As lockdown measures begin to ease and small businesses start to reopen, owners need to prioritize the health and safety of both team members and clients. The greatest challenge for beauty salons and barbershops reopening during COVID-19 is maintaining social distancing. There are several steps that you need to take to safely reopen your business according to COVID-19 guidelines.

1. Make a full risk assessment checklist.

You shouldn't reopen your beauty salon without first making a full risk assessment checklist and understanding how to make any necessary alterations. Your risk assessment checklist should include a limit on your capacity at any given time, operating on a staggered schedule to reduce customer overlap, and deciding which team members will monitor the entrance and how.

2. Prepare the layout for social distancing.

You'll likely need to remove some salon furniture, tape off or install dividers between salon chairs, and rearrange some of your salon equipment to maintain social distancing.

Keller International has been supplying the barber and beauty industry with quality beauty salon equipment and stylish barber and salon furniture at competitive prices for over two decades. They have the latest styles of shampoo bowls, barber chairs, and dryer chairs that come with free shipping throughout the United States. Outfit your barbershop or salon with high-quality products at affordable prices from Keller International.

3. Write out a new health and safety plan.

Once you make a risk assessment checklist you'll need to notate your new safety protocols, who will manage them, how to implement them, and how often these safety protocols should occur. It's important to stock up on any materials or items essential to carrying out your safety protocols. Take the time to train your stylists about your safety protocols. Prepare your stylists on how to communicate these safety protocols to clients and ensure everyone is clear on their personal responsibilities.

4. Let your clients know you are reopening.

It's a good idea as a small business to update your market strategy by incorporating marketing videos that can reach your target audience on social media. The talented team of marketing and visual content creators at COLDEA Productions are experts at storytelling and provide a custom photo and video productions. The creative agency has years of experience specializing in commercial photography, video content, and animation.

Their video production team has an impressive portfolio that includes explainer videos, brand videos, documentaries, online videos, educational videos, TV commercials, corporate videos, 3D animations, motion graphics, trade show videos, video marketing, and more. The talented team of videographers will work with you throughout the production process to deliver an impressive final product.

In addition to production services, the innovators at the video production company also have a portfolio of digital marketing and creative solutions like corporate events photography, drone photography, web design, and graphic design. The full-service advertising agency has over a decade of experience serving clients in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Arizona, and Nevada.

5. Set up sanitizer stations and enforce the use of masks.

You will need setup sanitizer stations around the floor, especially at the entrance. Make sure that the sanitizer station is clearly visible to clients as soon as they enter the business and make sure you have a staff member monitoring the entrance to reinforce sanitizing practices. Any clients or stylists within the beauty salon must be required to wear personal protective equipment or masks.

6. Consider some updates to your client relations.

Insist that clients need to make appointments and don't accept walk-in clients. Waive cancellation fees in case clients need to cancel or reschedule their appointments due to health reasons. You might consider asking clients to call when they arrive at the salon and have them wait outside of the salon until their stylist or barber is ready. Lastly, offer your clients touchless payment methods to reduce the passing of money. The more your salon can do reduce the amount of foot traffic and interactions, the better. 

Always stay up to date with new ideas for COVID-19 preventative measures and safety protocols. The best way to safely reopen your salon during COVID-19 is to put your stylists and clients first by taking all necessary sanitary and social distancing precautions.