Big growth for hair salon

Angela King couldn't bear the thought of a customer leaving her Tauranga hair and beauty salon unhappy.
She will follow up on appointments and even offers a 48-hour guarantee if anything is wrong.
"We will do everything to make sure the customer feels groomed and gorgeous - if it takes two to three colours to get the hair back to what she wants, then we will do it," said Angela, who started Salon One in the Fraser Cove Shopping Centre 2 years ago.
Angela's attention to detail and customer service earned her business the coveted national Salon of the Year title in the Schwarzkopf PH (Professional Hairdressers) awards.
Salon One also won the Colour Salon of the Year and was a finalist in three other categories - Retail Salon of the Year, Excellence in Marketing, and Excellence in Community Responsibility.
The awards dinners was held at the Sebel Trinity Wharf Hotel in Tauranga, and Salon One - The Cove headed off salons in Christchurch, Blenheim, Wellington, Lower Hutt, Hamilton and Rotorua for the supreme award.
"It was a team effort and I've led a team that displays honesty and integrity," said Angela, an experienced make-up artist.
"We make sure our customers know they have the opportunity to look better. As you get older, it's not easy and we will give the best advice and value for money."
Over the past six months, Salon One has been increasing new clients at the rate of 30 per cent every four weeks, and it has an email database of 5000 names.
Salon One has switched into the internet and social media to promote its business. More than 1000 people visit its website every month.
Angela, who moved to Tauranga 13 years ago, describes her salon as "a one stop shop". Hairdressing forms the nucleus of the business - 10 of her 16 staff are professional hairdressers - but Angela offers a variety of beauty treatments, from holistic healing, spray tans, IPL (Intense Pulse Light) to teeth whitening, cosmetic tattooing, facials, eyelash perms and nail enhancement.
She brings in the experts to perform these treatments.
Angela, originally from Morrinsville, learned her make-up trade as a sales rep for Innoxa, after working on the Elizabeth Ardern counter at Farmers department store in Hamilton.
She started Salon by Design in Whakatane with business partner Bret Holmes, and after selling that they opened two more salons by the same name in Tauranga.
Bret finished up operating the salon on The Strand, and Angela the second one in downtown Mount Maunganui.
She then went alone, selling the Mount salon, and started Salon One at Fraser Cove in November 2008.
"You just focus on the responsibilities to your clients, employees and contractors - you don't know how well you are doing with the rest of your competitors.
The awards were extremely surprising; it was like winning the Oscars," said Angela.
She said she would consider franchising her business.