This week the BeautifulJobs team spoke to Daniel O Hagan, who is the Salon C0-ordinator and Director at Romina Daniel Hair and Beauty. Daniel chats to us about his expanding business with his wife and business partner Romina.
What role do you have in your company and what is your typical day like? As the title suggests, co-ordinate & direct. My role is basically to ensure the salon runs as smoothly as possible. At the beginning of the week my typical day would involve stock checks, running performance charts, payroll, banking, and marketing. We also do all of our staff education early in the week too. Generally, any meetings we need to attend we try to do on a Monday or Tuesday. As the end of the week is always hectic, I try to leave myself free to be more hands on in the salon to help with anything that needs attention from making coffee, answering the phone, attending client’s needs, and repairing leaks.
What’s special about your company? I would say myself and Romina are both very young to be in business for 9 years. Being so young, we have always looked at innovative ways to improve the salon in every aspect, from staff education, online bookings, launching our own app, and the salon’s appearance. Our fear is to not improve and be left behind, which is why we must continually look for ways in which we can improve. If we continue this ethos, I think we can be successful
What are the ups and downs of running your own business? I think with any business, there are naturally ups and downs. I never get carried away when we have positive news, but I find it difficult not to be hard on myself when we have bad news. I think when you care so much about your business it is hard not to be down when something is not going your way. It is also difficult not to take your work home with you. Myself and Romina are husband and wife as well as business partners which creates its own problems, but we are getting better at not taking our work home.
What do you look for in your employees? The number one attribute we look for in an employee is a positive attitude, followed by a passion for their trade and willingness to learn. In this industry you never stop learning, there is always something new. If you don’t genuinely love what you do and love learning you will be left behind very quickly. An outgoing personality is also something we look for as this breeds positivity into the salon every day.
Have you and Romina always wanted to set up your own business? No, absolutely not. This has been a result of the economic turn down. I am from a construction background and I was left unemployed in 2009. Romina was still working as a stylist for another salon at this point. The future in construction looked bleak and was only getting worse. We both had a small sum of savings but not a lot. We decided to invest and open the first salon in Palmerstown, which had been closed down a couple of month previous. At 21 & 23, we were now self-employed and had taken on such a big responsibility. Very scary at the time, family and friends thought we were mad! At the beginning, it was a real struggle but there was never a point when we thought we couldn’t do it. The one positive with being so young was that we were fearless. I honestly think, if only for the recession we would never had ended up here. As the saying goes, what is meant for you, won’t pass you by. This is certainly one of those cases.
Is there anything you would have done differently? It is hard to say yes because we have done well. Obviously, we have made so many mistakes which I would look back and say I should have done that differently. I think to learn, you need to make mistakes, just as long as you don’t repeat them.
What’s next for you? I don’t know the answer to that myself. At present, we are in the process of opening our third salon ‘Romina Daniel Sandyford Hall’. I am studying an MBA part time in the City Centre. Both myself and Romina opened the salon in 2009 right in the middle of the recession, with no business background what so ever. I have some management experience from my previous role as a plumber where I would have had a responsible position as foreman on building sites. We currently employ 16 people and that will soon become 25 which is why I have taken the plunge to go back to college and learn more about business. After that who knows.
For more about Daniel and his company here
Romina Daniel are now hiring stylists! Don’t miss this opportunity to join this growing, forward thinking company who believes in ongoing training and career development! Apply here.