Expanding into the business of beauty Sunday, August 09, 2009 By Cheryl O’Sullivan After ten years running her own hair salon, Anne Marie O’Sullivan was feeling stuck in a rut, so she decided to expand the business into beauty treatments.
In 2004, she opened Adore¤, which she describes as a one stop shop for hair and beauty treatments, including non-surgical beauty procedures. Based in Cork city, the business recently won the Best Salon 2009 prize at the Irish Beauty Professionals Awards. The salon employs up to 13 people and has six beauty rooms, as well as the hair salon.
Some rooms are quite clinical for the specialised treatments, while O’Sullivan describes the dedicated facial treatment rooms as being more luxurious and peaceful.
O’Sullivan attributes the award win to a constant focus on high standards at Adoré, saying that the majority of her new business comes through referrals, so the salon is only as good as its last treatment. She recently revamped Adoré’s website and launched an online store.
‘‘I think that keeping on top of trends and constantly reviewing my business plan helped the salon get shortlisted and subsequently winning the award,” she said.
To prepare for her new business venture, O’Sullivan spent two years managing a cosmetic surgery clinic, where she gained experience in both surgical and non-surgical treatments.
Before that, she was a hair stylist, having trained with Darcy’s College of Hairdressing in Cork and then with Peter Mark.
She spent some time in London with Toni & Guy before returning to Ireland to open her hair salon, The Cutting Room.
Although O’Sullivan enjoyed running that salon, she believes Adore¤ could offer a much wider range of services to customers.’ ‘We are a hair salon, beauty therapists and treatment clinic. This ensures that, no matter what the client wants, Adoré will be able to help.”
O’Sullivan said that it took six months for Adore¤ to take off, but that it then expanded rapidly. She invested heavily in advertising as well as focusing on branding and marketing. ‘‘This paid off, as Adoré quickly became a well-recognised name.”
O’Sullivan said her long term goal was to own a chain of Adoré salons.’ ‘I have never been afraid of a challenge - if I were employed by someone, I would probably be telling them how they should be running their business.”
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