Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to the Insync Assurance Podcast. I'm your host, Dawn Cross, and today I'll be chatting about insights into owning a salon with Laura Bell, salon owner and industry mentor.
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[00:00:20] Speaker B: Well, brilliant. Thanks so much for coming on the podcast. If you could start off with introducing yourself and what you do with your business.
[00:00:27] Speaker C: Hi, Dawn. Thank you so much for having me on your podcast today.
My name is Laura Bell and I've been in the beauty industry specifically for 25 years now. And I own and work in a salon which is based in Falmouth in Cornwall, which I've had for 15 years now. We set it up in 2010.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: Oh, that's amazing. And if I remember correctly as well, you had a salon in a different city as well before you moved to Falmouth.
[00:00:56] Speaker C: Yeah, that's right. So before I moved down to Cornwall, I had a salon in my hometown of Chibnam in Wiltshire, which was primarily a nail salon because that's what I first started doing when I was 19. I basically trained in nails with CND.
I did an MBQ level three, it was actually called a mature beauty therapy course back then. And I actually got my level three in like nine, 10 months, which is unbelievable. I can't even believe I did that. But I did do it and. And then I left that. I worked in a spa actually for four weeks and then realized that the spa environment just wasn't for me at all. Then I went nail salon mainly. Well, it was literally just acrylic nails then. Obviously we didn't have gel polish and we didn't have an E file, so it was just acrylic nails back to back. I was doing like eight in the morning till eight at night. It was on like four or five pound an hour until I went self employed. So I worked there for probably about a year, 18 months, two years. And then I actually fell pregnant with my ex. Don't. Long story. And then went on to open my first, and I think it was actually the first nail salon in Chippenham in Wiltshire at the time. So I was 21, I was eight weeks pregnant, I was single, I was still living at home with my mum and dad and I opened this salon and it was. It just went mental, you know. And that was before social media. We didn't have a website. It was just crazy. Yeah, it was really, really busy straight away. So I was just working and working and working and I absolutely loved it. But it was literally primarily just acrylic nails at the time.
[00:02:27] Speaker B: Well, that's brilliant. So obviously now you've kind of expanded and everything else. What kind of inspired you, you obviously kind of just opened it and went through. What inspired you to keep going and get to the amazing point you're at now?
[00:02:38] Speaker C: Do you know what, I'm always really open and honest about this since I was about 13, 14 and my mum used to take me shopping in Bath and I used to see things that I wanted and my mum obviously couldn't afford to buy those things and I was into horses at the time and I always wanted my own horse and obviously it cost loads of money and I was kind of working out that at some point I would have to earn a good wage because already from an early age I knew that I, I liked nice things and it was going to cost a lot of money and my mum and dad were like, know if you want to get a good job, you're going to have to get good GCSEs, you're going to have to get good A levels, then you're going to have to go to university, you're going to have to get a degree and you're going to have to become a doctor or a vet or like a head teacher or a solicitor or a lawyer or something along those lines if you want a well paid job. So in my head that's kind of what my plans were. But when I was a teenager I did really struggle at school.
I suffered quite, quite badly with the thought that I never really felt like fitted in and I was bullied quite badly from around the age of sort of, I would say quite early on, like about nine actually at primary school. I've got memories of being bullied at primary school and then when I was a teenager it got really bad with the other girls at the school.
So then when I went to college I just didn't feel like I wanted to do that. I didn't really know what I wanted to do but I didn't want to let my mum and dad down.
So that's basically what happened. I didn't complete my A levels and then I went and did the beauty course and, and I knew that I had to work really, really hard to, to get some money basically. And as soon as I started working in that nail salon in Melksham, I could see that there was a lot of cash coming in and I think a full set of acrylic nails back then was around 35 pounds and my boss used to do that in an hour and I'D be thinking, obviously quite young and very naive at the time. She's on 35 pound an hour. You know, I wasn't thinking about what the profit was or anything like that at the time. And I was thinking, she's. She's on 35 quid an hour. I could do that. So that's kind of where it came from. And, And I could see the money coming in and she was always busy and all the nail varnishes and I was like, yeah, I want that. And I think the first week that I opened, I cleared about 900 quid on my own. Obviously, again, that's not profit, but when you're. What was I then, 21, that's a lot of money. And that's what's kept me going. You know, I. I am always really honest about that, that I do love having money. I'm single now, I'm very independent and I like to be able to not worry about money. It's not just about buying nice things, but it's also about knowing that I can pay my mortgage, knowing that I can go to the supermarket, I can afford to feed my kids, you know, so that's what's kept me going.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: I mean, you know, you can't help but like go that way, isn't it? At the end of the day, money makes the world go round and.
But it can make you so ambitious, can't it?
