Cut above: Former Big W worker builds $18m salon empire

Brendon Mann picked a shocking time to start a business. But he’s laughing all the way to the bank now.

Brendon Mann at his Carseldine salon - the 16th outlet in the chain.

In troubled times, it’s good to see one local bloke achieving a cracking success in business. Former Big W and Dick Smith manager Brendon Mann was looking for a side hustle in 2008 when the then 28-year-old purchased a hair salon in Brisbane’s Kenmore Village, borrowing money from his parents to fund the deal.

Sixteen years later, Mann has grown that single hair salon into a $18m business called Epic Hair Designs that boasts 16 outlets employing 200 people around the city. “We started in April 2008 right at the start of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC),” says Mann, 43. “Since then we have been Queensland’s fastest growing salon group.” For a man who has never picked up a pair of scissors, Mann’s success in the hairdressing trade is quite remarkable. He tells your diarist he concentrated on providing hair dressing and styling (albeit served up with coffee, cheese and wine) and not branching out into nails and skin treatments like a lot of his competitors. “We pitched ourselves as a mid-range luxury salon and that has worked,” says Mann. Along the way, Epic has picked up a swag of awards including the Courier Mail’s best Queensland hairdresser for 2023. He says Covid-19 proved a challenge but is proud we “didn’t close and we didn’t need to stand anyone down.”

Brendon Mann planning expansion to Sydney.

“The first few months were very challenging and I remember driving home one day thinking everything was going to be gone in the next few months and reflecting on the years I had had the company,” Mann says.

“Luckily salons were allowed to stay open to make sure women had a reason to get ‘out’ from the household in case they might have been experiencing something like domestic violence.”

Three years ago, Epic established a training academy above its Ascot outlet, providing a fully simulated salon environment, supervised by qualified stylists and trainers. “We are very proud to have trained almost 570 Apprentices since we began sixteen years ago – that’s a massive boost to our local hairdressing industry as well as a positive impact to metro and regional employment,” he says. Mann is a big believer in giving back and has partnered with Orange Sky Laundry to provide hair cuts for the homeless.

Mann says Epic is now looking at salon sites in Sydney as part of a national expansion. He says the general business environment remains challenging with labour making up a huge proportion of costs in the hairdressing sector.

“Wages make up about 60 per cent of a salon’s costs as opposed to only 7 per cent in the retail sector,” he says.

Coffee charge

Phillip Di Bella’s Coffee Commune is joining forces with Gold Coast-based GeSS Education to help with skill shortages in the hospitality business. The firms will develop an offshore training program in India to train baristas, cooks and chef hospitality workers. According to the Federal Government, hospitality workers including chefs and waiters are among the top 20 largest employing occupations in shortage within Australia.

Di Bella says GeSS Education’s international training program is a game-changer. “By aligning education with employment needs, we’re not only addressing shortages but pioneering a new era in hospitality workforce solutions,” Di Bella says.

Phillip Di Bella