Hair industry dream jobs: be your own boss with saks
Running your own business can be challenging. But owning a Saks salon as a franchisee gives you a unique opportunity to manage your own salon, while benefiting from the constant support and motivation that an internationally established company and brand can offer.
As part of its commitment to bringing out the best in its franchisees, award-winning salon group Saks offers motivational support and assistance to franchisees at every stage, through a plethora of inspiring events, initiatives, training programmes and competitions.
Saks has been awarded prestigious Beacon status by the Quality Improvement Agency, and has clinched a full complement of top 'grade one' marks for its outstanding training from the Adult Learning Inspectorate, which awarded the salon group its UK Best Training Provider accreditation.
To be awarded universal grade ones is virtually unheard of in any industry, putting Saks at the pinnacle of hair and beauty training.
Every aspect of Saks' internal education programme is aimed at helping its franchisees maximise salon turnover, making the business an ideal partner for first-time franchisees and ambitious entrepreneurs. Aspiring and new franchisees, as well as those opening second or third Saks salons or looking to refresh their skills, can take part in fast-track management training.
This focuses on the day-to-day running of a salon business, financial know-how, team building, marketing, recruitment and appraisals, health & safety and salon technology. A brand new accredited Franchisee Development Education Programme is currently in progress for 2009, inspiring business excellence and led by external specialists.
And for those keen to hone their hairdressing and creative skills by taking tips from some of the industry's most inspirational professionals, the world-renowned Saks art team, led by international creative director Andrew Barton, showcases its incredible new collections every year in a series of shows. Hands-on demos and expert courses also take place for franchisees and their teams at Saks Academies in London, Darlington and Glasgow.
John Goddard, 29, of Saks, Skipton, shares his experiences as a franchisee
Awards
"Saks has always encouraged me to enter awards throughout my career. Twice I have made the Grand Final at the L'Oréal Professionnel Colour Trophy, winning the North Eastern regional award this year, and I've been a regional finalist in the competition five times. I always encourage my own stylists to enter awards, to inspire and motivate them if that's an aspect of their career they'd like to develop. I listen to them and help them put in place what they need to achieve their goals."
Training
"I got a lot from the Saks Management Training Programme - having like-minded people to bounce ideas off and develop projects with is great and the programme is definitely a must for potential franchisees. When it comes to training my team, I think the art team events are a great opportunity to see truly talented hairdressers in action and get people motivated. The Saks A-Team scheme, run by the art team, is also a great chance to get the team's creative juices flowing too - stylists get to assist on photo shoots and fashion shows, and learn valuable presentation skills too."
Competition and Career paths
"I think everyone needs competition to bring out their best work, and there's healthy competition within the Saks network. Saks really allows for development with so many opportunities to progress. With people like the art team around you can't help but feel inspired and whether you want to focus on your creativity, business skills or ambitions to own a salon, the opportunities are there for you to grab."
Exciting Hairdressing Career Opportunities
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