Another local business that is reopening on April 12 in line with UK government guidelines is the Maidenhead based beauty salon of Ana Harmony. It is a very much a family business, being owned and run by sisters Ursha and Krishna Chavda. The salon is even named after their beloved Slovenian grandmother, Ana! The sisters are passionate about providing expert skin care and massage and offer a variety of services around this, plus other beauty treatments. I went and spoke with Ursha and Krishna, taking these photos that they can now use on their social media to show what the salon is like inside and encourage people to visit.
Tell me a bit about your business and how it worked before Covid-19 entered our lives.
My business is a beauty salon which I own with my sister. Before Covid-19 we were providing a range of beauty treatments and our business had a steady growth from month to month as we opened in January 2019. We were able to have both therapists working with clients at the same time and hold events at the salon with other local business.
What happened to your business during each of the government shutdowns? Were you able to keep serving customers? How did things change?
During each lockdown our business has had to close and the only part of the business we could continue was selling our products. In the first lockdown we were unsure of what we could do other than try and promote our products. We didn’t realise that we would be closed for 17 weeks when we went into the first lockdown.
When we reopened, we had most of our clients return to our salon and new clients come to our salon too. It was lovely to see so many people coming back to us. When the second lockdown was announced the three days before we had to close, we had an influx of clients wanting to have treatments. We stayed open till 9pm on each of those days so we could provide treatments to all our customers that we had booked in for the month of November.
During the second lockdown we had a shop added to our website to help us with building our retail section. This has helped our business as clients have found they can order online and have products delivered to them. In this third lockdown we did virtual skin care and pamper workshops where we spoke about skincare, how to look after your skin and had a facial at home. I sent out pamper packs and showed how to apply products to your skin and complete your own mini facial at home.
In the last 12 months we have been closed for 35 weeks. Our business has never been able to resume the way it was before Covid-19.
Have there been any unexpected changes that have worked out well?
Our e shop has helped our clients to buy products from us easier. Also, our pamper workshops that we have recently done had great feedback. We have been asked to continue this even when the salon reopens.
When are you reopening your business for customers? What safety precautions have you installed that you tell me about to help reassure people?
We are planning to reopen on the 13th April. We are going to be appointment only and have 1 client in at a time to start with unless they are from the same household. We have decided to take this approach again as it worked very well last year and our clients felt safe when coming to our salon. We block out extra time after a client for cleaning before our next client arrives. We clean all areas the client has been in. We will review this on May 17th depending on what the Government guideline are.
We have all PPE to keep safe. Masks, gloves, aprons, face shield, sneeze screen for manicure, temperature checks and all laundry are washed at 60c (always have done this). We are doing everything possible to remain as safe as possible for us and our clients.
Is there anything else you would like to tell me or others?
We are looking forward to reopening and seeing all our clients again. We are teaming up with the DASH charity (Domestic Abuse Stops Here) when we open and for the first month, we will be donating £5 from each massage treatment to DASH.
What will be your opening hours when you open after April 12 and how can people best find you/contact you?
We will be open:
Tuesday 09.30- 17.00
Wednesday 09.30 – 17.00
Thursday 10.00-19.00
Friday 09.30- 15.30
Saturday 09.00- 15.00
Evening appointments are available Tuesday and Wednesday by contacting us directly on 01628298040, email anaharmonyltd@outlook.com or Facebook Messenger.
You can book online through our website https://www.anaharmony.co.uk, Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/anaharmonybeautysalon and on Google.
Now is a great time to put yourself back in front of your customers, while they are still at home but looking for things to book and plan. Photos are great way for people to learn more about your business before they even come to you in person. High-quality photos vs phone selfies can help show you are a professional and well established in your field, so well worth the investment! If you are interested in getting some photos of you and your business, please get in touch with me at andrea@aplusphotography.co.uk.