Hairdressers, beauticians upgrade skills

Daily Graphic,Pg 11, Saturday Jan. 17/09

Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho

A number of women and few men have operated the hairdressing salon business in many parts of the country mainly as a small or medium-scale business for ages.
Apart from some major salons and beauty companies such as FC, Allure and First Choice, SoftSheen Carson all in Accra, most of the salons and companies are often managed by a small group of people, majority of whom are apprentices or workers.
The business appeared flourishing over the years as most women who want to follow the fashion trend go to the salon at least once a week to either perm or plait their hair or for facials, manicure and pedicure.
However, statistics available from the National Association of Beauticians and Hairdressers (NABH) show that only 20 per cent of operators in the industry are able to recover their monthly cost and make profit.
A market research conducted by NABH recently, showed that 80 per cent of the salon proprietors go through the first half of the year without any technical training on the latest techniques and salon services for the year.
It is for this reason that NABH organised the first ever Salon Academy for beauticians and hairdressers drawn from the southern sector of the country in Accra. The three-day training programme was aimed at introducing the participants to some of the new techniques in the industry, as well as educating them on the proper use of some of the chemicals on the hair, skin and nails.
Among some of the topics treated were ‘skill shortage in chemical hair relaxing’, ‘nail designing techniques’, ‘profit potentials of today’s salon business’ and ‘correct uses of hair styling products’. The rest were ‘creative hair clouding’, ‘hair extension collections’, ‘active salon retailing’, ‘business strategies for salon growth’ and ‘guide to professional make-up applications’.
The Head of Cosmetology Unit of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), Mr Emmanuel Nkrumah, in an address, advised the participants to ensure that they buy products certified by the FDB.
According to him, there were a lot of unregistered products on the market most of which do not meet the FDB’s specifications.
He also called on them to follow manufacturers’ directions on the use of products to avoid any harm to their clients.
The West Africa Representative of Citi and Guilds, Mr Kingsly Asiedu, in an address said available statistics showed that women across the world spend a total of £3.8 billion annually at the salon.
In Ghana, he said, it is estimated that women spend 40 per cent of their monthly income on hair and beauty.
He therefore called on participants to ensure that they provide quality services to their clients to give them value for their moneys.
He also called on the government to regulate the work of beauty salon operators to ensure that they complied with the requisite rules and regulations.
He said the association was affiliated to the Citi and Guilds Institute and that gave interested graduands the opportunity to sit for the institute’s international examination.
He therefore advised beauty salon operators to ensure that they upgraded their skills regularly, saying that “beauty courses are moving at a very fast rate and it is up to you to update yourselves with new techniques”.
He also called on them to disabuse their minds of the wrong perception that hairdressing was a profession for school dropouts, saying that people who cannot read or write will not survive in the industry due to its dynamic nature.
The National President of NABH, Mrs Joyce Lamptey, in her welcoming address said profits are the key to any business and that making more money was what everyone desired.
She, however, said that it was unfortunate to note that most operators in the hairdressing and beauty industry do not make profit since market research reports were inadequate to keep salon owners informed about annual changes in the industry.
She said “as an industry, the salon business is primarily driven by changes which occur in every new year in client behaviour, equipment, products and styles.
Mrs Lamptey said the key, therefore, to a sustainable salon growth and profitability lay in being equipped with the necessary tools to respond quickly and effectively to annual change.
A Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, Mr Ted Annang who chaired the ceremony, called on beauticians to put the satisfaction of their clients first in all that they did.
He said since their customers had an array of salons to choose from, it was up to them to give good customer care and satisfaction to attract new customers and maintain old ones.