The salons we work that do exceptional things, know their client particularly well. As a Salon, the challenge of building a client base can result in you attempting to grab every opportunity and attracting every possible person that comes past your door and the inherent fear is that if you focus on your ideal client, then you’ll let opportunities pass you by. The reality is, though, that being everything to everyone just dilutes your offering. Conversely, the closer you’re able to get to targeting your ideal client, the higher the perceived value of your services.

 Competition for clients is at an all-time high and attempting to compete across a broad range of potential services that are salon can offer only leads to a large number of average products and services that don’t provide an exceptional experience to anyone. The salons that have the greatest success have a myopic focus on their segment, they focus on a segment they’re passionate about and that they can provide a remarkable service to – and it’s a game changer. Delivering a remarkable service that people really value results in, then being able to charge a premium, and then being able to double down and offer even more value.

 The benefits of targeting a clearly defined niche are broad; firstly, it removes you from competing on price and invariably the race to the bottom that can happen when price becomes an issue. It allows you to focus on what you’re passionate about—your tribe—referral goes through the roof as a specialist provider and it results in exponential growth. Industry recognition is also an important aspect; if you’re recognised as an authority in the eyes of industry, then potential consumers see that value as well. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you can’t service those outside of your clearly defined niche. In the end, your target is not your market. If you’re renouned for meeting the needs of a clearly defined group of people, then you’ll attract clients from across the spectrum, based on the authority and value that you provide. In saying all that, getting a really clear handle on your niche isn’t easy. You need to ask targeted laser focus questions. You need to drill down, you need to say “who is that single person? What is my ideal client? Where do they live? How do they think? How do they behave?”

Secondly, are you able to truly deliver something remarkable to that person? Thirdly, do they have the capacity to pay a premium for the outcome that you want to provide? And finally, do you have an affinity for them? Do you have a passion for the services that these people require? A clear target is the foundation really on which everything is built in your business. Understanding everything there is to know about your ideal client means an understanding of their burning problems. A deep understanding then allows you to tailor truly remarkable products and services. In the end, it allows you to make a difference in people’s lives. For your business that allows you to build a loyal fan base that’s second to none. At MIG we work with many salons and see the fruits of their labor in relation to targeting and niching. We help them to educate their people.

 If you’d like to have the opportunity to talk about how we can help, we’d love to connect. Give us a call.

The colour wheel is basically a universal tool that doesn’t change. It’s used in graphic design, interior design, and hairdressers use it a little bit differently.

Why do we need to know the colour wheel? The colour wheel allows us to choose create and make colours. Also by knowing your colour wheel, you won’t be creating colours that you don’t want. So the first thing we’re going to jump into is we’re going to talk about the basics of the colour wheel.

The colour wheel is divided into two sections – the warm side and the cool side. When we talk about warm colours, think of the sun. So the sun warms you up. So the sun basically has three colours to it. They are red, orange, and yellow. So these sit on the warm side of the colour wheel.

The other side is cool colours. So think of the ocean. So the ocean typically has three colours in it. You see green, blue, and violet. These are things that are going to be cool. So they represent the cool side of the colour wheel.

What sits in the middle of the colour wheel is naturals, beiges or neutrals. These three words are what we describe as brown. So brown sits in the middle of the colour wheel. So remember, the colour wheel is broken up of warm, cool, and in the middle are neutrals.

So now you understand the warm, cool and middle colours of the colour wheel. We’re going to jump in and talk about primary colours.

PRIMARY COLOURS

There are three colours to primary colours they are red, yellow, and blue. They are the source of all other colours and they cannot be made by mixing other colours together. Once you have red, yellow and blue, you can make any other colour.

SECONDARY COLOURS

The next level is secondary colours. Now secondary colours are made by mixing a primary and another primary together. So on the colour wheel, you will find that you have orange and that sits right in between red and yellow. Red and yellow are a primary colour and when they mix together, they create orange. The next colour is green. So green sits right in the middle of blue and yellow. So when blue and yellow are mixed together, they create green. Then we’re dealing with violet hairdressers tend to use the term violet rather than purple. It just sounds nicer to our clients. Violet sits right in the middle of blue and red. So when you mix blue and red together you create violet or purple. These are your secondary colours. So they are orange, green, and violet.

TERTIARY COLOURS

Then the final tier is tertiary colours and a tertiary colours are made by mixing a primary and there neighbouring secondary colour together. There are six tertiary colours. We have yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet, and red- orange. Once we understand primary, secondary and tertiary colours, then the most important thing a hairdresser needs to know and what we commonly use the colour wheel for is neutralising colours.

NEUTRALISING COLOURS

Neutralising colours means mixing two colours together to cancel out a colour and create natural, neutral or brown. So when hairdressers are dealing with neutralising colours, we’re normally neutralising warmth that’s coming through on a client’s hair. Clients tend to always complain about brassy, gold or yellow. So hairdressers really need to know their neutralising colours.

So when we’re dealing with the colour yellow, we want to find the on the colour wheel and then you want to find the colour exactly opposite it. So when you find the yellow, you’re going to go down the colour wheel and the colour opposite that is called purple or violet. When you mix yellow and violet together, you create brown or neutral. This is what we mean by neutralising.

