Training new business owners and stylists for Just Cuts, the largest hairdressing franchise in the Southern Hemisphere, calls for the personal touch – and a lot of travel, says CEO Amber Manning.
A stroke of luck – and a keen business brain – led to the birth of Just Cuts. When hairdresser Denis McFadden relocated his suburban Sydney salon up the street in 1983, “he decided to leave a couple of hairdressers in the old space until the lease ran out”, says Just Cuts CEO Amber Manning. “He put a sign in the window advertising $6 haircuts and had a queue out the door. He thought, ‘I’m onto something here!’”
The idea to franchise the no-appointment, fixed-price-haircut model came about when one of McFadden’s hairdressers approached him saying she wanted to start her own business. She said, ‘I want to follow your systems and do it exactly how you do it.'
Four decades on, about 100,000 haircuts are snipped every week by Just Cuts stylists in 235 franchised salons across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Taiwan. “Including sales of our own Justice Professional Haircare products, our group turnover last financial year was $154 million,” says Manning. Just Cuts makes sure all its franchisees are carefully inducted, with onboarding, training and assistance finding ideal salon sites and negotiating leases. “Of our 125 franchise owners, more than half own more than one salon and only about 30 of them are actually hairdressers; the rest are investors from all walks of life.”
Maintaining brand integrity requires in-person training and check-ins with salon owners, which means frequent domestic and international travel for the Just Cuts Academy, as the head office team is known. “Luckily they love to fly,” says Manning, who credits several key trips with helping the business reach new heights.
“Being together in person helps our franchisees connect and share ideas”
“We recently had our annual global conference on the Gold Coast, with 125 franchise owners and 17 members of our Just Cuts Academy team coming together for five days. It’s about education, upskilling on best business practices and sharing what everyone’s doing in their local-area marketing.
A big thing for Just Cuts is being part of the community and we have awards at the conference to acknowledge these initiatives. We have to book flights for all our people and my EA loves it because she can log into our Qantas Business Rewards Account and book and manage everything in one place. It saves time. Next year we’re going to Fiji for the conference so we’re keeping an eye on our Qantas Business Rewards emails for the best offers.”
Tip: As a Qantas Business Rewards member, save up to 10% off the base fare of selected flights, plus up to 5% off Red e-Deals~
“We found our first Canadian franchisee on that trip”
“Our first salons in Canada will open in 2024 and our team has made a couple of trips to scope opportunities and meet with shopping centre managers. They also attended the National Franchise Show in Toronto to connect with shopfitters, leasing managers and potential franchisees.
The trip helped us sign up our first Canadian franchisee, which is exciting. Our accountant used to have to chase people for tax invoices for their travel but now our Qantas Business Rewards Account connects straight to Xero and all of the invoices go through in real time. It’s made our lives a lot easier and our business earns points on every trip, which we put towards future travel. Just Cuts is a family business and we’re budget-conscious so Qantas Business Rewards savings on flights to many destinations worldwide make a big difference.”
Tip: With over 1,300 destinations across Australia and the world, enjoy an extensive network with Qantas and our partners to get you and your travellers wherever you need to be.
“Our franchisees love us coming to visit their salons”
"We have Just Cuts salons in every state and territory of Australia so our trainers fly all over to educate our hairdressers on the latest cutting techniques and trends, as well as our new haircare products. In-person training is a very important part of what we offer franchisees; the connection is essential. We also have trips for auditing and ‘mystery shops'; I’ll try to pop in for a quick cut but they usually spot me!
The Qantas regional network makes it easy to get around several places in one trip and we can plan it all in our Qantas Business Rewards Account and even book our hotels and car hire. We earn points for the business, which we can reinvest into upgrades and future trips, while our team members love that they also earn points for themselves. It’s an important part of employee retention."
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Important Information
* A business must be a Qantas Business Rewards Member to earn Qantas Points for the business. A one-off joining fee of $89.50 applies, is inclusive of any applicable GST and may be varied by Qantas from time to time, without notice, in its absolute discretion. Membership and Qantas Points for business are offered under the Qantas Business Rewards Terms and Conditions and earning thresholds apply.
~ Savings are available exclusively to Qantas Business Rewards Members on the base fare of selected fares only and do not apply to taxes, fees and carrier charges. Availability is limited. Member Deals are subject to the Qantas Business Rewards Terms and Conditions.
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