Most salon owners with any sort of business sense will be able to recognise when something is not quite right in their business, but it’s not always easy to figure out the exact problem.

If you recognise this situation yourself but don’t know how to fix it, the key could be to ask your customers. This may seem like an obvious course of action, but it’s surprising how reluctant some salon owners are to take it.

By asking your customers what they like and don’t like about your salon, what could be improved and for any other suggestions they may have, you will be given the tools to make your salon a runaway success. After all, the key to salon success is giving customers what they want.

With a quick customer survey or even a one-to-one chat, you can discover things like:

• “The salon chairs aren’t comfortable enough”. Clients are often in these chairs for a while, so you need to ensure you provide them with ergonomically designed chairs in a comfortable fabric.

• “The colour of the walls gives me a headache”. You may not realise the impact colour has on the mood of your clients, but a bad colour choice is easily rectified with a lick of paint.

There are several pieces of salon equipment you must acquire before opening your hair salon to the public, but some are more important than others.

Take the backwash unit; you simply cannot run a hair salon without it. You need a fit-for-purpose unit in order to be able to wash clients’ hair before a cut or during colour work. A sink or washbasin will not be acceptable for customers, so you need to find yourself some decent backwash units.

Before choosing your backwash units, it is advisable to create a separate area or ‘zone’ within your salon in which to place them. This allows you to store everything you need – i.e. towels, shampoos, conditioners etc. – nearby, as well as giving your clients some privacy from the rest of the salon floor.

As to the backwash units themselves, you need to keep the following features and aspects in mind:

• Comfort – Your clients need to be comfortable in the somewhat unusual position the backwash places them in (i.e. lying backwards). You need to ensure that the chair of the unit is ergonomically designed for comfort, is made of comfortable materials and is fitted with some kind of neck rest or support.

• Cleanliness – The backwash unit needs to be easy to clean and resistant to colour stains, so that it is hygienic for each and every client to use.

See pt.2 for more advice on choosing the right backwash units for your salon.

A new hair salon which recently opened up in the Lancashire town of Rishton is an inspiring example of a men-only grooming palace.

The salon – Louis George Hair For Men – is the brother, so to speak, of the Louis George Hair and Beauty salon just down the road (High Street). The original salon, run by owners Craig and Michelle Brasenell, was unisex but mainly attracted female clients.

In a bid to coax men through the doors, the men-only Louise George For Men offers haircuts and treatments for men that you wouldn’t normally be able to get in traditional barbers chairs. In stylish surroundings, male clients can choose from styled haircuts, manicures and pedicures, spray tans, facials, waxing and much, much more.

Craig Brasenell explains the thinking behind his exciting new venture, saying:

“The way men are now, being more open about taking more care of themselves, there was an opportunity.

“Lads are having totally different haircuts now and we thought if we go down that route why don’t we go the whole way with waxing, facials and that sort of thing?

“It’s surprising how many men do have these treatments done.”

There is nothing more rewarding than knowing that you are onto a winner when it comes to a salon. There are many different hair and beauty salons up and down the country who are competing against each other. In order to make sure that you are ahead of the competition, you need to make sure that your salon is to an appropriate standard and able to meet the demands of your clientele.

The beauty and hair industry are all related to the fashion industry, so you need to make sure that you are ahead of the trends and know what is to be expected from a fashionable hair cut.

As well as knowing what your clients will want from your salon, you also need to make sure that you have a sufficient amount of furniture within your salon. Salon furniture is readily available and can be installed into any salon very quickly. Whether you are looking for styling units, salon chairs or a new reception desk, you should find everything that you are looking for. There are different styles of salon furniture so you should be able to find furniture that fits in with the current decor of the salon.

Running a salon takes up a lot of time and you need to be prepared for the amount of work that you will be required to put in. Being a salon owner or being a manager of a hair and beauty salon can be extremely hard work and you need to make sure that you have a good team behind you who can support you all of the way.

In order to ensure that your business is a viable one, you need to make sure that the salon you run is fit for purpose and has everything that your clients as well as your staff expect to see in a top of the range hair or beauty salon. This includes the furniture and chairs that your clients are going to sit in.

Comfortable salon chairs are essential as your clients are going to be sitting in them for a very long time, especially if they are having their hair dyed. There are many different types of salon chairs for you to choose for your salon and you might want to coordinate these with some of the other salon furniture that you have been considering for the salon.