There are enough daily struggles of operating a salon, without adding the stress of hair color waste. Most salon owners, managers, and stylists are well aware of the issue this industry faces when it comes to the environment; the waste generated in salons just keeps growing, with very few remedies.
Think about all of the waste generated from a color service and where all this waste goes. The foils, color tubes, unused hair color, paper, and plastics are all finding their way into our waterways or landfills.
We’ve found that, on average, salons waste 25% – 40% of hair color, which not only has detrimental effects on the environment, but can hinder the success of your business. If your salon is spending $50,000 on hair color inventory per year, and 40% of that is wasted, that’s $20,000 that you’re throwing away; $20,000 that could have been spent on education, marketing, staff bonuses, new equipment, and many other growth opportunities.
How does all this waste accumulate?
A major contributor to waste is that bowls are often mixed based on the industry standard; the most common formula volume being 40g – 60g of color. To make matters worse, if a stylist runs out of color mid-mix, they typically run back to the color bar, and in order to obtain the same consistency, end up mixing the full amount again, or at best, half the amount, even when not that much is needed. This creates even more waste, leaving more than the average 40% leftover washing down the drain.
Another factor adding to industry waste is that most client formulas aren’t recorded, or when they are, they aren’t readily available, are marked wrong, or eventually get lost. Recreating a guest’s formula without exact records leads to over mixing to achieve the right consistency and color, wasting both time and product. Failure to meet a guest’s expectations leads to attempting to correct the color on the spot or having the guest return for a costly redo, both of which add to your salons waste and cost.
The solution
Vish is able to track, manage, and analyze everything about your color business – without changing the way you mix color. Connected to a bluetooth scale, Vish’s colour bar app captures all of the detailed color and formula information when stylists mix, including the weight, ingredients used, and waste. With our reweigh feature, Vish refines the formulas down to the amount needed, and stores that information in the app – enabling colorists to recreate their formulas to the exact amount and consistency, leaving no waste. The insight into each employee’s use of color allows salon owners and managers to see which stylists are most efficient when it comes to waste and cost per service, giving you the data to help coach your team, and continue to reduce your waste and costs.
And what happens if you run out of product mid application? Vish adjusts your formula so you can mix however much you think you need. Maybe you only have 30% left, Vish does the math so that by mixing only 30% of the formula, you get the exact consistency of the original. There is no longer a need to mix an entire new bowl and waste all of that product.
From eliminating the excess color being poured down the drain, to training colorists to apply with a lighter hand, Vish salons have been able to reduce inventory purchases by 40%. This, combined with capturing all services rendered, can lead you to recover revenue you didn’t know was missing.
