Blog

So, you’ve heard the news... we’ve FINALLY been able to give you booking buttons for your Facebook and Instagram profiles! Happy dance please everyone 💃 Here's all the call to actions you can use to promote your new booking button!

It’s finally starting to happen! A glimmer of hope after a very, very challenging time for New Zealand and Australia with many states and cities experiencing extended lockdowns. With the government now starting to talk about potential reopening dates for hair, beauty and barbershops, we bet you’re on the edge of your seats and keen to start getting ready to get back to it.

With many hairdressers, barbers, and beauty salons in lockdown, many business owners have had to pivot their brick-and-mortar model and explore new opportunities to keep their revenue flowing.

In one of the most uncertain times we’ve ever found ourselves in, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented us all with emotional stresses we’re not used to. Gone are the days we could travel freely without checking in, or leave the house without hopping online to check the latest restrictions. With all this uncertainty it can sure take its toll on our mental health and emotional wellbeing, especially under some of the toughest lockdown restrictions in the world.

Hard times bring out the best and worst in humankind. As lockdowns grip the majority of Australia and New Zealand, civil unrest erupts in Afghanistan, and wild weather rips through Turkey and other parts of the EU – so many of us are feeling down in the dumps. And when you’re in a negative head space, that can seep through to every conversation and interaction you have with others.   

With each state experiencing their own roller-coaster journey with the COVID-19 pandemic, it can get pretty confusing for some business owners as to what applies to them. Luckily, Victoria and South Australia have just come out of their lockdown, but we’ve now seen some local government areas in Queensland put into a snap lockdown, and Sydney’s lockdown extended yet again.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or had your head buried deep in all the restriction and lockdown carnage Covid is leaving in business right now, then you may have heard our not-so-little secret. WE LAUNCHED SHORTCUTS 8.1! Here’s all the amazing features you have to look forward to in 8.1!

We’ve introduced a combined single view of your booked appointments and walk-ins to make managing your appointment book easier than ever, with intuitive design changes to the appointment schedule, the appointment touch tip and more.  

Barbers have carved their own niche in the hair industry – creating successful modern-day barbershops built on the foundations of tradition and heroing one of the longest standing trades. They’ve been revived to become places where fellas go not just for the trendy short back and sides cut, but for a unique experience. An experience where they get to sit back and relax with beer and banter. 

Ever been so flat-out in the salon you’ve rushed a client’s checkout, accidentally keying in $10 instead of $100 – uh oh! You just lost $90 on the transaction and your client’s already zipped out the door? #Awkies! Don’t worry we’ve all been there before...it’s a common mistake that happens more than you think in the salon industry. 

As salon owners, we’re constantly wondering if the service we’re providing is enough. Is my client happy? Will they come back? What if they tell people bad things about my business? The thoughts are endless. 

As we get cosy with the idea of 2021, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. I feel that this year is going to hold so much potential for salons who have proven they can survive and thrive through whatever the world can throw at them, after the fiasco of 2020.

We all love a good makeover story. The feeling of polishing something that’s past it’s prime to make it shiny and new again. We all need our Mia Thermopolis moment in the Princess Diaries when the hand-held mirrors part ways to reveal the new and improved Princess of Genovia. Ugh, an early noughties dream. We’d LOVE to have a makeover just like that on ourselves one day… 😉

Creating a marketing plan is a great way to ensure you have the right plan in place to achieve your goals. Although, it can be a daunting task and hard to even know where to begin!

We chatted with Ingrid van de Berg, our fab New Zealand Sales Manager, about how the barber industry is evolving to include more technology and progress their business even further.  

Ok guys, we get it… 2020 was a rubbish year. From bushfires to a global pandemic, lockdowns to protests, to wild weather and a wild ride of a US election thrown in, it was a year that was… a lot... to handle. At best. But in amongst the real-bad, we like to think there was some good.

Let’s face it, when you have a salon, spa or barber business to run you’re BUSY. With a capital B. You have a lot on your plate, juggling all the demands of your business, not to mention family, friends, and life in general. So wherever you can make your life easier, you’re going to be jumping on that opportunity, right? The simplest way to make your life easier is to (drum roll please…) automate. Seriously. Anything you can automate, just do it!

Let’s face it, when you have a salon, spa or barber business to run you’re BUSY. With a capital B. You have a lot on your plate, juggling all the demands of your business, not to mention family, friends, and life in general. So wherever you can make your life easier, you’re going to be jumping on that opportunity, right? The simplest way to make your life easier is to (drum roll please…) automate. Seriously. Anything you can automate, just do it!