, as you will want to check it out as soon as it is available!

Phorest also have a plethora of information when it comes to coping during the lockdown period. Including this great free guide: The salon owners coronavirus communication pack. 

Some of the content includes: 

  • Social media graphics
  • Email templates
  • Salon best practice document for staff 
  • Podcasts 
  • The all important webinar on back to work boundaries which you can watch on demand at a time that suits you! 

Sounds good right?!

Professional beauty have also put together a post: How to reopen your beauty salon after Covid-19. 

This includes some useful insights and positive actions we can take today for a better launch in the not so distant future.

Financial help

What support is available for salon owners and self employed hairdressers?

Aside from missing our colleagues (read friends) and clients the other upsetting factor has been the financial ramifications of not being able to work. 

Fortunately for most, the government has stepped in and offered the much needed financial support to help us through this crisis.

So what help is available?

Help for the self employed

*Update 01/06/20* – Second and final taxable grant available for the self employed.

A second taxable grant will be available in August, for the self employed. This will be paid in a single instalment and is worth 70% of your average monthly profits, up to a maximum of £6,570 this time. The first grant applications close on 13/07/20.

A taxable grant worth 80% of your average trading profits

As cited in the NHBF post, the government set up a scheme to allow the self-employed (or members of a business partnership) to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of their average trading profits up to a maximum of £7,500, equivalent to three months’ profit. 

The HMRC have now created an online eligibility checking tool, which as the name states, means you can input your details to check your eligibility for the grant. You will need your Unique Taxpayer Reference and National Insurance number to hand. 

HMRC have also stated that they will now be contacting those who may be eligible based on their 2018 to 2019 tax return, so again, look out in your inbox, letter box or whichever method of correspondence you have agreed to hear from the HMRC, for further information.

Deferring payment on your tax account

As cited on the Gov.uk website, self employed workers are also able to defer (if needed) their second payment on account for their tax – which would be due July 31 2020. If you choose to delay, you have until Jan 31 2021 to pay the balancing payment. 

Help for employers

Employers Job Retention

*Update 01/06/20* –  Changes to the job retention scheme.

In June and July, the government will continue to pay 80% of wages up to £2,500, including NI and pension contributions for the hours the employee doesn’t work.

  • From 1st July businesses have the flexibility to bring back furloughed staff on a part time basis. Employers will pay wages for the hours agreed to work and will still be able to claim for hours not worked.
  • In August, the government will pay 80% of wages – capped at £2,500. NI and pension contributions will be paid by employers for the hours not worked by the employee.
  • In September the government will pay 70% of wages – capped at £2,187.50 for the hours not worked by the employee. Employees then pay 10% of wages to make it up to 80% – including the governments 70% – this is capped at £2,500. Employees also pay NI and pension contributions for the hours not worked. 
  • In October, the government will pay 60% of wages – capped at £1,875 – for the hours not worked by the employee. This time, employers will pay 20% to make it up to the 80% which is capped at £2,500 and still pay the NI and pension contributions for the hours the employee does not work.  

This scheme will close to new entrants from 30th June. Read more at NHBF.

For more information check out this Gov.uk page. 

According to Gov.uk, they have set out an Employers Job Retention Scheme. This enables employers to claim for 80% of your employees wages plus any employer National Insurance and pension contributions if you have put them on furlough because of the Coronavirus. 

They provide advice such as:

  • What you’ll need
  • How to claim
  • After you’ve claimed

Here are some helpful links from Gov.uk to help you navigate. They are updated regularly so remember to check back for the most up to date information.

Work out 80% of your employees’ wages to claim through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Financial support for businesses during coronavirus

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: step by step guide for employers

Coronavirus: Business support

The NHBF have a great FAQ resource for more information on this subject in their post: Coronavirus: Government Job Retention Scheme FAQs 

Apprenticeships

*Update 20/05/20* – Apprenticeships.

New apprenticeship guidance has been released from the government. It includes information on how the government are offering support for apprentices and employers during this time, safer working guidelines for training and assessment including remote training from providers where possible and extensions to assessment time frames.

