As part of a new series on this blog I will be featuring various niche job boards. Today it’s time to learn about Salon Spa Connection, which serves salons, spas, barbershops and industry schools throughout the US and now in Canada. Susan Wos is the founder, and I asked her more about her business.
When did you start your job board?
We started our job board with just a few salons, spas and barbershops in the Kansas City area in 2018. Due to the high recruitment and marketing demand for salons, we are able to expand to serve owners across the US in 2021.
What’s the origin story?
I am a former salon owner and 30 year veteran cosmetologist. My frustration with finding jobs and booth rental opportunities that were scattered across social media and expensive job boards led me to create a job board on our platform, Salonspa Connection. Hiring was the perfect addition to being the resource for non-brand affiliated opportunities such as education, salon businesses for sale and a place to find out what is going on in the salon industry. Our job and booth rental board is an affordable space for salon industry owners to recruit and advertise their offerings, effectively.
How long did it take to get your first paying client?
The recruitment model we started with was a pay based upon success business model. I would learn as much as I could about salons who wanted our recruitment services and owners would pay Salonspa Connection, only if they hired the person we sent. This took 3 months for our first successful recruiting!
Unfortunately, that business model proved to be problematic, so we moved to a subscription model to handle the volume of jobs and applicants we get.
What is your pricing model?
We offer a subscription model which is forever evolving! Currently it is $20 per month for a basic listing which does not include social media promotions or top billing on the job board. Owners who choose the premium subscription, $40 per month get social media promotions in addition to top billing on our website. We focus heavily on social media – Facebook groups and posting on our accounts which is more than any other job board we have seen.
Do you sell other products beyond job postings?
Our core service outside of job board listings is selling salon businesses. We also offer consulting, marketing assistance and in the future we will be offering salon client recruitment for those who are needing to grow a solid client base. Our Job Board is a spoke in the wheel of Salonspa Connection’s products for the salon industry.
Is this a side gig or your full time job?
This is my full time job! Up until 2020 the job board was a side gig. Covid really helped our business as our industry was significantly impacted from the shut downs. It takes a massive amount of effort to grow a niche, non-brand affiliated company in the salon industry and I wear ALL of the hats. It is more than a full time job!
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