Welcome to the inaugural version of Tech Talk with Helios!  We hope to answer questions salon owners are asking every day, and maybe bring up a few topics you haven’t considered yet.  We’ll discuss common issues that most salons face as the technology for improving salon operations changes and increases. We also hope to use the column as an open forum for salon owners to ask questions and air viewpoints on our quickly changing industry.

We’ll start by presenting a couple of topics that should be of interest to most salon owners – mainly, why it’s important to computerize your salon if you haven’t already!

Why Computerize?

If you’re still working from so-called “client-cards,” then you should be giving a second thought to computerizing your business.  Chances are your objections are based on one of two areas: 1) you don’t see how running your salon on a computer will help you make or save more money, or 2) you don’t believe its worth the time and effort.  (BTW, if you’re NOT using client cards, don’t laugh; informal polls show that a sizable number of salon owners are still using an indexed card system!) 

We’re going to assume for now that you’ve heard all the reasons to computerize – improved inventory control, better security to prevent employee theft, etc. – and cut to the chase with some reasons you may not have considered.  

Best Reason to Computerize Your Salon:  Your employees and customers may not respect your business if you don’t.  Today’s workforce, especially the demographic most likely to be working in your salons, has grown up expecting computerization of all aspects of business, and your lack of it makes your business look minor league at best. 

Same goes for your customers.  When they come in and see your employees fumbling through index cards, two things come to their minds:  1) “Are they going to mess something up with my card?” and, 2) “What have they already messed up with my card?” (not to mention, “What happens if they lose it”)?  Nothing defeats customer (or employee) loyalty quicker than a lack of confidence in your fundamental business practices, and having a smoothly running modern business operation is your best bet to avoid those issues.

Second Best Reason to Computerize Your Salon:  In a (strange) word: WANs. WAN stands for Wide Area Network, and basically means the ability to connect computer terminals in separate stores together so they’re all sharing the same information and customer data.  It’s not as complicated as it sounds; so don’t be turned off by it until you investigate the benefits.  More often than not, your software takes care of all the heavy lifting.

If you don’t aspire to move beyond Main Street in your home town, then you probably don’t care about this, but a majority of salon owners are not only savvy small business owners, they’re folks with a growth plan! Multiple salon ownership, or even operating a franchise chain, is the ultimate goal for many successful operators, and you’re not going to be able to do it without using the latest tools available. 

A well-run, computerized operation is the key to success in this area, and having all of your salons on the “same page” is the Holy Grail of management and efficiency.  Not all salon management software packages are up to this task, so make sure when (and if) you make the leap to computerization you insure that the company you go with supports this feature.  Nothing could be worse than outgrowing your software before you’ve reaped its benefits and are ready to open another salon! 

This column is brought to you by the knowledgeable staff at Helios, and is intended to be a general source of information regarding salon management software and improving salon performance through technology.