We caught up with the brilliant and insightful John Weiss a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

John, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

There is a shift in the beauty industry toward beauty professionals, renting their own salon space. There are number of options available to them, but each beauty professional often times has to figure things out for themselves. These people are typically artists, with little business experience as business owners.

We offer a very different option for them. We deliver premium salon space but we also deliver the business coaching to help them succeed in their business. Seasoned professionals are able to leverage our resources to run more efficient business and increased their profit. New professionals are provided access to education, coaching, and resources to help them navigate and learn how to run in efficient business.

When I was first starting out as an entrepreneur many years ago, I had a lot of help from some great people. I’m excited to pay back that favor and help professionals in the beauty industry succeed and achieve their dreams.

John, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into this industry completely by accident. I just sold a technology company that I had run for about 15 years. I was too young to retire but I didn’t have the desire to start something from scratch again. I came across the MY SALON Suite franchise but was not interested because I did not have background in the space. For some reason I didn’t throw the opportunity in the garbage, I put on the back shelf as I looked at other opportunities. I was attracted to the franchise model, as it would allow me to continue my entrepreneurial ways without the risk associated with starting a business from scratch. I just needed to find the opportunity that would fit me and give me passion to pursue.

As I eliminated other opportunities, I continued to go back to the MY SALON Suite opportunity. I tried to poke holes in it as I wanted to eliminate it from my list. With each attempt, I was able to knock down more of my objections, but I still continued to toss this opportunity on the back shelf as it looked for other ones. Over the course of a few weeks, I started to become excited about this opportunity as a good fit for me. Finally, I decided MY SALON Suite was the opportunity for me and I haven’t looked back.

Criteria for me, included the ability to have more of a lifestyle business, earn a good living, and to deliver value to my market – make a difference for others. I also loved the ability to incorporate ‘giving’ into my new purpose. Early on we selected St. Jude Children’s Hospital our our charity. So, in short, it was critical, that I enjoyed what I was doing, create real value and making a difference for our customers and others.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I was considering starting my first business, it was a pretty scary time in my life. I had a good job with a good income, but I felt like I had reached a plateau. There is this new thing called the World Wide Web, and it appeared to be the wild West. There wasn’t a lot of structure, which was exciting because we can create our own. It’s also scary because revenue models had not yet been developed and we weren’t sure if it was a fad or if the Internet would stick around.

When I finally decided to quit my job, the vice president of the company called me into his office and told me that if things didn’t work out, they’d be happy to take me back. That gave me some comfort, knowing that I had done well and I was leaving in a positive manner.

Then the CEO of the company called me into his office and we discussed what I was doing. He looked at me and he said don’t look back, go after this with everything you have as if you have nowhere else to go, and you will succeed.

That scared me, but looking back, the CEO’s guidance served me well, because we made that business a success.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

My kids think that I can’t do math very well because I say 1+1 needs to equal MORE than two. Otherwise it doesn’t make sense – in the business world.

If a business buys another business, the benefit must exceed the two businesses operating separately (1 + 1 = more than 2). It is critical to have a full understanding of the business being acquired and know what your plans are with the products/revenue streams, and with the personnel.

Often times when businesses are purchased, there’s no clear communication to the personnel, which often results in quality personnel leaving quickly. This may seem cold, but it’s important to understand which of the following 3 buckets each person fits into:

1. Critical personnel that you want to retain
2. Transitional personnel that you need for now and maybe not later
3. Positions that will be eliminated or combined

Once the acquisition is announced, the personnel within the acquired company and potentially your organization need to be informed what bucket they fit into. If they are not long for the organization, do your best to assist them with a proper severance and transition opportunities. That way you do not lose your critical people and you provide a human approach for those that will be moving on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mysalonsuite.com/greenfield/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-weiss/