[00:05:40] Speaker C: Yeah, so I'm really ambitious. I've always been really ambitious. I'm very, very determined and really confident in knowing that whatever business I could do was, was going to work and I was going to make it work and it was going to be profitable. There was no, kind of like, this won't work. What if this doesn't work? In my head it was always like, this is going to work and it's going to be amazing. And then obviously, as the years go on, I've learned so much more about business and yeah, it's just got better and better and I absolutely love it as well. Like, I absolutely love, even to this day, I mean, not as much doing the old treatment. I literally work in my salon now. Probably like one Thursday, maybe two Thursdays a month, but I do still really enjoy it and I love, love being around people, love making women or men fell feel good about themselves. And yeah, it's just a business to be. And I feel really, really lucky that I can have a job that I've loved so much for such a long time.
[00:06:35] Speaker B: Yeah, no, definitely. And I think it's about you've got your heart and soul in it as well. It's not like it's, you know, no offense to people that do work in other salons, but, you know, you've got your own bit. You're looking after yourself, but when you've created, you are now the owner and everything else. And you built it from the ground up, the whole business, the, the vibes, the customer base and everything else. Like, it's definitely a whole new level, isn't it?
[00:06:59] Speaker C: Yeah, it's been hard work, really, really hard work over a long, long period of time as well.
But. And yeah, there's ups and downs with, with life just in general, but most of the time I have, have loved it. Like the good points have outweighed the bad for me anyway.
[00:07:20] Speaker B: No, that's really good. So I'd love to pick your brains a bit more. You know, you said you've been in the industry for 25 years, which is absolutely amazing. You know, what are some of the things, what are some of the things that people don't talk about when owning a salon? Because, you know, a lot of people probably see, you know, the, the glamorous side of it or the highlights. Like, you know, I just come in, take customers when I want, but obviously it's not all that. And you said it's a lot of hard work, so. So I'd love a bit more insight on that bit.
[00:07:47] Speaker C: It's a lot of hard work. I think I've always struggled with like the financial side of it as well, like the figures. And I'll always openly say that's not one of my best points, but it's something I'm actually really working on at the moment with my accountant because I want to be able to understand the figures more and understand the profit margins more and stuff like that and actually try and get a little bit more interested in it. So that's really, that's probably been one of the things that I've really struggled with. And obviously becoming VAT registered and making sure that you're on top of all of that as well. It is, it is constant as well.
I would say that my.
What I really struggle with is not necessarily. I don't actually struggle with it, but something that you have to do all the time, which I know a lot of people struggle with, I actually enjoy doing it is obviously the sales and the marketing because you have new clients come to you every day and. But you will have old clients belief or whatever reason they might go off, they might go off and have a baby. It Might staff might leave, they might then go to them. So you're constantly working to attract new business and that never stops. So every single day for the last however many years, I'm still always, you know, marketing my business and making sure that we get new clients through the door.
So I would say that's, that's really hard work.
I think what people don't like talking about as well in the business is, you know, when staff members leave.
Unfortunately, you know, that happens a lot as well. It can happen a lot. I've been really lucky with my team but, you know, sometimes they might come in, they then build up a, a column of clients who might be with you a year, three, four years. And then normally when they leave in this industry, whether they're employed or self employed, they then take that column with them and that can be really hard to deal with.
So I find that quite difficult. And also what people think of you. But I'm much more, I tend to not give a now what people think.
Yeah. But I think a lot of people do struggle with that, especially with social media these days. You know, you're thinking all the time, oh God, they, who do they, what are they thinking? You know, I'm just doing like a come to face, you know, like story on Instagram or whatever. And a lot of people struggle with what other people think of them as well. And that can be quite, quite hard. Mental health.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely is as well. You know, social media platforms proven that if you have content with your face in it, you know, you're more likely to get, you know, attract new followers and be accepted more by the algorithm. Obviously then you're putting your face out to the world and then you feel like maybe you need to be made up all the time. And it's hard to be authentic when you feel like you need to put your almost like a projection out because of the fact that like so many people can see it. And you've always got, you know, online trolls and haters and weirdos and, and stuff that will come across it and feel like they need to comment and.
[00:10:44] Speaker C: It is a little daunting and I know a lot of people do struggle with that when they've got their own business.
I sort of work with people with their confidence because obviously it takes a lot of time to get the confidence and to not worry about what other people think. Do your own thing. But with social media, yeah, it is important because I think people buy from people at the end of the day. And it's also important to be authentic in front of the camera. So sometimes, you know, it doesn't matter. Like, you don't need to put a filter on. I mean, I'm a makeup lover anyway, so I've always got my face on, but I wouldn't care if I did it. You know, I'll equally put a story on if I, I don't know, just walk the dogs and I'm sweaty or whatever. And I felt like I needed to say something. You kind of have to just not really care. And I think people will resonate with that more as well. And people do want to buy, buy from people, so then they'll buy into that person because they, they like that person for whatever reason. And then they will want to go to you for that treatment.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. Just being authentic as well. Because then people be like, you know, yeah, I feel like that after a full day's worth of work or, you.