Apprentices can be furloughed like other employees. If they are furloughed, they are able to continue training as long as they are not providing services for your salon or generating income for you. However, you must pay them their correct wage (National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage) for any time spent training. 

The Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education have more advice over on their website.

For more information on apprenticeships, check in with your training provider – as they will be able to provide you with the correct information according to their guidelines.

Gov.uk have a document in response to the Coronavirus outbreak. This sets out guidance for apprentices, employers, training providers and assessment organisations.

They also provide a great resource including all coronavirus articles for the apprentice service.

Deferral of VAT payments between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020

Guidance from Gov.uk have also made temporary changes to the VAT payments due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020, this is to help businesses manage their cash flow. Read more here.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)

Guidance from Gov.uk have introduced a scheme to help small and medium sized businesses to access loans and other kinds of finance up to £5 million.

The Government guarantees 80% of the finance to the lender and pays interest and any fees for the first 12 months. 

Find out if your salon business is eligible here with more information on how to apply. 

Bounce Back Loans for Businesses (BBLS)

Gov.uk states that ‘The Bounce Back Loan Scheme enables smaller businesses to access finance more quickly during the coronavirus outbreak’. 

This scheme helps small and medium sized businesses to borrow between £2,000 and up to 25% of their turnover. The maximum loan available is £50,000.

The government guarantees 100% of the loan and you do not need to pay any fees or interest in the first 12 months. After the 12 months is up, the interest rate will be 2.5% a year. 

It is worth noting that you cannot apply for this if you are already claiming funding for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.  

Salon Services have also created a post where they have rounded up information on the financial support available and are keeping it up to date as new announcements are made. 

You can view this here: Coronavirus: the financial support available for your hair and beauty business.

REMEMBER! Stay vigilant, unfortunately scammers are using this opportunity to cash in. If you receive anything that seems at all suspicious, do not respond immediately or give out your bank details or personal information without first checking that the source is trustworthy.

Follow your gut and don’t make rash decisions in the haste to receive your payment. HMRC have outlined guidance on how to protect yourself and your business from fraud and cyber crime. 

What can you be doing while your salon is closed?

How to generate income while your salon is closed due to the covid-19 crisis

*Update 21/05/20* – Salons able to operate  a ‘click & collect’ service for retail from June 15th.

From the 15th June 2020, salons are able to operate a ‘click & collect’ service for retail products. Orders must be placed either online, telephone or via messaging. You are not able to open for any other services and must remain closed. Clients are not able to enter the premises to pay for their items and must maintain social distancing upon collection. Implementing timed slots may be worth thinking about to avoid too many people arriving at one time. 

It is in these difficult times where we are unable to work from home that the financial aspect can be hard hitting. Our attention naturally turns to being inventive and thinking about how we can generate income while your salon is closed due to the covid-19 crisis. 

Now is not the time to panic, if we think rationally there are ways in which we can make this work. 

Phorest has come up with a great post: ‘Never lose faith: Successful avenues for making money while closed’.

Within this they outline three steps which are actionable and beneficial. Step two consists of tips in which to make money while closed. 

Here is what Phorest advise:

  • Selling gift vouchers – This helps with cash flow for your business, at a time where income has otherwise dried up. 
  • Selling retail via eCommerce – Another way to boost your income. They have also linked to a post within their site: ‘Stimulating salon income in a time of social distancing’, giving information on how to proceed if you do not have an online store.
  • Online consultations – Most of us have got to grips with Zoom during the lockdown period and using it for your business is a great way to catch up with clients and offer advice on their hair care needs. If you have an online store, you could point them in the direction of any products you have recommended or top up their regular purchases they would usually make within the salon.

How to look after your mental & physical health throughout the pandemic

 

This is so important now, more than ever, when there seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Nourishing our mental health as well as taking care of the physical side is paramount.

There are many ways to try and ‘switch off’ from the scary time we are living through, and with so much ‘noise’ it can be so easy to neglect our well being in place of other seemingly important tasks. 

Putting your mental health on the back burner is a sure fire way to become exhausted and feel more despondent than ever.

Professional beauty addresses this in their post: Beauty business owners: managing your mental health during coronavirus. 

If you have a read, it lists 7 resources to help beauty business owners stay mentally healthy. 

