All in A Matter of Time

It’s not always about how long it takes…

This is something that was drummed into me in my college days. I remember rolling my eyes and thinking that the task ahead of me was impossible and the time given was not enough!

I even competed at world skill levels and had strict timings!

Then I left college and opened my first salon, and that perception changed …… drastically and quickly.

I had to hone my craft, I had to think about my treatments. Not only did I realise that commercially viable times were important to run a smooth column and manage appointments but also to enable me to have a viable business that made a profit and was able to hold its own in a saturated marketplace.

Having those commercially viable times there contribute to the day to day running of a business, such as

• Breaks
• Productive working hours
• Stock
• Column management
• Wage
• And much more

Commercially viable timings are not only applicable to our industry, but it’s also applicable to all/ most industries.

My husband works for Nestle and also worked at Toyota, where lean manufacturing is standard practice.

It’s important to give yourself enough time to do everything efficiently without rushing and affecting the quality but not too much time that the business suffers financially.

He always says “quality first because quality lasts” and he’s not far wrong.

In our Industry I see two sides of the story :

The first is, why should we have to work in a time frame? Some techs can’t do that and should not be made to or pressured to work in a specified time. We work in our own time!

All of the above is fine! If you work for yourself and you’re not bothered about profits or earning a decent wage and have very little overheads or staff.  It’s also fine if you are happy doing them in the time you do !!! That’s your choice.

However, in a salon environment, you will be expected to work to the commercially viable time for the service you are providing. This is to ensure your employer is covering all costs of service and servicing as many clients as possible.  It also ensures staff and bills get paid and all stock costs are covered,   whilst maintaining standards and the smooth running of a salon! And if working alone and you need to bring in a wage, being commercially viable is equally as important.

There is also the flip side of this and being an educator, I hear this all the time, the time is cut in the salon to allow more clients to be serviced.

If you and your staff are able to do this without negative effects on treatments, that’s amazing and great for profit!

However, commercially viable times are there for staff to work to. Some staff will need those times and maybe a little longer when first starting out in the industry.

In some instances, the standard of treatment is affected such as no or little cuticle work, bad prep and bad application through rushing. In return, this means more time is needed to repair clients and deal with complaints. This in turn makes shortening the original time a false economy !!!

There are pros and cons for both! But I wanted you to understand why these timings are given.

So don’t stress about how long it takes you as long as you are making money and enjoying your work that’s all that matters but understand to make a healthy profit, more lean working will benefit you in the long run.

And if working in a salon be aware you will need to work to those times. If you feel you are not given enough time or if you are struggling, ask your salon owner for advice and help!

Employers give your employees a plan to help develop them to work to commercially viable times without standards suffering or causing the tech extra added pressure (this will have an even more negative effect )

There are courses and skill-building classes available that can help speed up your service, develop yourself or your employees which will have a positive effect on your business.

It is always best to try and complete your service in a good time to a high standard to be able to be “commercially viable “❤️

Love Mel x