[00:11:46] Speaker C: Know, because it's real life and that's what we like watching or. Yeah, resonating too, basically. Yeah, definitely. But it's hard for people to get. To get to that confidence point where they don't care. It's difficult. It takes a long time, but it is achievable. 100. Yeah. I always used to care what other people thought of me for years, and I would say definitely in the last couple of years. I've grown so much as a person in the last few years. Like, I will always concentrate on just me, myself, my family, my close circle of friends and my business. I'm not worried about what anyone else is doing, so I will get on and achieve what I want to achieve in life and not worry about what anyone else is doing or thinking.
[00:12:30] Speaker B: No, definitely. Well, my final question today is, you know, what's the one piece of advice you would give to your younger self who was just starting out in the industry?
[00:12:40] Speaker C: There's probably a couple of bits of advice.
[00:12:42] Speaker B: I was about to say. It's hard to just pick the one about 15.
[00:12:48] Speaker C: No, seriously. The two main things for me that I wish that I had done differently was understanding money.
But I was young and like I said, that's what I'm working on now, like 25 years later.
I never been good at understanding figures, so I think it's really important, no matter what age you are, if you've got your own business, that you need to understand the figures for lots and lots of different reasons. You know, you need to know if you're hitting the threshold, how much your tax is going to be, make sure you're putting away that amount Every week, every month. That's really, really important. You know, what is your profit margin, how much can you invest, etc. And also for me personally, for many, many years I had a self employed team.
Now my team is fully employed and I wish that when I was 21, when I took on my first member of staff, they weren't on a percentage basis, they were employed and I did employment from the beginning.
I've been doing it probably for about six years now, I think approximately. And it's basically changed my whole life for lots of different reasons.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: Would there be a couple you'd like to share with that on the last topic?
[00:14:04] Speaker C: So mainly it's been able to give, give me freedom within the business. So, so I just feel like when you've got a self employed team, and this is all from experience as well, obviously when you've got a self employed team, they're running their own businesses within your business.
So they're not going to work with you to be able to grow your brand. They're basically growing their own business within your business and they're just using you as a, just yeah, like a step up basically. So they're just using face. I know it can work for some people and it did work for me for many, many years and there's the whole like, don't fix it if it's not right. But for me personally that never really worked. And you haven't got, if your team is self employed you've absolutely got no say in what they do at all. And those clients, it just, it's a very, very, very, very gray area with the whole thing and it can get very, very, very complicated. So I just think as a salon owner, if you want to build your brand, you want to build your business, you want to create more freedom and have a bigger profit margin which is ultimately what we're all doing it for, then I think that you, you need to have an employed team. It definitely has changed my life. I've been able to fully sort of step outside of the business. Now I know, I mean I could literally not go in for a month and I know that my team would run it as if I was there and I would still earn exactly the same amount that when I'm not there. I just happen to go in regularly because I live up the road and I love it but I know that I don't actually. Yeah, I'm very lucky. So. Yeah. And I just think it depends on what you want to do, but that's definitely something I could have got to this point that I am now in, in my life a long, long time ago, which is annoying, but that's one of my biggest regrets.
[00:15:59] Speaker B: That's understandable. And unfortunately, you've got to learn through some of the difficult bits to then polish up and get to a very good point in your business, isn't it?
[00:16:06] Speaker C: Absolutely, yeah. We learn something every day, don't we? You know, we learn something every single day. So, yeah, that's fine. And that's what I've learned and that's what I like to share my experiences with with other salon owners, really. And hopefully they won't make the same mistakes that I did.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: That's brilliant. Is there anything else you'd like to add before we wrap up the episode today?
[00:16:29] Speaker C: Just that I think that everybody in the hair and beauty industry is amazing. We're really, really lucky to be in a incredible industry that is so supportive now and there's so much help out there if you need it. Don't give up. It can take years to get to where you want to be. Yes, it is a lot of hard work, but if you really want to achieve your goals, you will be able to do it. You just have to be positive, be confident.
And follow me on Instagram at Laura Catherine Bell and I can help you with that.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: I know, definitely. Well, thank you so much for coming on the episode today.
[00:17:06] Speaker C: You're welcome. Thank you very much for having me.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: Thank you to my guest today, Laura chatting about her journey into beauty industry and her tips into owning a salon. If you're interested in her mentoring services, please click the link in the description.
I have been your host, Dawn Cross and tune in next week for another episode.
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