Some of the areas the guide covers are: 

This guide offers thought provoking insight and tips for managing our mental health, such as only getting news and health information from a trusted source and cutting down on social media to avoid exposure to anxiety inducing fake news.

Have a read of this article from NHBF: Encouraging the hair industry to ignore media speculation. This follows a number of articles that have been published, speculating extended times in which salons will be reopening, sending the hair and beauty industry spiralling into panic and leaving us all feeling quite hopeless.  

How to stay productive during these times...

 

With all this extra time on our hands, it is important to make it count. Whilst we are unable to continue working in the salon, it is the perfect time to knuckle down and get to work on those areas of your business that are often left to fall by the wayside. 

So use this time to really think about how you can improve your business, the client experience and reflect on the big picture. 

This article from Professional Beauty: 5 ways to stay productive during the coronavirus focuses on looking at your online presence. Getting it in order, ready for when we are ready to reboot our businesses and reopen. Give it a read to get your creative juices flowing. 

Much like the NHBF has a Hub for the Coronavirus and salons, Professional Beauty has a Coronavirus support guide where they have rounded up some great resources to read at your disposal. 

Tigi have also been offering their support to the hairdressing community, in this post from Hairdressers Journal: Tigi offers support to hairdressing community.

Here they are offering salon advice, education and resources to its community as well at on their social media channels.

How to stay positive in lockdown

 

I think we have all struggled with this at some point during the coronavirus crisis, racked with worry and feeling disheartened about the whole situation. Asking questions like: ‘When can I go back to work?’ and ‘Will it be safe to return to the salon?’ the mind boggles. 

With news articles stating different scenarios, and fake news crowding our social media feeds, it only plays into our already worried states. 

However, it is critical to try and coax ourselves out of this mindset and to channel our energy into something a bit more positive. 

Salon Services have linked out to a great video where key spa figures talk through the best ways to develop a positive mindset and push ahead through current adversities. Check out the video: Developing a positive mindset to overcome adversity.

What have hairdressers been doing with their time while their salon is closed?

I’m sure you have been keeping in touch with your colleagues/salon staff throughout the lockdown, however it is always interesting to see what others in the industry have been doing to keep themselves busy and maybe motivate you to implement some of their tried and tested tips. 

From reading online industry articles to up skill for when we are back in the salon or working on your physical health to train harder for next years athletic events, Hairdressers Journal have posted ‘Hairdressers share their tips for coping during lockdown’. 

How can I keep my business safe while it is closed?

 

Security for your salon is important at the best of times, as we are experiencing some of the worst of times, it is even more crucial to have this as a top priority.

Whilst we are away from the salon and unable to conduct business whilst adhering to the current government guidelines, how can you ensure the safety of your premises?

Good Salon Guide has highlighted the fundamental areas to address whilst we have shut up shop temporarily in their post: Keep your business secure during lockdown.   

Some of the key takeaways include:

  • Testing your alarm system regularly, even when in lockdown, to ensure it is fully operational
  • Don’t keep any cash or high valuable goods on site
  • Possibly the most important: contacting your insurance provider to ensure you are fully covered whilst the pandemic is taking place and your premises are vacant.

NHBF have also published some guidelines issued by the Metropolitan Police, which are well worth a read to protect the safety of your salon whilst closed.

Client communication advice

How to stay connected with clients through a crisis

As our jobs are so hands on and communicative, it has been quite an adjustment, adapting from conversing for hours at a time to what feels like radio silence. 

This doesn’t have to be the case, even though we are unable to continue ‘business as usual’. 

Keeping in touch with clients is as essential as ever. They will be feeling as lost as we are and a friendly phone call, text message or email will be no doubt welcomed, reassuring them during these tricky times.

Your clients will likely have the same concerns that we do, ‘When will salons reopen?’ and ‘What safety measures will be needed to adhere to?’

So connecting with them to reassure them and help as best we can is essential, after all, we are with some clients through bumps in the road during their personal hardships – so this situation is no different, as we all face the unknown together. 

In Phorests article: Together, but apart: Staying connected with salon clients through a crisis, they discuss going back to basics and looking into ways in which we would keep in touch with a friend or relative who lives away.

