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Triple award winners at Hairhouse Warehouse

Sarah Stowe

Jim and Ann Marshall flew back to Perth from the Hairhouse Warehouse conference and gala night clutching not one but three awards.

“It’s always nice to be recognised, but it’s a bit overwhelming. We were nominated for five awards and brought back three. It was like winning a second grand final,” says Jim.

The couple had triumphed last year in the Franchisee of the Year 1 to 2 Stores and this time went for a repeat performance, also scooping up the awards for Customer Service and Franchisee Citizen of the Year.

“We put a lot of emphasis on Franchisee of the Year, it says we’re one of the best in the group,” says Jim. Taking out the customer service award was a thrill too, because the pair put a huge emphasis on customer service as the cornerstone of their business.

“We have a different vibe in our stores. Any successful business is down to the people, they create the vibe. We have warm smiles, conversation and gentle music, we’re building relationships with our customers and want them to feel as if they’ve had a great experience.”

In the salon, the customers are treated with massage cushions and coffee. It sounds simple but Jim believes the key to success is how the store staff treats its clients.

“It’s been the level of customer service we insist on. Customers come in not because of the products or the haircuts but because of the service. We said we wanted our customers to want to walk over hot coals to get to us, and they are: there are about 210 shops in the shopping centre here and about one third of them are closed now for refits, and last week we still were the number one store in South Australia and Western Australia for the salon side. People like us.”

The couple run two stores – Gateways, which has nine staff, and the Rockingham outlet with a team of seven.

A fundamental part of how way the Marshalls run their business is meetings with all staff. Constant contact and transparency are proving successful: the staff has daily morning meetings, and the franchisees keep the team up to date with the store’s performance at a monthly meeting.

So how do the pair work together?

“We both work at both salons. Ann is the face of the business, she’s the hairdresser. I do all the bookwork and planning and marketing, and blow into the shops. We’re yin and yang – Ann does merchandising and stock orders.

“We’ve been working together for 20 years; it’s all about respecting each other’s roles. She’s very good at hairdressing and been doing a long time, she’s the heart and soul of the business. I’m there to advise when needed, I step in if there are problems.

“I make sure we know exactly how much we’ve spent on stock, and that we clear all our bills, and don’t carry over any debt to suppliers to the next month.”

The couple has first-hand experience of losing money in business and is adamant this won’t happen again.

“We’ve suffered in the past from not being cashflow conscious, now it’s really important that we can pay people. This means tight monetary control and a good shop.

“But it wasn’t like that when we took it on, it was one of the worst stores in the group and now it’s one of the best. We weeded out the staff who weren’t right for the business and put in people we knew from our previous business.”

The bulk of the revenue comes from retail but the Marshalls focus on promoting the salon, believing that growth here is essential. “If you concentrate on retail, anyone can buy in another store or on the internet. But they can’t buy the salon treatments or the customer service,” says Jim.

Staff are incentivised to achieve a minimum turnover in the salon and are all encouraged to multi-task; in addition to the hair services and retail merchandise the stores offer piercing, beauty treatments and make-up services.

So what next for this award-winning couple?

“We took on Rockingham in March. We would like to get it to the same status as Gateways. It’s a larger store but with a different demographic, so we have made some adjustments.

“We’re in our mid 60s, so we want to set up our stores and see the people we like growing, and hopefully becoming franchisees.”

ADVICE FOR FRANCHISEES

Jim shares his top advice tips:

“The most important advice if someone is buying an existing franchise is the need to make sure they get the correct financial information. That’s one of the biggest traps.

“Spend time looking at the store’s traffic flow, check if the demographic will be suitable to the product you will be selling.

“Spend time, and talk to accountants and other franchisees. There’s no need to rush into a decision.

“Any new franchisee coming into a group needs to spend time in a store, and you can learn a lot from a poorly performing outlet. Spend time in a struggling store and a successful one and see what is the difference.

“From day one take complete control of your money. I don’t understand how people can hand over their finances to a bookkeeper straight away. At least do the books for 12 months so you understand how your business works.”