Salon Today - December 2008 - (Page 14)

[RECEPTION] [NO-COMPROMISE LEADERSHIP] Beautiful Revival Finding the ‘it’ factor By Neil Ducoff The most coveted quest in business is to reach and surpass the tipping point that separates the ordinary from the extraordinary. The further you reside on the side of extraordinary, the brighter your “it”—what makes your business special—will shine, setting you apart from the competition. Achieving your “it” signiﬁes the successful pursuit of something special. Achieving “it” pushes that entrepreneurial button that ignites passion, innovation and determination. “It” is ﬁnancially and emotionally rewarding. But beware: Your “it” can evaporate in a heartbeat. You can have the greatest product or service, yet still never achieve your “it” if you can’t lead, manage, control and deliver with superb execution. And if you’re not willing to take risks, your great product or service may never move beyond concept. Leadership: Leaders push, inspire and nurture the creation and continued vitality and evolution of the company’s “it.” Your precious “it” must be protected at all cost. You must do what others dare not. As W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne explained in their book, Blue Ocean Strategy, Cirque du Soleil reinvented the circus. They eliminated the animal acts (and therefore the huge expense of transporting, feeding and caring), the three rings and costly star performers. Cirque combines the fun and thrill of the circus with the intellectual sophistication and artistic richness of the theater. Cirque kept the clowns, the tent and the acrobats, but changed the look and feel. C Can a beauty school create economic revival? That’s the plan in Rwanda where native salon owners, Jeanne Murekatete and Sylvie Mukamusoni, plan to open a beauty school in early 2009 with help from U.S.-based, non-proﬁt Business Council for Peace. The organization’s mantra is “More jobs mean less violence”—ﬁtting for Rwanda’s beauty industry, which is begging for talent. Currently, there are more salon jobs than trained hairdressers and more potential clients than stylists can accommodate. Regis Corporation will donate training DVDs and other educational materials translated into the Rwandan language. Many other beauty, spa and salon brands are also ﬁnalizing donations to make Rwanda’s ﬁrst beauty school a success and a celebration of hope. The tent, more than any other feature, makes a circus special. By glamorizing the tent—giving it a grand external ﬁnish and comfortable seating—Cirque put a unique spin on a familiar form of entertainment. Redeﬁne price and value: Because you are redeﬁning your offerings, the price and value of your “it” is no longer relevant to that of the competition. Rather than going after the family market, Cirque du Soleil created a new market among adults seeking more intellectually unique entertainment—adults who are willing to pay for the Cirque experience. This is not to say that the “it” always commands a higher price; it simply means that your business stands out from the crowd. A salesperson can demonstrate this in the way he or she caters to the needs of customers. Apple did it with the iPod and again with the iPhone. FedEx did it with overnight delivery. Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market did it with entertaining antics to attract attention. Discover your “it.” Find your own piece of uncontested market space. “It” can be as simple as adding value to what you already do. “It” can be as basic as delivering on the promise to be the very best you can be. Neil Ducoff is the founder and CEO of Strategies, a business training and coaching company specializing in the salon and spa industry. During his 38 years as a business trainer, coach, keynote speaker and author, Ducoff gained respect as the guru of teambased compensation. Ducoff is the author of Fast Forward, the deﬁnitive business resource book for salons and spas. Ducoff’s new book, No-Compromise Leadership, is published by DC Press and is available at www.amazon.com. For a signed copy, go to www.strategies.com. You can e-mail Neil at neil@strategies.com. Rwandan salon owners, Jeanne Murekatete and Sylvie Mukamusoni, plan to open a beauty school in Rwanda with help from Business Council for Peace. 14 | December 2008 www.salontoday.com http://www.amazon.com http://www.strategies.com http://www.salontoday.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Salon Today - December 2008

Salon Today - December 2008 Contents Editor's Note Reception Fashion Sense Marketing Spa Menu Shared Value Igniting An Industry What the World Needs Now Greater Gifts Products Owner to Owner

Salon Today - December 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.