They take a common sense approach to reaching out to our client base, and suggest ways in which to nurture our relationships, even when we are apart.

Hairdressers Journal have also suggested taking a proactive approach to keeping in touch with our client base during the pandemic. 

Their article: What we can learn from calling clients during lockdown, emphasises the importance of keeping the lines of communication open by looking at what a number of salons are doing.

The take home of the article is that there are many positive outcomes to calling our clients during this time, even if it is just for a chat!

Marketing advice during lockdown

How do you want to look back on these weeks we have and are still spending at home? 

Do you want to feel pleased with the progress you have made in your personal and business development, or feel dispirited at the time you have lost and not utilised effectively?

As we all know, marketing is an important part of your salon business. Whether that is through word of mouth, social media updates or client questionnaires to find out areas to improve. We can use this idle time out of the salon to really ramp up our marketing game plans.

Alice Kirby, from Lockhart Meyer – salon marketing specialists, prompts us to ‘take control and make difficult decisions to minimise the damage to your beauty or hair business, then lead your team to success when you reopen’.

Her post on: 5 steps: ensure your salon business survives covid-19 urges us to consider these 5 areas of marketing when working out how to successfully push through this emergency and come out on top, when we reach the other side.

Her advice is comprised in these 5 steps:

  1. Communicate with your salon clients
  2. Communicate with your salon team
  3. Improve your client offering
  4. Improve your salon marketing communications
  5. Boost salon business and personal performance

Her extensive post covers these 5 areas in depth with some great actionable advice.

Marketing and promoting your salon during covid-19

Marketing and promoting your salon during the Coronavirus crisis is one of the ways in which we can move our business forward, when we have ground to a halt in others. 

In doing so, it helps build the foundation to build upon when we are able to reopen. Your efforts now could be the difference between keeping your loyal client base or losing them to your competition in the future. 

Stephanie, from Sunnystorm Marketing has stressed in her post: Marketing and promoting your salon during Covid-19, that ‘it is totally normal to freak out at the beginning, but the panic needs to stop at a certain point and we need to take action’. 

She paints the picture of a salon owner needing to be resourceful, flexible and creative. To take the bull by the horns, get back in the driving seat and gain control of the situation. 

Her key topics covered are as follows:

  1. Community, creation and connection online
  2. Be creative in your sales and promotions, and tell clients how they can support you
  3. Invest in yourself and your education
  4. Be a force for good and a leader

Stephanie has also created a YouTube video summarising the post – check it out here.

30 days to grow your salon with a quarantine twist

Some of you may already be familiar with Phorests ‘30 Days 2 Grow – Salon challenge’ series. This is where they give actionable daily advice for salons to follow along, once you have signed up. 

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit us, we are all well aware, that it is not easy to continue with our daily salon lives.

However, they have innovatively come up with a new campaign: ‘30 days 2 grow your salon challenge with a quarantine twist!’.

This series is completely free, so you do not need to be a Phorest client to take part. You also don’t need to use software in your salon. 

This is an all inclusive challenge that all salon owners can partake in. Helping you to return to trading with a more positive outlook and a pep in your step.

The highlights of undertaking this series are:

  • It helps empower your brand, one action at a time
  • You will discover things about your team and salon
  • Network with like minded salon owners and help send a positive and supportive message to the world
  • Be in a better position to successfully reopen your salon after the covid-19 crisis

What are you waiting for?! Why not give it a try!

Rounding up

To wrap up, we may not have all the answers. Hopefully this guide has helped ease some of the worry that we have all felt since the coronavirus first reared its ugly head. By digging into the facts and looking at what we have learnt already, we can try and prepare for what may be coming next.

Things will get better, stay positive.

As VE day is upon us it is an important lesson to learn that things will get better. If we stick it out, we will be able to embrace our loved ones once again, return to our old lives and look back on this as a moment in history.

It will be tough going for a while as we try to fit in the backlog of cancelled clients, get used to our strange working environment and try to keep positive in the coming months.

But with patience (which we have all had to master during these last few weeks) and kindness we will get through this. Masks and all. 

Stay safe out there.