T: 0131 341 4250|E: andrew@salonfrog.com
T: 0131 341 4250|E: andrew@salonfrog.com
Jason and Andrew from Salonfrog spent the weekend at Salon International, at London ExCeL (5th-6th October 2019).
Wow – what a busy place!
They met so many people: Clients, non-Clients, Speakers, and also had numerous meetings with the key software providers like Phorest and Timely (more of which in a future post); as well as meeting up with the various industry magazine editors there (of which Salonfrog has been featured in most of them).
And as if that was not enough, they had time to enjoy the shows, demo’s and checking out the latest scissors!
If you missed part one, have a look here: How successful salons & barbershops are using social media – interview with Media Bloom (part 1).
In part 2, Larisa from Media Bloom talks to us about how Salon, Barbershop and Spa owners are Spicing Up their social media content.
Here’s what Larisa chatted to us about:
“One of the keys to social media success for your salon is keeping the audience engaged and interested in what you have to say. An easy way of doing this is by sending your message across in different forms of content.
These are a few content ideas that will make your audience stop when they see your salon, barbershop or spa’s name on their feed:
1. Facebook Slideshows
By creating the post in the Facebook Creator Studio https://business.facebook.com/creatorstudio/ you will be able to create different types of content including slideshows (choose multimedia). With Christmas fast approaching, you can add a few images with ideas of hairstyles for the festive season accompanied by cheerful music for example.
The moving element will make people stop.
2. Polls
Polls are a great way of engaging with your followers. They work great on Instagram stories, Facebook page or Twitter. On Facebook and Instagram you can add photos, so you can ask followers to choose their favourite style, for example.
3. Special offers
The end goal of every company is to sell. But nobody likes seeing sales posts when relaxing over a social media scroll. To avoid this, use the special option on Facebook and Google my Business of adding an offer. This will make it seem like it is something that benefits your followers and not only your Salon. On Facebook and Google, you will find it at the top of the ‘create post’ option.
These are just a few ideas of how to spice up your social media content. If you would like to learn more and get a chance to work on your social media Christmas campaign, contact Larisa directly to help you.
You can also follow Media Bloom on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mediabloomltd
where you’ll find regular new content to help your salon.
If you need help with your social media, whether it is a one to one meeting or someone to manage it for you, you can contact Larisa at social@mediabloom.co.uk
As a Salon or Barbershop owner, you need to consider auto-enrolment if you employ staff – and constantly revisit it. It’s a very complicated area to get your head around, so we’ve put together a recap for you.
What’s auto-enrolment
Under the Pensions Act 2008, every employer in the UK must put certain staff into a pension scheme and contribute towards it. This is called ‘auto-enrolment’. If you employ at least one person you are an employer and you have certain legal duties. We talk about the practicalities of how this affects you as salon owner below.
Who needs to be auto-enrolled?
You need to assess each of your employees and put them into one of three categories:
Category 1 | Eligible jobholders
These employees must be auto-enrolled and you must contribute to their pension as soon as they trigger all of these 4 criteria:
Category 2 | Non-eligible jobholders
These employees do not have to be auto-enrolled but can choose to opt in to your Salon’s pension scheme. If they do opt in, you have to also make contributions to their pension scheme:
Category 3 | Entitled workers
Employers must ensure that entitled workers have access to a pension scheme if they request one, but you are not required to auto-enrol them nor make any contributions to their pension scheme:
Contribution %’s
Under law, a minimum contribution of 8% of the employee’s “qualifying earnings” must be made into their pension scheme, of which you as salon owner must contribute a minimum of 3% (with your employee contributing the remaining 5%).
What counts as “qualifying earnings”
For auto-enrolment, qualifying earnings includes all taxable income: basic pay, commission, bonus, overtime, SSP and SMP but excludes benefits (BIKs) and any expenses repaid to them.
Example
A stylists usually earns £750 basic per month, but this month also earns overtime of £50 and a bonus of £200. Therefore qualifying earnings are assessed as £1,000. If the stylists is not yet in the pension scheme but is now assessed as an “Eligible Jobholder” auto-enrolment is triggered that month, since they have breached the £833 minimum.
What earnings do you pay contributions on?
You’re not required to pay the contribution % on the employees whole salary though!
Instead, you are only required to pay the % on each employee’s earnings above a certain amount, which is set by the Government each year. Currently, the % is only applied to earnings above £6,136 pa (£472 per 4-weekly pay, or £512 per monthly pay)
Example
One of your stylists is earning £12,000 per year, so the 8% requirement is applied to £5,864 of their wages (i.e. £12,000 less £6,136).
Your responsibility as salon owner
Seasonal Workers
Most salons & barbershops take on summer and Christmas temps and these “seasonal workers” also have to be assessed to see if they qualify for auto-enrolment.
