Beauty spa looking to expand in suburban Dublin

Kate Verling is director of Mink Hand & Foot Spa, which has specialist salons in Donnybrook and Ballsbridge in Dublin. She employs 47 people and hopes to open an additional salon in the next 18 months.

What sets your business apart from the competition? We were the first to open up a hand and foot spa in Ireland We specialise in pedicures and manicures and were the first to invest in specialist equipment such as pedi-chairs. Customer service has also been our number one priority which sounds like a cliché but, without a beauty background, I wanted to make sure we invested in the best equipment and fully trained nail technicians.

What was the best piece of business advice you've ever received? We have had a lot of people copy what we do, even in terms of the salon layout and copying our salon treatment list. My father is a business owner himself and he always says: "Stop looking at what other people are doing and concentrate on yourself." Since he said that, I have shut out all the outside noise and concentrated on making what we do better and better.

What's the biggest mistake you've made in business? I had to burn out before I learned that I cannot do everything for everybody. I have now delegated 50 per cent of my workload and trained my staff up so I have a better work-life balance. It has made the business more positive and we are much more of a team now because my staff can see that I trust them.

Your major success to date? As well as surviving the recession without letting any staff members go, we recently won Best Salon at the Image Business of Beauty Awards which was a lovely accolade and were nominated for the Irish Times Best Shops award last year. People were leaving voicemails and calling in to us to tell us they had voted. it was lovely to see such support from our customers.

Whom do you most admire in business and why? Natalie Massenet, the founder of Net-a-Porter and chairwoman person of the British Fashion Council. I think she is amazing for what she has done and even how she has grown into herself as a businessperson. As a salon owner who has expanding, I also keep an eye on Thea Green, founder of Nails Inc, which is the UK's top nail bar brand with salons across the UK.

Based on your experience in the downturn, are the banks in Ireland open for business to SMEs? I think now they are more amenable than they were five years ago. We were crazy-full and had committed to employing all these people and then suddenly it was like someone switched off the phones. It was tough to re-evaluate our offering and banks were just saying no, so you had to put your head down and see it through. I think they have a bit more faith now than then if you have a good relationship with them. We want to open our third salon in the next 12 to 18 months so I hope that we will have their support.

What advice would you give to the Government to help stimulate the economy? There has got to be more focus on SMEs. I think we are key to building the economy. If someone has a passion and an idea and they're good at what they do, they have the capacity to employ 10, 20, 30-plus people. I think there has to be more support for people who are going out on a limb and employing people and paying tax. We don't perfectly fit into many of the categories that the Government looks to nurture, such as the export market or computer software, so I think there is a gap there.

What has been the biggest challenge you have had to face? Keeping everyone in their jobs after 2009. Our growth went from 10 to 25 staff members really quickly and then the phones stopped ringing. I am proud of the fact that we managed to keep everyone employed. We started doing less-expensive services. It meant people were choosing us over a different salon experience and it meant we could keep our staff.

How do you see the short-term future for your business? I would like to open another Dublin suburban salon in the next 12 to 18 months. The natural progression after that is Cork and Galway. We are looking at London, too, but it is a case of wanting to crawl before we walk.

We have set the bar quite high so we have to make sure we can maintain that standard as we grow.

What is your business worth and would you sell it? It is a family business with two salons. We were previously a sole trader and now we are a limited company so we've broken that little ceiling. I don't know if I'd like to sell it but I would like to look at franchising. mink.ie