What's Next for the Amazing Lash Studio Brand

Over the past few months, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted every segment of the franchising industry. To make it through this crisis, the Amazing Lash Studio® brand has been focusing wholly on helping franchisees weather the storm. The brand is also actively preparing for what things will look like on the other side of the crisis — including pent-up customer demand and hiring initiatives.

Lauren Wanamaker, senior director of development for WellBiz Brands, Inc. which manages the Amazing Lash Studio brand, spoke about how the brand has emerged as a leader during the crisis by stepping up to pilot support and relief initiatives. “The brand has created a ‘COVID Task Force’ that includes an entire team across the franchise system focused on this crisis,” she said.

“In an effort to keep franchisees up to date with relevant information, the brand has been building in-depth communication tools. We’ve built a complete resource center in order to start an open dialogue and provide the tools franchisees need for preserving their staff, managing teams and nurturing membership bases.”

The Amazing Lash Studio executive team has prioritized constant communication throughout the franchise network, sending emails and hosting frequent informative webinars. This suite of communications provides valuable resource support on the relief side, including insight on studio employee retention and rent deferment, as well as tools and templates franchisees can use to reach out to their landlords, apply for SBA loans, navigate the CARES Act and more.

Franchisee support

The leadership team is not the only support platform—the brand is also leveraging its network of established franchisees to connect with and support other franchisees. “As a franchisor, our biggest responsibility is to connect franchisees with each other and build out that network,” said Wanamaker. “It has been essential to utilize the expertise of established franchisees, and we’ve seen them step up in a big way.”

The Amazing Lash Studio Leadership Council, which consists of established franchise owners, has also been pivotal in developing resources and support. According to Wanamaker, the Leadership Council sharing their insight and direct experiences on webinars with the larger group has been invaluable. Through this crisis, the Amazing Lash Studio Leadership Council became the voice of the franchisees as they shared with each other best practices in terms of studio operations, preserved memberships, application processes for relief funds and more.

Looking to the future, the brand is preparing for heightened safety protocols when it comes to the check-in and check-out processes at studios across the country. Currently in development is an automated text platform to let stylists know guests are on the premises in effort to avoid human contact during the lobby portion of their visit.

“Moving forward, there will likely be a major reevaluation of group services versus one-on-one services,” said Wanamaker. “Potentially, guests will be more attracted to private, one-on-one services in which they can limit or avoid too much human contact. Luckily, Amazing Lash Studio’s spa-like private rooms already ensure that customers experience minimal contact with studio staff.”

Financial health and services

When it comes to the long-term financial health of franchisees, the task force has been utilizing relief funds in order to better position owners for handling pent-up consumer demand. “We anticipate an influx of consumers interested in the brand’s services when things die down,” said Wanamaker. “Most women will want a full set of lashes after weeks of having their previous lashes fall out. We have developed an in-depth reopening process to help ensure that franchisees can reengage and reactivate memberships.”

According to Wanamker, one advantage of a membership-based franchise is that franchisees might be able to pick up where they left off as studios begin reopening. “It has been so inspiring to see members insist that we don’t freeze their memberships so they can continue to support local studio owners,” she said. “It shows that studios have engaged members who recognize their local franchisees as individuals.

That is one of the big benefits of any membership model — it can help make it easier to weather the storms of tough times. Also, from an innovation perspective, new service offerings are a good way to bring members back and create additional revenue streams.”

On the hiring side, Amazing Lash Studio franchisees are anticipating a surge of quality employees in the workforce due to closures from other lash or esthetic studios. There will likely be many self-employed practitioners and estheticians who will be looking for the reliable support and backing of a larger organization. “We already have amazing resources in place for franchisees to utilize in order to help them attract, train and retain the best stylists in the industry,” said Wanamaker.

“Now, having a potentially larger pool of people to choose from moving forward could be a small silver lining for studio owners.”

In terms of the development process, the team is negotiating real estate for openings late in the fourth quarter of 2020. When it comes to signing new franchisees, Wanamaker anticipates a similar increase in interest. In the same way that consumers will be looking for one-on-one services, prospects will be looking for new categories, established business models and the support of an established franchisor.

“Leadership teams, franchisees and employees are all dealing with similar situations right now, and everyone is doing the best they can,” said Wanamaker. “This is uncharted territory, and the most important thing right now is to remember that we’re all in this together.”

This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. Currently, the following states regulate the offer and sale of franchises: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

If you are a resident of one of these states, we will not offer you a franchise unless and until we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration and disclosure requirements in your jurisdiction. MN File No. F-8741.

THESE FRANCHISES HAVE BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE FRANCHISE INVESTMENT LAW OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. SUCH REGISTRATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE APPROVAL, RECOMMENDATION OR ENDORSEMENT BY THE COMMISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS NOR A FINDING BY THE COMMISSIONER THAT THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREIN IS TRUE, COMPLETE AND NOT MISLEADING. Each Amazing Lash Studio® is independently owned and operated.