However, if you know they will be working for your salon for less than three months, you can use what’s called “postponement” to postpone your legal duty to assess staff for three months – and you do not need to put them into your pension scheme (unless they ask to).
When else can you postpone?
There are 3 other times you can postpone auto-enrolling for 3 months:
In each case, you must let the employee know, but be aware that if they want to opt in (and if they’re eligible) you have to honour this.
Who else does not need to be auto-enrolled?
The following can also be excluded by you from auto-enrolment:
Who can advise you on what pension scheme to set up?
Like the majority of accountants, Salonfrog is not allowed to recommend pension schemes to its Clients. Instead, you have 2 options:
Last words
OK, it’s complicated. So if nothing else:
And don’t think it will go away. There’s some serious fines out there for not doing it.
The Pension Regulator has a good guide here:
https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/employers
Or answer a few questions using the Regulator’s on line help tool:
https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/employers/new-employers
Salonfrog services
We have 3 services which are related to auto-enrolment:
Salonfrog’s Andrew features in the September issue of Professional Salon & Spa Magazine, in its expert advice page.
WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR IN A SALON ACCOUNTANCY BUSINESS
AND HOW EASY IT TO SWITCH FROM ONE TO ANOTHER?
If you want your salon or spa to do better than all the others, you need to do what the average owner doesn’t do. Among my salon clients, the most successful owners see their accountant as a business adviser, not merely as a number cruncher. These owners know that a good accountant will save far more money than they cost.
Here’s what to look for:
Ask a specialist – Choose an accountant who specialises in salons and spas. This industry has unique challenges and opportunities. You need an advisor who can teach you what they’ve learned from other salons.
Let them come to you – Distance doesn’t matter, so never choose an accountant based on location. A good accountant will log into your POS system remotely. Don’t have POS? A good accountant will set it up for you.
Speak when it suits you – Accountants should be reachable outside of your salon’s opening hours – but many aren’t! And if you love WhatsApp but your accountant doesn’t, start shopping around.
No initials, no deal – Anyone can set up as an accountant, so make sure they’re qualified. Look for these abbreviations: AAT, ICAEW, ICAS, CIMA or ACCA.
Fix those fees – Fixed fees and monthly payments are your friend. Don’t let your accountant bill you “whatever and whenever” – if they don’t know what the job costs, they don’t know the job.
Changing accountants is easy – Don’t wait to switch. You can be up and running with a new accountant in days, even in the middle of a tax year.
Salonfrog spoke with Larisa from social media expert Media Bloom about how successful salon and barbershop owners are using social media to their benefit. In part 1 of this interview, Larissa starts with 3 top tips which every salon owner should have in place as standard.
“Connecting with potential and future customers, showcasing your services and skills and raising brand awareness – can all be done through the power of social media. Here are 3 tips to help you achieve this:
Encourage social media check-ins
The more the merrier – especially with the number of people who check in at your salon or barbershop on Facebook. They offer you free advertising and, if the number is high, people are more trusting in using your services. Plus, their friends will see your name. You can offer certain incentives to encourage your customers to check in.
Speak through images or video
Pictures and videos are the most engaging type of content, and they give you the opportunity to showcase your talent. Before and after images are very popular and people tend to share those on their own platform so you can reach many other potential customers. Also, a video of you offering tips would do wonders.
Take advantage of Google My Business
When people search for a salon on Google, your google listing will be the first to come up. Make sure you have al the information updated, that you post pictures occasionally, have a list of services as well as any offers that you currently run. You can also encourage customers to leave reviews. To start with Google My Business, visit https://www.google.com/business
Part 2 of our interview with Larissa can be found here: Spicing Up your Salon’s social media content – interview with Media Bloom (part 2)
You can also follow Media Bloom on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mediabloomltd
where you’ll find regular new content to help your salon.
If you need help with your social media, whether it is a one to one meeting or someone to manage it for you, you can contact Larisa at social@mediabloom.co.uk
We’ve just completed our regular inspection by the Institute of Chartered Accountants (they do this to all chartered accountancy firms to make sure we’re doing the right thing for our Clients and that everything is all in order).
✅ We passed again with flying colours!
Just wanted everyone to know 🙂
Salonfrog uses an App called Senta to share documents between us and our Clients. We also use it for e-signatures (for example, where Clients sign their year end accounts electronically before we submit them).
Senta has created a short video aimed at helping our Clients use Senta, and it’s worth a watch!
Any questions, please let us know.
If you’ve seen our advert in HJ magazine, you’ll notice there’s an issue with the print quality. HJ have looked into this and we’re getting it re-run in the next issue – at the proper resolution! Thanks to the Team at HJ for their help.