Saco is an inherently British brand, but that hasn't stopped them from achieving huge success internationally. Here they share expert advice for opening a salon abroad and building your profile globally. Most recently the team achieved the ultimate accolade in American hairdressing, Hair Stylist of the Year at the North American Hairstyling Awards. Richard Ashforth tells us more about how the brand got started on their global adventure...
Tell us more about the history of Saco...
Saco was born when the new era at Sassoon arrived in the early to mid 2000's. I felt it was the perfect moment for me to start out on my own and launch my own brand, along with my business partner, Aldo Furfaro. We opened salons in London and Montreal (Aldo's home town) within a few weeks of each other in 2006 and the business has grown steadily since then. We then opened in San Diego and then Bordeaux, France. Since those early days, we have opened two more salons in Montreal, as well as in Budapest, Calgary in Canada, Copenhagen in Denmark and, next month, Miami!
You've grown a lot in a very short space of time - to what do you attribute your success?
Our approach to hair is summed up in our mantra of Beauty First. We strive to promote a positive approach to our work by always celebrating the individual and identifying the unique qualities we all have. We have a simple and proven system which places technique much further down the list of priorities than most academies. We endeavour to identify the most suitable length and silhouette, then look at technique as the best way to achieve the desired result. Most importantly, this frees us creatively and allows us to stay true to the reason we all got into this profession in the first place - to make people look and feel good!
Saco has got salons and academies in a diverse array of countries. Why did you choose the locations you did?
It doesn’t make great business sense to open across such a wide geography, but it does mean we can partner with some amazing people and that is why we are literally all over the place. To me, it's people that make the difference and people who make our business, so that's the answer really – we found great people!
What advice would you give to a brand considering opening a salon abroad?
Having people you can trust to represent you in the right way is key. Also, someone who understands the local market and knows the all-important business and legal procedures. As well as the business being somewhat 'at arms length', it's very difficult to know all the details of setting up a company and business in another country. We have been fortunate to find really great partners who love and understand our brand and, crucially, have sound business knowledge which has made it possible for us to enters those markets.
What difficulties have you faced when opening internationally?
We have encountered difficulties when partnering internationally with people who are new to business in general. Enthusiasm is great but it's no substitute for hands-on business experience. As I mentioned previously, knowing and understanding the complexities attached to running a business are very much key, it differs wildly from country to country.
