The AHC gets a lot of questions from salon owners enquiring about the process of selling a business. And one of the most commonly asked questions on this topic is: 'What happens to my lease?'

So what does happen to your lease if you are preparing to sell your business? What if you only have six months left on the lease? Are you in a better negotiating position if you have a longer lease to accompany the sale?

We've invited back our incredible lease expert, AHC member Kelly Cunningham from Your Leasing Co, to chat exactly on this topic. Kelly has saved AHC members more than $1.5 million when negotiating their leases, both new and existing, and she always takes great care of our members and gives the best advice.

If you have a lease, you really should consider registering it with Your Leasing Co. It's a free service, and they will let you know when your lease is coming up for renewal as well as what your options are moving forward to save you money and a lot of grief.

To find out more about what Kelly and her team at Your Leasing Co can help you with, visit: https://yourleasingco.com.au/

If you're a solo operator hairdresser or barber, we get it - you're busy, right? Well if you can spare a few minutes to listen to this podcast, it just might make your professional life a lot easier and buy you back some valuable time in your schedule. Because today we're talking about a special app that was created just for independent solo operators - freelancers, mobile hairdressers, rent-a-chairs - basically any stylists who don't have staff.

Unwritten is the only free app in the world built specifically for independent hairdressers (Indies), so you can say goodbye to complex and expensive software for good. It's packed with all the necessary features to run and grow a successful Indie hairdresser business. Today we are chatting to co-founder Rob Aubin and independent stylist/educator and Unwritten fan Katy Reeve, who give us the lowdown on all things Unwritten, and how it can make life easier for solo operators.

Just some of Unwritten's benefits include:

1. Time-saving: With Unwritten, you can manage your appointments and communicate with clients easily, saving you time and allowing you to focus on providing great service.
2. Increased visibility: The app allows you to customise your profile and services, so clients can see what you offer and make informed decisions about their appointment. This feature helps you to stand out from other hairdressers and attract more clients.
3. Secure payment: The app’s payment system is secure and easy to use, allowing you to receive payment directly from clients.
4. Simplified scheduling: The app’s online booking system allows clients to book appointments with you directly, based on your availability. This means that you don’t have to worry about answering the phone or responding to messages while you’re with a client or during your time off.
5. Improved customer service: With the app’s communication features, you can send reminders and notifications to clients, helping to improve customer service and reduce no-shows.
6. Order stock without having to hold it: Choose from Unwritten products or a host of other brands. Products are delivered straight to your clients.
7. Earn commissions from every Unwritten product you sell in its unique loyalty program.

If you'd like to learn more about Unwritten, visit this link: https://pro.unwritten.hair/

One of the concerns the AHC has for hairdressing is the sustainability of our industry when it comes to apprenticeships.

The hair industry loses 63% of apprentices in the first year and we have a very low completion rate compared to other trades, which means that our apprenticeships are actually under threat. This podcast is all about how do we save our apprenticeships and turn these quite dismal stats around.

Our guest today is the lovely Brodie-Lee Tsiknaris, owner of Rokstar salon in Brisbane, which she opened at just 18 years of age. At quite a young age, Brodie has achieved phenomenal success during her career, with more than 100 titles and accolades to date, including AHIA QLD salon of the Year and a finalist for AHIA Hairdresser of the Year. 

Brodie is renowned not only for having a strong business, but also great apprentices, who stay and grow with her, meaning she rarely looks for staff. She has a very different approach to apprenticeships and the way she engages with her apprentices and builds them up for personal and professional success is very inspiring. Today, Brodie shares with us some of her ideas and strategies for a fresh approach to hairdressing apprenticeships. 

Feedback is one of the most undervalued and under utilised tools that a business leader has at their disposal. It's something that most of us dread - either receiving or providing feedback - and usually makes us tense up as we worry about what's coming. 

Today we'll be talking about how to flip those negative connotations associated with feedback and instead create an effective 'feedback culture' in your business.

Our guest is AHC member Dwight Hodge, who is a hairdresser, salon owner, experienced business coach and now author. Dwight has co-authored a book with fellow business coach Shelley Flett entitled: "Feedback - Seek it, Give it, Connect with it", which was two years in the making and contains a host of great information not only for salon owners, but business leaders in general.

Dwight believes that effective feedback conversations can have so many benefits for a workplace, as done right it is a vital component in the growth and development of the individual and also the business. So if you'd like to learn about the three components to having effective feedback conversations, listen up!

To learn more about Dwight's new book on Feedback, visit: https://www.dwighthodge.com/

The Australian Hairdressing Council and Cherrypicka Legal Docs have collaborated to provide salon owners with a suite of easy to use legal docs to help overcome some of those tricky every day situations; to minimise your chance of disputes or bad reviews and to improve your customer experience.  

Cherrypicka believes that everyone deserves access to quality legal docs irrespective of your budget.  Cherrypicka’s legal docs are delivered straight to your inbox. 

Available individually or as a custom pack, Cherrypicka is excited to announce the introduction of the following documents to our site tailored just for hairdressers:  

1. Hair Salon Booking Terms – sets out all the key information about booking, deposits, payment, refunds, liability and more
2. Website Privacy Policy – tell your customers how you will use and hold their personal details
3. Hairdresser Risk Acknowledgement: - document your discussions before performing a tricky treatment or colour
4. Client Break Up Letter -tell you clients nicely they need to seek services elsewhere
5. Social Media Influencer Agreement – don’t get burned by bad collabs
6. Client Photo Ownership Policy: explain to employees and contractors how they can use photographs they take of your clients both during and after their employment ends
7. Rent a Room Agreement: rent additional space in your salon to freelancers who offer complementary services such as massage, nails or beauty? Get clear on the terms!