The next colour that you would have to deal with neutralising is orange. Orange is something that clients typically request to get rid of, and it’s probably one of the harder colours to remove. So when you find orange on the colour wheel, you need to go opposite the colour wheel and find that colour that sits right across from it and that colour is blue. So blue will get rid of orange. When you mix blue, and orange together, it will create neutral or brown.

Then the final colour that you want to try and neutralise or deal with is red. Now red is the warmest colour on the colour wheel, and the colour that is opposite red on the colour wheel is green. So when you mix red and green together, they cancel each other out or neutralise each other and they create brown.

HAIRDRESSING MEMORY TRICKS

There are some fun little tips and little memory games we have so that you can remember these things. So for yellow and violet, you want to think of the chocolate bar Violet Crumble. This is how you remember their their neutralising colours. The next one when you’re dealing with orange and blue, think of a sunset over the ocean,this is their neutralising colour. Then the last one is red and green think Christmas. These two colours are neutralising colours. Once you have a handle of this, it will make choosing a colour, selecting colours and dealing with unwanted tones so much easier.

And that’s the colour wheel.

Hey, guys, Anthony Gray from MIG Training. I thought I’d share with you today some of the things that salon owners are doing to really improve the progression of their apprentices. Obviously, as a private college that works in the formal training space, we’re in a really privileged position to see some amazing work. And while we all know that the one size fits all approach doesn’t work, and is destined to fail, there are some salons that have really cracked the code in relation to training and progression. And those common touchstones can be tailored to suit any salon. 

In practice, there’s five things that we see that are really important.  One is a clear and concise plan including timelines, accountabilities and skills, and really breaking down, I suppose the mumbo jumbo that could be in the training package into some key areas. So covering off on the technical skills; cut colour, chemical style and consultation. 

Secondly, the best of breed salons, they also bridge the gap and partner with the college to make sure that everyone’s in lockstep. And that’s so important, the order of the training plan, making sure that the plan the college puts in front of them really matches what they do, and then really having a clear path for how assessment is conducted as well.

Thirdly, I think success is demonstrated by those who really embrace the journey and go back to basics with their apprentice. I think sometimes the hardest part for an experienced hairdresser is to deconstruct their art, and deconstructing down to the fundamentals.

Cutting is a classic example. In-salon, it can be all around total looks but at college, the building blocks are really, really examined. So solid, uniform graduation, layers are all the areas that are broken down.  Embracing that back to basics culture is really important to help apprentices get up and running.  Also great in-salon educators challenge and excite the apprentice so that they develop really strong practical skills to contribute to the team.  The statistics are there.  Only 30% of hairdressing apprentices complete, and most of them cancel within the first 12 months. So salons that have moved beyond the old school notion of doing your time are the ones that succeed the most.

Finally, successful salons ask a lot of their college in relation to communication and feedback. They invest time in the partnership and they really hold the college to account to make sure that they are in lockstep every step of the way so that the formal matches the informal and that the apprentices nurtured on that journey. We’re really proud to work with a whole heap of salons that do just that. And we know that if they follow those touchstones then they’re able to develop really strong teams.

If you’re interested in talking about how we potentially can help with the next step in developing your team, it would be great for you to give us a call. Thanks very much.

How are you going? Anthony Gray from MIG Training here.

I thought I’d take a little bit of time today to try and break down the Certificate III in hairdressing. The formal training side of things can seem a little alien with what often happens in day to day salon life. I think the best way to combat this is to really understand, I suppose, what’s in the certificate III; so it helps you align a little closer what happens in the training of your staff in salon with then what happens at college or in the formal part of their training.

The qualification is broken down into 28 units, of which there’s 21 must do’s or core, followed by seven electives. In essence, there’s six main areas in my mind: safety and sustainability, basin and design, salon craft and service, cutting, color, and chemical. That helps me to make sense of all 28 of those units. When you look at them in a little bit more detail, safety and sustainability covers, sustainable work practices, hygiene, tools and equipment. Basin and design, obviously shampoo and basin services, massage techniques, styling, braiding and upstyles. Salon service and salon culture is around communication, front of house salon financial transactions, providing services and being able to be part of a team and build a client base. Cutting is broken down into basic cutting structures, so cutting one length, graduation layers, and then over comb techniques, and then bringing all them together to be able to then create combination cuts. Colors delivered through four units. So basic color and lighten, full and partial highlighting, neutralising colors and tones and then on scalp services, so bleach and retouch services.

Then rounding it out as chemical, so there’s straightening and relaxing here with chemical treatments. Obviously, this one can be a difficult one and can be problematic in training. But again, it’s part of the package that we’re dealing with. Perming and protein are now electives. And we find that probably only roughly 25% of salons we deal with use these units now because it’s not a service that they offer as much as they once did. That gives you a brief overview of the package.

Now each of those six areas contain a number of units. And they’re all building blocks, as I’ve said. But the real value comes is when you take those ingredients and you understand them, and you line those ingredients up with the way you deliver your training in house. Once the training in house aligns closely with what’s delivered at college, the greatest value is seen from the development of those apprentices. And we see it time and time again, where if the training and knowledge component matches their in-salon practical component then they move forward much quicker than previously you would have thought. So we are lucky to work with many salons in Brisbane and Queensland. And we help them to build their teams and create training that lines up really well with the way they do business.

If you’d like some advice or want to look at the next steps in how to deal with and create great teams with some specialized formal training, we’d love to make contact. Give us a call. Thanks very much.