The “Ugly” side of the Lockdown:  When Beauty Salons can’t Open

When you have a dream for two years of opening your own salon and two weeks after signing the contract on your new location, coronavirus shuts down your business.

For three months, Monica Landshadlova could only look at her new cosmetic beauty salon and wonder when she would be able to accept her first clients.

Monica did three things during her slow period:

1. Set up her workplace
2. Set up her Facebook page
3. Got training and coaching from Dermalogica on Hygiene for the salon

The last item is very important as Dermalogica reached out to its practitioners to certify their salons pro-actively.  Training on hygiene and coaching on communication resulted in a certificate and also a listing on the Dermalogica website for salons with the certified hygiene training.

Being able to point to the Dermalogica site and the certification added professionalism and seriousness to her new business even before it opened.

Watch the video here

Because she had worked ten years at the previous salon, she felt confident that many of her previous clients would join her at her new location.  But that did not stop her communicating via her Facebook page the new set-up, the hygiene masks and general beauty tips.

The engagement was encouraging, and when she was finally able to open the clients did come…and come…and come!  Monica is working 14 hour days trying to meet the pent up demand for beauty treatments that the lock-down had stifled.

When asked about her reaching new clients or what sort of systems she might employ going forward, the reason for adding a website was intriguing.  While is it clear that adding an Instagram page is a requirement for most beauty salons, the reason given for adding a website is that some older customers don’t want to set up an Instagram or Facebook account.

This reasoning goes against the general belief that most of the demographic trends in Facebook are for the older audience to be engaging more, while the younger demographics are moving away from Facebook.

Monica is open to ideas such as using an app for bookings and exploring other technologies, especially as she thinks about expansion in the future.  But for now, she believes her key to success is focusing on personal communication in person and via messaging, voice calls and Facebook with a sprinkle of Instagram.