Special offer: AHC and Cherrypicka are offering $50 off the Salon Premium Pack (bringing the price down to $349).  Please use code ahc-cherry at checkout.  Offer is available for 30 days only. You can access the pack here:

https://cherrypicka.com.au/product/hairdresser-premium-pack/

Follow Cherrypicka for special content tailored for the hairdressing industry:

Instagram: @cherrypickadocs

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cherrypickadocs

With the current cost of living being a challenge for many small businesses, some salon owners are finding it a struggle to maintain a consistent cashflow and have enough money left over for bills, especially big ticket items such as tax.

On today's podcast we catch up once again with AHC member and business coach Neil Osborne, who has a passion for all things to do with finance, budgeting and business. He provides some advice for business owners on managing cash flow to make sure you have enough money at the end of the month for bills and the end of the quarter for your tax commitments. 

If you'd like to learn more about Neil's work with salons and other small businesses, here's a link to his website: https://www.thesalescatalyst.com.au/

Gary Strachan is a remarkable and inspirational human who is using his experience as a hairdresser and lawyer to bring opportunity and education to remote communities in outback Australia. 

He is the face behind 'Deadly Hair Dude', a unique program that was born out of a clear need for hairdressers in remote parts of the Northern Territory. Over 35,000 Indigenous people live across 150+ remote communities and homelands. Services others take for granted such as having a regular cut or colour are nowhere to be seen. In fact, many people in these regions have never had a haircut in their lives.

After changing careers from a hairdresser to a lawyer, Gary quickly realised that he should be working to try prevent people entering the criminal system in the first place rather than being part of the aftermath punishment system. "That is when I decided to join my hairdressing and law skills together to create employment opportunities for young people to give them a purpose in life to build their self esteem and pride in their appearance. 

"There are approximately 76 remote Indigenous communities and 40 homelands without a hairdresser. It was clear that training multiple hairdressers in their own community was the answer to such a huge task/goal of having a hairdressing salon in each community.  Employment opportunities in remote communities are very limited.  Boredom, lack of pride and self-esteem leads to a range of anti-social behaviours including alcohol and drug use, domestic violence, youth suicide and mental health issues, all the results of limited opportunities."

Deadly Hair Dude has conducted hairdressing training in 30 remote Indigenous community bail houses, youth detention centre, youth suicide programs, mental health programs, drug alcohol programs, school holiday programs, homelessness and many other community events. It's a program that changes lives.

If you'd like to know more or be involved, you can get in touch at:  https://www.deadlyhairdude.com.au/

The payments landscape has changed a lot over the last few years. There has been a dramatic increase in card and digital transactions, as we move towards a predicted cashless society. In fact, nearly all payments these days are done by card or the digital wallet on our phones.

What does this mean for small business? A big increase in transaction fees. 

Today on the AHC podcast we chat with AHC member Robert Caruana from Smartpay about how to save on your EFTPOS fees and free up cashflow. Because cashflow is everything, as all small business owners know. 

Smartpay has saved many of our AHC members thousands of dollars in fees for their businesses. If you'd like to learn more, visit the Smartpay website here: https://www.smartpay.com.au/

When it comes to social media, as creative, visual people, hairdressers are natural content creators. But sometimes managing your socials can be a little overwhelming, prompting you to wonder whether all this effort is actually bringing clients through the door.

Today we chat with social media expert and AHC member Ashleigh Bailey, who is a social media coach for hairdressers, and will be sharing with us her Top 5 tips on how to elevate your socials to attract new and better clients to your business. 

With 11 years of social media experience, Ashleigh has spent a good portion of her career in the hair industry, managing the social strategy for iconic global brands such as Haircare Australia, Olaplex and Cloud 9. She has travelled the world educating salon owners on how to grow their social channels, and has a passion for teaching business owners and their teams social media strategies and skills to grow their online presence and attract dream hair clients.

You can work with Ashleigh via private in-salon workshops, online training and events. Classes can be customised to suit your unique needs. You can find Ashleigh on Instagram under the handle @socialcoachash and can see some examples of her work, helpful tips, as well as testimonials from happy clients, or visit her website ashleighbailey.consulting

Today most small businesses use email pdfs to send or receive invoices. This means that when you receive an invoice, it takes you or your business bookkeeper time to manually key or re-scan that invoice data into your business accounting software. Sounds familiar, right?

Did you know that those email pdfs are also vulnerable to hackers, who can intercept and change the banking details so that they can get away with your hard earned dollars? 

This exactly happened to one of our AHC members recently, who received an invoice from a supplier and paid the funds into the nominated bank account on the pdf invoice. Little did he know that the invoice had been hacked. It looked exactly as it should have, however the bank account details were changed, and he unfortunately lost $20,000, never to be recovered. Ouch!

e-Invoicing is the new, standardised way to send and receive invoices via a secure network. Using this system, there is no more manually re-keying the data, and less chance of invoicing scams. Instead, as a buyer, your suppliers' invoices come straight into your accounting software, ready for you to check, approve,  and pay - just as you do today - but minus the risk.

Our guest is Natascha Bowett, Relationship Manager for e-Invoicing (Small Business) for the Australian Taxation Department, and she chats with us today to explain everything you need to know about e-Invoicing for your business.

To learn more, visit: https://www.ato.gov.au/business/eInvoicing/