How to become successful in 2024: Lessons from my hairdresser

This was the question a lady posed to me as she led me to a seat at what I would hitherto describe as a nondescript hair salon, but was now revamped.

My hairdresser does a good job so I have had no problem making the journey across town to his no-frills salon and I usually go armed with snacks and drinks to keep my tummy from rumbling and to keep myself from getting cranky because a hungry woman is an angry woman.

So during my last appointment when I was asked whether I wanted a dawa, I was surprised and as the new phrase on many Kenyans' lips is 'in this economy ', I decided to tread with caution because 'in this economy', who is giving you free freshly made dawa. So I asked whether they were complimentary (read free, but that's just a way of saving face and not looking cheap) or paid for. When she said it was free, I ordered a dawa and it came with two freshly baked cookies.

Turns out delighting customers is part of the salon's strategy for 2024 to beat the competition in an industry where entire floors of malls are filled with salons offering the same service.

And it got me thinking, apart from my salonist's strategy, there are several lessons one can learn at a personal level for success this year:

1. Keep innovating and diversifying: if there is an industry that keeps innovating to meet ever-demanding customer demands, it's the hair and beauty industry. During my appointment, I found the salon had started doing faux sister locs using human hair. They had previously only been doing dreadlocks and faux locs. The faux sister locs look like one's own hair as opposed to the ones I've previously seen on some people where the 'faux' is easy to pick. It got me thinking about that joke of a guy going on a date with a woman and being unable to recognise her if she removed all the additions -  wigs and faux hair, makeup and lashes, body enhancers and so on. But I digress; the point here is to succeed, you need to diversify and keep improving your product or service 

2. Invest in marketing: for you as an individual, that is self-branding. Take time to discover (if you haven't already) what makes you stand out and what you do well and put effort into sharing this with your networks offline and online. At my salon, they would previously request to take a before and after photo of the work they had done on your hair and post the amateur photos on Facebook. However, during my last appointment, they had invested in a professional camera and lights that have taken their photos to a whole new level and they are now posting on Instagram as well as Tiktok in addition to Facebook. A picture is worth a thousand words and I believe the upgraded photos are bringing in more clients. Invest in your craft 

3. Keep your word: during my last appointment, I was attended to at my appointed time. The whole idea of making an appointment is so that you get served at the appointed time, but for some reason, I would find myself having to wait for on average 30 minutes past booking time to get served. Why tolerate that? Because my hairdresser is good and the one time I tried someone else, I was left trying to undo the damage done to my hair. At my last appointment, the timekeeping was good. And that should be what you aim to do this year, keep time and keep your word.

Let's have a fruitful 2024, shall we?