‘$75k in one month’: New girl math used to help Aussies

A Queensland hair salon owner has told of how they have made prices for more affordable for Aussies as the beauty industry faces cost of living pressures.

It’s been an uncertain time for Queensland haircare salon owner Tenille Lawrence. Amid widespread business closures and economic downturn, Ms Lawrence, who founded her business Little Birdie Hair Co. in 2017, has faced fears about retaining clients and maintaining business during the cost-of-living crisis.

To help combat her increasing anxiety, the Queenslander adopted a new payment option from the Aussie startup aglow, which allows customers to pay for their salon treatments incrementally instead of in one lump sum.

“I think it’s really put some certainty back into an uncertain world in terms of retail in our industry because so many salons are closing down right now,” Ms Lawrence said. “I needed to be able to put something in place to make sure that my business would withstand the economy at the moment, rather than kind of ignoring it.”

Working like a gym membership, the payment model lets clients choose a payment frequency that suits their preferred payment cycle, whether it’s weekly, fortnightly, or monthly instalments, and is customisable.

“So if you get your hair done once every eight weeks, it breaks the payment down into eight manageable weekly payments. Girl math, we call it,” Ms Lawrence says with a laugh. “It makes it more manageable than people forking out that one massive payment. So instead of people dragging out their appointments to every 12 or 14 weeks, rather than every eight weeks, we can get them back in earlier.”

Tenille Lawrence owns Little Birdy Hair Co. Picture: Supplied

Members also enjoy a range of benefits, including flexible payments, exclusive perks such as complimentary treatments, a free shampoo and conditioner every three visits, a welcome goodie bag upon signing up, and priority booking.

Studies show that despite the rising cost of living, 87 per cent of Australian women set aside a budget for beauty treatments. That’s good news for salons like Little Birdie Hair Co., especially in light of recent findings by credit reporting firm illion that the number of small businesses at risk of collapse has jumped by 20 per cent in a year.

Ms Lawrence says the revenue from aglow has been “a lot”. “We sold a massive amount in the first month, more than we expected,” she said. “I would say we sold about 50 to 75 [memberships] in that first month. Each one of those appointments to me would be around $1500, so if it was 50, you times that by $1500, I made $75K in that first month.”

Aglow now has 5,000 active members and serves over 600 business customers. Unlike AfterPay, which Ms Lawrence says charges retailers high fees, the fees for this new payment model is small and are essentially absorbed by the one-off sign-up fee.

Ms Lawrence credits Aglow with helping her business. Picture: Supplied

To combat potential scams, the platform has fraud detection systems, secure payment processing, regular security audits, data privacy and two-factor authentication.

For a small business like hers, Ms Lawrence admits it’s a game-changer. “I don’t think we were ever at a point of losing our business but I think it’s put protection in place. It’s given me peace of mind that I’ve got something to support me during uncertain times.”

Platforms like aglow come as the budget revealed there are 2.5 million small businesses that contribute more than $500 billion to the economy and employ around 5.2 million people.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer Andrew McKellar said the Federal Budget delivered slim pickings for small businesses.

“While ongoing energy bill relief is welcome, and the extension of instant asset write-off will help some businesses, there are limited measures to address the surging impact of red tape on small business.

“Incentives aimed at encouraging investments from businesses, especially small businesses, are crucial during a time of economic fragility.

“Small business owners are under significant pressure due to increasing regulatory complexity, rising business costs and worker shortages.”

If you need help for your small business, go to business.gov.au.

Call the small business debt helpline on 1800 413 828.