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Assembling Exceptional Team Helped Hair Salon Ascend To Great Heights

 
Do or Dye Hair Salon is a full service salon located in Trevose, Pennsylvania. The LLC partnership is a 50-50 split between owners Amber Alkins and Lisa Vasso. "It feels like a marriage, but it's the best marriage ever," Amber told CBS. "I do think I got lucky because there are a lot of partnerships that don't make it. You just have to be honest with each other."

Amber's mother Trish Fecca, who also works at Do or Dye Hair Salon, is a big part of why Amber wanted to open her own shop. "My mom did hair and got me into the industry. I did go to college for education, but here I can kind of make my own schedule, not completely because your busy times are your busy times, but I love making somebody feel good. When somebody comes in and they don't know what they want, and I do the color, the cut and the style, and they leave feeling amazing, that's a good feeling." Not only does Do or Dye Hair Salon offer all the traditional services such as shampoo, cut, color, ombré, curl and straightening, but they also do makeup and stay on top of current trends, like balayage. "If I went through my whole list, there would be over 50 different types of services we offer. We offer packages to make it easy and convenient so people can get more for their money."

Another aspect that makes Do or Dye Hair Salon one of the most popular salons in the region is their staff, and in 2017 proved it by winning Bucks County Best Haircut. Amber answers a few questions about how she and Lisa have managed to put together such an excellent team.

 

 
How did you assemble such an incredible team at Do or Dye Hair Salon? What is your hiring process like?

It's actually pretty easy. If someone is interested, they call first or they stop in and we have them fill out the application so we can see where they went to school, if they have a license, or if they are at least currently in school. Until they have a license, they're not allowed on the floor, but they could be an assistant, a shampoo person, or a receptionist. If they have their license and want to be a stylist, the next thing we do is bring them in, and have them do a male cut and a female cut so we can see their technique. Then we go over what they know how to do and what they preferred to do. If we like what they do and we have a need, we'll review hours. If everything seems good up to that point, we'll call them back in for a second interview and discuss details.

 
Do you hire mostly full-time or part-time employees?

It's mostly part-time, but that's only because that's typically what hairstylists want. We do have two girls who run a full-time schedule, but that's because they don't have kids yet [laughs]. Most of the time, when you have children, you don't work a full-time schedule.

 
How do you work payment?

The girls work on a commission basis. However, if they would have made out better with their hourly rate, that's what they will get. That way, if they have a slow week or they are just building their books, they won't leave at the end of the week with nothing. That being said, while they are there, we fully expect them to promote themselves. They can't just sit and wait for someone to walk in, but we don't usually have that problem with our girls. They keep themselves pretty busy.

 
What's the best way to get in touch with you?

Definitely by phone, but we are also on social media, and it is awesome for us. We have a Facebook page, and you can Google us. Plus, anybody who moves into our area, within about a 25 mile radius, will get a free haircut coupon. We also do free consultations; you don't have to get your hair done, you can just come in and talk about what you want to do, and we'll give you a price quote and everything for free. You can spend a half hour just talking with us. I love it because that way we can get comfortable with each other first.

 

 
This article was written by Allen Foster for CBS Small Business Pulse.
 

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