The New Norm
The past months have been very interesting, to say the least. Week by week, day by day, hour by hour, and minute by minute life as we knew it changed at a rapid rate.
We’ve been watching things unfold around us for some months. You remember the quarantined cruise ship off the coast of Japan. It’s interesting how many of us never considered the potential impact it could have on us locally and how we operate on a daily basis.
Until that day…BAM! It’s sitting right on top of us. Literally! Who would have ever thought we would be locked down and shut-in.
We all have to Support and Embrace the “New Norms”.
Even the announcement to shut down non-essential services still has my head spinning.
We are all social distancing, which means our dollars are not flowing into local businesses as before the pandemic.
In such a volatile environment, smaller, local businesses count on your patronage in order to stay afloat; every transaction is precious to us.
Passionate About Serving Our Clients
Our goal at The Hair Wellness Group is to continue supporting our clients in whatever capacity that we can within our means. One way, in particular, is through our online retail store and NEW! virtual support services.
Our retail store provides our clients with the same high-quality products that we use during their services and much more. Our virtual services allow us to offer hair care and wellness support from the comfort of your home.
To help offset the decrease in revenue, our business has made clever pivots to support our customers with little to no human contact.
We are now offering online ordering, curbside pickup, virtual support, new membership plans and much more to come.
We are even revamping the services we offer to be able to serve each client in a timely manner due to new guidelines from our Local State Board.
Our Buying Behavior
I’m very aware that some may be experiencing financial strain due to our current state of affairs. When we reflect on our buying behavior we tend to look at where can I get it for the lowest cost or the cheapest (probably even more so now).
That’s a great habit when you are anticipating major purchases where there may be substantial savings by doing research and finding the best deal for say like a car, house, etc.
But when it comes to the products and services of most small business it should be thought of little differently. Low cost in some cases does not equate to quality or value. But of course, the definition of quality and value can vary from person to person.
Yes, you can go to Walmart and other big box stores to get lower-cost on most products and services. And yes, you can hop online and find some items at a lower price and order it.
On the other hand, you have us, the small business with passionate owners attempting to carve out their niche in the local community while trying to make a living at the same time.
We do not have the deep pockets of Wal-Mart or Amazon or the buying power of the big box companies but as a small business owner, we can buy wholesale from some of the very same companies that the big dogs buy from with the same goal to sell products and to make a small profit.
By the way, that’s the model businesses are built upon. They offer products and services at a particular cost and after all business expenses are paid you generally have a profit left over. Some businesses have more profit than others. That will depend on their markup, ability to move units and their debt to income ratio.
However, we can provide you with some of the very same products at comparable prices. We carry a wide selection of high-quality hair, body, skin, and wellness products. A little something for everyone.
The only difference is that in most cases we are able to buy the same volume (Wal-Mart model is to buy high volume to sell low) therefore our retail price for some items may have to be slightly more especially to profit.
We have to do a better job of communicating this to our community. Will everyone get it? …NO!
But it’s our responsibility to inform and educate.
Don’t forget our small business need your support to survive and thrive.
Think local and small the next time you need to do a little shopping, seek out a small business like The Hair Wellness Group, and see what they have to offer!
You could discover some great products and services while helping to build a strong and successful community around you.
We genuinely thank you for all the support and love extended to our small business. It’s much needed and appreciated.
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