Business Milestones: Miss Shapes at 20
Two decades is a long time for any business – with all the strife that businesses large and small have had to endure these past four years, it seems that anxiety among business owners has never been higher. The ability for us as business owners to be able to re-frame perceived threats has become ever more critical; for example, the perception of an oversaturated market can be re-framed as market complexity. This kind of reframe gives us the ability to plan around these kinds of challenges, making what felt like something out of our control and turning it into something where we can take steps to continue to improve and grow our businesses and take control of our own destiny.
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Garren Thompson, co-owner and co-founder of Gibraltar hair & beauty salon Miss Shapes, based on Bishop Rapallo’s Ramp. As the business recently hit the 20-year milestone, we discussed the highs and lows of creating a successful salon in a saturated market, how he and his team created their new range of Miss Shapes branded Hair & Beauty products and how this will help build success for another 20 years.
Why and when did you start the business?
Garren: My husband Joseph and I first became serious about opening our own salon in 2002 but we didn’t open the salon until 2003 – we were in our 20s and we didn’t have a clue about how to go about starting a business. That’s one of the biggest changes we’ve seen in business over the last 20 years, how readily available information is thanks to the internet and organisations like the GFSB. Back then we didn’t know about anything, so everything we did was trial and error. Starting with a business loan of £10,000, we created a lovely little salon, bootstrapping as best we could. Joseph’s family all pitched in, with his dad and brother building all the units and we even salvaged the mirrors in a skip.
What would you say was your first growth milestone?
Garren: After a few years of healthy growth, we were offered the opportunity to purchase Headmasters, the salon where Joseph had done his hairdressing apprenticeship, as the owner was retiring. It really felt like a full-circle moment and an opportunity to continue our rapid growth – it was also a bit scary. We moved the hairdressing part of the business to Headmasters and made our original salon into solely beauty and both sides of the business continued to do very well.
Were there any challenges along the way?
Yes there have been! Over the next few years after we bought Headmasters, we continued to expand, needing more and more space, moving out of the original small salon, and opening two more bigger salons, giving us three units to run and support. Our overheads had crept up and up and were getting more and more challenging to manage – that’s when Covid hit. We faced the challenge head on and took immediate action. We made the hard decision to streamline the business and closed two salons, keeping our newly refurbished much larger salon on Bishop Rapallo’s Ramp – where we are now and it’s worked out perfectly.
You recently turned 20! How did you celebrate the milestone?
I was super excited about this milestone so I started planning for our big 20th birthday back at the beginning of 2023! It was then that we decided we wanted to launch a range of our own brand products to celebrate the occasion. As well as an interesting project to get involved with, we also had the intention of creating another revenue stream, as well as reinforcing our brand so that our customers were with us every day, when using our products at home.
Your own brand! What was it like developing that?
First of all, I spent time researching suppliers as I wanted to create products that would fit with our brand ethos. Their brief was that our products had to be organic (where possible) and made from 100% ethically sourced ingredients. We then spent months developing the formulations and testing them out on willing participants! This is a part that I didn’t expect to take so long, and when it comes to developing more products in the future, I will definitely assign more time to this process next time. We also launched a Miss Shapes Home Fragrance collection and are currently working on a Miss Shapes make-up collection. We then spent time creating the branding for the labels, which was another process that took longer than expected – particularly with all the rules and regulations there are to follow. I was very glad to have the guiding hand of our consultant, to make sure we comply with all regulations; it was money well spent.
What’s in store for the next 20 years of Miss Shapes?
Garren: There seems to be a new salon, barbers or beauty shop opening every week somewhere on the rock, so for me it’s about cementing us as a central part of the community in Gibraltar. Joseph has taken a position teaching GCSE hair and beauty, spending half his time in the salon and the other half teaching. We see that as an opportunity to develop and nurture talent for the future within our local community.
The story of Miss Shapes’ continued long-term success is a testament to Garren and Joseph’s ability to face the challenges of life head-on and not get pulled under by external forces that are out of their control. So if you ever find yourself fretting about something you feel is out of your control, ask yourself how you can reframe it into something that is within your control and take back your personal power.
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