“We are keeping on the positive side of things.”
It comes as no surprise that many businesses, if not all, were caught off guard with the current pandemic especially those that depended on customers coming in to their shop. One such industry that was greatly affected was Personal Care Services namely, waxing salons, hair salons, and the like.
Luckily, we were able to have a chat with David’s Salon’s CEO and Founder, David Charlton himself along with his daughter and Creative Director, Laura Charlton on how they’re maneuvering through COVID-19’s many challenges.
Early stages of lockdown
Like many brick and mortar establishments, David’s Salon had to close all their branches and even with restrictions easing up after awhile, it was still a major struggle for the team. It was, as David says, “a complete disaster [financially]” because even with branches slowly reopening, public transportation made it difficult for their staff, who were already willing to work.
Implementing New Protocols
Once branches were set to open, David’s Salon made sure that they followed all the safety protocols provided by the government; these included staff wearing PPEs, masks, and face shields while also adding foot sanitation mats, temperature checks, additional disinfection, and minimizing capacity among others
After observing these adjustments, he shares how proud he is of their staff, “That is not an emergency room in the hospital (showing a photo of his team in full PPE in one of their branches). That’s one of our salons, completely all smiles. Our staff in full PPE and honestly and completely… how can I say it, I’m awestruck as to how well the staff has been coping with all of this considering that they are all under reduced salaries, considering that they’ve got to wear this PPE which is not comfortable to wear.”
Words of Advice
This is, undoubtedly, a unique time for us all and David emphasizes that, for all business owners in any industry, you must take care of your staff and always remain positive not just for yourself but for your whole team as well. He states, “You’ve got to make sure you look after your staff as much as possible if you’re the owner of the business and that’s whatever business you’re in.”
Laura also chimes in on the importance of staying positive, “They’ve been great (their staff) and everybody’s been waiting and anxious to open again. We are positive, we are keeping on the positive side of things, we don’t want to look at any form of negative. We are merely pushing towards the light at the end of the tunnel.”