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Tim Howard, Vish Chief Innovation Officer recently sat down for a discussion with Vish Waste Warrior award winners and salon owners, Karen Welch and Suzy Tryall, to discuss sustainability practices and how they reduce waste in their salons to achieve Waste Warrior status. Watch the webinar and find the key takeaways below!
Meet the panel
Karen Welch, Owner of SoZo Hair has been in the salon industry for 38 years, owning her salon for 22 years. Karen and her husband have been Vish users for over two years, implementing the system shortly after the pandemic began. Using Vish initially started as a way for her to recoup revenue, but quickly turned into an opportunity to initiate a conversation in her salon about more than just profitability, but sustainability too. Karen is Vish’s #5 Waste Warrior for the Top Stylists in the North American category.
Suzy Tryall, owner of Sage Tyrall Salon has been in the salon industry for 35 years and offering exceptional services at her salon for 20 years. Suzy initially didn’t think she had a waste problem, but when she implemented Vish in 2021, she was shocked at how much waste was being produced in her salon. With the help of Vish, Suzy was able to eliminate hair color waste. Sage Tryall is the #1 Waste Warrior for the Top Salons in the North America category.
Stylist cost per service
Karen has managed to get her average cost per service down to an impressive $2.14 per service. The industry average is greater than $8 per service. She credits this efficiency to her regular client retouches and of course, Vish. She used to mix three ounces for a retouch, but with Vish, she was able to bring that number down by a third. Vish solidified new benchmarks in her salon and showed her and her staff how much color was needed for the service versus what was historically recommended by the industry (educators, manufacturers, etc.).
What is a Waste Warrior?
When it comes to being a Waste Warrior it’s all about the reweigh percentage, the average cost of waste per service, cost per service, and the number of services completed within the year.
For both owners, these core metrics translate to a double whammy: sustainable practices and profit.
What it means to be a Waste Warrior
Karen feels honored to be a Waste Warrior. She feels pride when it comes to her profits, people, and the planet. Her staff is team-oriented and cares about sustainability, which allows her to invest back into the team and the salon.
Salon cost per service
Prior to Vish, product use per application varied across all stylists and services; their average cost per service is now less than $3 with all stylists. Suzy was able to get her entire team to such a low average cost per service by using Vish as a transparency tool. Vish created an agency for change. Now she and the team mix smaller batches of color and mix more when needed.
Shifting to sustainability
At Suzy’s salon, she realized how impactful it was to take those first steps to promote sustainability, resulting in a ripple effect within the community at large. Being fully transparent with customers and showing them how they mix the color with Vish reinforced all aspects of sustainability, consistency, and peace of mind.
The reweigh and waste elimination
How does Suzy’s salon manage to keep their reweigh high and their waste down? She accredits it to the young spirit in the salon who have made sustainability their top priority, ensuring that the team is doing their part to take care of the planet.
And Karen? Her advice is to keep the conversation ongoing. Toners sometimes get forgotten, and things get missed on the final ticket. But when mistakes are made, Karen uses the moment as a learning opportunity. Transparent conversations promote a learning environment, ensuring everyone is doing their part to maximize profits in the salon.
Top sustainability and profitability tips
Suzy’s top tip is that everyone needs to buy-in. It’s not going to work if the entire team isn’t on board. At the end of the day profit matters, but the ultimate goal is to give back to the community and the planet.
Karen’s top tip is to get Vish, preaching just how user-friendly the technology is to adopt, providing an effective way to increase profit and promote sustainability.
The sustainable solution
Vish captures all lost color revenue, ensuring that no services performed are walking out the door without being paid for. Your first goal may be profitability, but you’ll see just how quickly sustainability becomes an important counterpart in your business. Holding up the bucket and displaying just how much color was wasted in a day only highlights the problem, Vish offers the solution.
Jump right in
Find key insights and takeaways with the timestamps below!
- 1:30 – Meet the panel
- 5:15– What is a Waste Warrior?
- 5:00 – Stylist cost per service
- 11:10 – Salon cost per service
- 12:45 – The industry’s shift to sustainability
- 13:55 – What it means to be a Waste Warrior
- 17:49 – The reweigh and waste elimination
- 21:00 – Top sustainability and profitability tips
- 27:39 – The sustainable solution
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