Pivot A Salon Emergency – In Real Life!
Alex Thaddeus
What’s not spoken about publicly is salon emergencies – and how, as business owners we can quickly pivot, to find a solution and ensure the business and clients are affected as little as possible. I can share a recent real-life scenario which took myself and my team by surprise on a normal Friday morning.
When you hear there is a salon emergency, your first thought is a hair issue – someone has turned green, orange or snapped. However on a busy Friday morning, one thing not on my bingo card was a full boiler breakdown. A disaster like this can unravel very quickly and become out of control if you’re not equipped for situations like this, so here’s an insight into how it was turned around into a funny story.
Picture this: it’s a Friday, the first day of a fully booked weekend, and the salon is back to back. We have clients in the chairs for cuts, colours, perms and extensions – you name it, it’s happening. There’s a bustling energy as people share stories about their upcoming holidays, exciting summer plans and big events. Then, out of nowhere, the boiler broke completely goes – a huge dull bang … as if mid-rush was the perfect time to malfunction.
Following a run to the boiler and a real panic moment, whilst attempting the usual methods; turning on and off, holding on the on button I realised this was much more than I could attempt to fix. I rang up for maintenance right away and the engineer got to us fairly quickly, confirming that the boiler had well and truly had its last go. My first thought was the clients in the chair, and secondly, how much will a new boiler cost?
My priority was ensuring the clients were made aware of the situation, and I honestly think, because we had made such a high and bustling energy within the salon that day, the fault didn’t cause too many disruptions, and they were all incredibly understanding.
My team kept clear communication with their clients in the chairs and waiting area, whilst appointments were rescheduled as quickly as possible to reduce the inconvenience. Thankfully with our SOS message on socials to also alert people to the situation, one of my lovely hairdressing friends, Pam Smith, works in the salon across the road and came over straight away with the offer of her backwash (if clients were willing) and space which was so incredibly kind and helpful. In the past we’ve helped each other with loans of electricals and products and, but this help on the day was an absolute dream – it just shows we have a real community in the industry and I genuinely appreciated that support so much that day!
I’d say, upon reflection that we established a small and supportive community that day in the salon, as everyone was sympathetic and reassuring, we were able to make light of the situation very quickly. It reassured me that the emergency had been pivoted into a laughable event, thanks to the quick thinking and communication around the salon that day.
Likewise, our wonderful engineer could fit the boiler that weekend meaning we could quickly reschedule any required appointments from the Saturday to the following week. The team also offered to work later the following week to ensure we could fit required clients in – that’s teamwork at its best.
Situations like these can be incredibly damaging to a business when it’s out of your hands, and I’ve learned that owning a business comes with crisis management. You learn the importance of jumping into these mini disasters before they get out of control. Its continuously building my resilience, adaptability and overall confidence in managing my business in the long run. I’m sure down the line I’ll be thankful it happened, but for now I’ve got a close eye on that new boiler, so it doesn’t happen again.
