Any one who gradu
ates from a beauty school would probably think about owning a hair salon one day. The desire is often propelled by dreams of expressing creativity, developing a clientele and raking in profits.
Most housewives and single ladies also feel more at home owning their own hair salon instead of being employees under any one, irrespective of trade. To the later, the joy and comfort of having clients walk in and out of their shop at regular intervals keep them fulfilled.
However, poised by the gap between the operations of today’s hair salons in Port Harcourt and those of 80’s and 90’s during which the hair business boomed and salons stayed longer into the night to meet up the demands of clients, The Tide’s Women’s Desk went into town to unravel the secret behind the obvious dwindling posture of the once active industry.
Guess what!, The first salon of call greeted us with a sleeping worker on a hot weekend, the second salon had its attendant discussing with neighbor outside and same sight seemed to be rplayed in many of the salons visited. Worst still, business environments are not attractive and at night, workers only put light when drying hairs and use candle other times. The regular justification for the situation is “no business.”
Janet Boms a salon owner in Elekahia axis of Port Harcourt, blames the situation on indiscriminant establishment of salons. She said between every pole is a salon, hence many salons within an area compete for few customers.
Caroline Anosike indicts the power providers for her misfortune. For her, their inability to provide power when needed coupled with high cost of fuel, have made many salons lose customers to few who can afford light at all cost.
Many of the salons pointed out unavailability of workers  as a major problem as any one secured would indicate interest to further her education in a short time while others would only work briefly only to start their own shop for reasons of poor salary. 90% of salons visited have boards in front of their shops, with the inscription, “Stylist Wanted.”
Amidst these reveries of owning one’s own salon and being one’s own mistress, one would have expected a generation of mush-room salons booming within the environ and seriously competing for the most outstanding recognition. Instead, the picture is that of a gradual disintegration of the already existing ones into oblivion.
The reason is simple. Rarely do these dreams include human resources problems, employee’s theft and payroll tax implication. For ML Corbett of Demand Media, employee turnover remains a serious challenge for hair salon owners.
Corbett alongside other operators view recruitment and employees retention as two biggest problems in salon industry. How does she mean? Most hair stylists leave without notice thereby disrupting staff schedules and clients’ appointment she explains.
According to Corbett, employees high turnover no doubt affects sales and erodes a salon’s reputation, the ease with which stylists leap from one salon to another keeps hair business owners in constant recruiting mode.
Another challenge bothers on employees compensation. Corbett, mentioned that how a hair salon compensates employees dictates cash flow, turnover and taxes. Most salons go by commission method with probably a 60-40 split in the salon’s favour. However, stylists and nail technicians who increase the salon’s clientele soon request a 50-50 split. In this case, the salon owner gets the short end of the deal because rent, utilities and cost of goods sold are paid from the owners 50 per cent. The owner must raise prices to counter the increase in compensation or accept reduced revenue.
Some salons choose to pay salary to minimize the impact that commissions have on profits.
However, Mrs Catherine Okedu-Kamalu owner of Relic and Heritage beauty and hair salon in Rumudomaya, Port Harcourt,  has an entirely different view. For her, a major challenge of the local hair salon is non-regulated standard. This scenario by her explanations, throws the door of hair salon business open to “whosoever wills,” which ought not to be so. According to her, the mentality of owning a beauty salon because one has sufficient money to do so,  can braide, wash or set hair makes sustenance difficult because such are not well grounded to withstand the storm of the business.
She emphasized the need for professionalism in the hair beautification industry, stating that it takes a professional to know which product to use on specific hairs to avoid hair damage or loss. In her words; “the ordinary customer depends on the hair dresser for direction and where the expectations are not met, disappointment sets in, a loss of confidence and eventual loss of patronage becomes the outcome.”
“When patronage gradually begins to dwindle without any explanations, the conclusion is that there is “bad market,” perhaps the next option might be a relocation of business site or out-right closure of such business for lack of fund.
Mrs Okedu-Kamalu signaled the need for a standard umbrella body for members in the hair industry which would serve as a regulatory organization for etiques and standards, the lack of which she maintained has rendered the industry unorganized. She explained that such organisation exists in the northern part of Nigeria, regulating prices as well as giving members a sense of responsibility. “The indiscriminant charges obtainable in this place, induce members to compromise standard to remain afloat, a situation that would have been checked by the organization,” she said.
Catherine observed that the presence of an unbrella body for members would at regular intervals, afford members the privilege of updating their knowledge of the hair business to meet the taste of time, but where this is lacking, members remain stagnated except a few that could explore the internet for more and current knowledge about hair management,” she added.
Though not quite old in the city, Catherine still believes she could be highlighted by adopting peculiar approaches to make her services unique and retain her clients. Xraying her potentials she said in a short while, she would come up with initiatives that are capable of returning the industry to its lost glory in Port Harcourt.
To the layman, what differentiates the medical doctor, the hair dresser and the cobbler, is just the definition of their workplaces and areas of specialization. Suffice it to say that what the medical doctor is to human’s health, is what the hair dresser is to the hairs’ health and what the cobbler is to shoes’ well being.
If that be the case, it means that the trio operate clinics in their respective domains.
However, it  is obvious that the local salon has reneged in its duty as an hair clinic and manager and only an over haul of the industry would bring back the lost glory and return it back to its original status of hair clinic.

Hair dresser on duty

Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi