Small Business Owner

Interview

The Hair ZoneOwned & Operated by: Mark Gugliemo

Lindsey OliverNichols CollegeMGMT-100-01

The Hair ZoneO Sole-proprietorship

O Mark wanted to be able to run his business, his way & didn’t really need help in ownership

O Services include hairdressing for both women and men, manicure/pedicure, facials

O In business for 3 years & is currently my hairdresser

A little Background

O Mark has been in the hairdressing business since 1977

O When he was 19 years old, he worked as an automobile mechanic in a shop located right next to a barber shop (New York)

O He came to like the idea of styling hair & immediate pay; went to school at age 23, resulting in becoming licensed

O He owned 2 different salons, one after the other; lost both, one to a fire & the other through divorce

Getting Started

O Once Mark bought his space in Dudley, MA, he rebuilt the salon completely with the materials that were already there to save so that he virtually paid nothing to rebuild

O Ex: dismantled walls, saved everything down to each nail

O Having his license, & years of previous experience really benefitted him, as well as business mistakes that he had learned from

O Mark went from just hairdressing to now offering nail service, facials and soon, full spa treatment and massages

Successes

O Mark said his major success is that his business has physically grown over the past three years, even in the bad economy

O Most rewarding aspect of running the business: being able to adjust money that comes in, take a paycheck each week and be able to get a raise each year

O Critical success factors: maintaining good service hours, providing exceptional service that results in clients wanting to re-book, maintaining reasonable prices and staying current

Challenges

O Being able to create an income that will meet your expenses, weekly, making sure that you breakeven, not monthly

O Finding great employees that will please the customers

O Greatest challenge: adding services to become more well-rounded

O Overcoming the challenges comes with practice

O Fatal flaws: you have to make people want to come back and you have to pick up the slack

Competition

O Mark said that he doesn’t think of other shops as competition, he mainly strives to better his shop and himself

O To achieve a competitive advantage, you must consistently provide great service

O To keep customers satisfied, you must know current style, and many different styles, to be able to look at someone and know what would look good on them

Marketing

O When a client comes into the Hair Zone for the first time, the secretary will take their email, & automatically send them a voucher for their next visit

O The salon will also email for feedback, asking for one thing the client did not like about the salon

O They don’t exactly advertise, but instead, the salon gets involved in the community, hosts in house promotions and product sales

Staffing

O When seeking new employees, Mark looks for someone who is a “people-person,” someone with experience, flexibility, honesty and open-mindedness

O He operates with 3 hair stylists, 2 nail technicians, all are facial trained & a secretary

The Future

O Mark definitely plans to stay in business

O Plans/goals: add services, eventually remodel, become more of a manager and do less physical work, add a 2nd location

Unique Questions

Q) What about cutting hair do you like so much?

A) It allows me to be creative and I love styling someone’s hair and seeing a big smile on their face afterwards!

Q)Do you ever wish you had stayed a mechanic?

A) Not at all, I’m doing what I was meant to do

Q)Your wife must love that you can cut/Style hair, right?

A) Like you wouldn’t believe, its very convenient!

Summary

Mark said that his advice for a young person wanting to own a business is:

1. Once in business, you must constantly keep growing, don’t maintain

2. Build assets

3. Use creative financing, no big spending

I learned a lot about Mark & his business & now consider opening a business more than ever before