How Just Cuts is bridging the business gap between Australia and Canada
By Jordan Whitehouse
Some economists have been saying it for years: given the similarities between Canada and Australia, you’d think the two countries would have a much closer relationship. Both have smaller populations, and our GDPs per capita are relatively close. And both have a serious interest in open economies and free flows of trade and capital.
Yet while that deep economic partnership never really materialized, there are signs our ties are at least getting snugger. Bilateral trade has been up over the past couple of years. So has bilateral investment. And in the franchise world, a couple of the Aussies’ biggest brands have recently planted their flags in Canada.
The latest is hair salon giant Just Cuts. The family-friendly, walk-in salon is a major mid-market now with 227 locations in four countries—Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., and Taiwan. The goal in Canada is to add five more to that total this year, 10 more next year, and then to keep growing from there.
CEO Amber Manning says the inherent global transferability of the proven Just Cuts model means we could one day soon see 200 salons across the country. “We’re currently doing over 100,000 haircuts a week, and we don’t see why we couldn’t achieve that in Canada.”
One reason for that confidence is those similarities between Canada and Australia include cultural similarities, says Manning. The two countries are definitely distinct, she says, but no doubt Canadians and Aussies live in dynamic multicultural societies and share a hunger for value.
The hope is that those resemblances will make the concept particularly appealing to Canadian families. Just Cuts’ main market is the mom and dad with a couple of kids who all want cuts, but also want a quality salon experience without the higher end prices and hassle of visiting a separate barber for boys. They typically want convenience too, says Manning, mentioning the Just Cuts app that customers can use to check in instead of booking appointments.
Still, although the concept caters to more convenience and fewer frills than a full-service hair salon, add-ons like thermal styling, blow drying, and hair straightening are available. Plus, Just Cuts has a salon exclusive product range, JUSTICE Haircare, that includes ammonia-free and take-home hair colour.
“We’re confident and very excited about coming to Canada,” says Manning. “We’re getting so many franchising queries from people across the country, but right now we’re focused on getting the model right, the branding right—and maintaining consistency to continue growing our brand equity globally.”
The Just Cuts origin story
Just Cuts’ origins go back to 1983 and Hurstville, Australia, a suburb of Sydney. Hairdresser Denis McFadden was moving his full-service salon into another location on the strip, but he still had six months left on his original lease. To keep things simple as he saw out that lease, he put a sign in the window that read “$6 haircuts” and staffed the salon with stylists who did just that. There was a lineup out the door almost from day one. McFadden was clearly on to something and decided to keep that salon and the straightforward concept.
The first franchise location opened in 1990 in Engadine, another suburb of Sydney. The first franchisee was Leigh-Anne Brosens, a hairdressing apprentice of McFadden’s. She was actually pregnant when she opened the salon, but that wasn’t an issue. McFadden’s flexible systems meant that Brosens didn’t have to be physically present at the business at all times.
Over the next decade, Just Cuts continued to expand and gain notoriety across Australia. (Fun fact: it was the official hairdresser of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.) In 1996, the first international location opened in New Zealand, and today there are 189 locations in Australia, 32 in New Zealand, five in the U.K., and one in Taiwan.
Not much has changed with the Just Cuts concept over the years, but the way franchisees do business has. Exhibit A: about six years ago, the company introduced a fully online system that franchisees can use to track and monitor their business.
“Now they have an app in their hand where they can be on the beach or at a café and see exactly how many clients are in the queue, which stylists are checked in, that type of thing,” says Manning. “It also has a benchmarking tool so that all salons can see where they sit in the group at any time in the system.”
Manning says that the idea to expand to Canada has been in the works for a few years, but that it intensified last year.
A few people from Just Cuts’ research and development team have visited Canada several times recently to meet with potential franchisees. They’ve also hired a leasing support expert and networked with other franchises to learn more about the Canadian market.
There shouldn’t be too many changes to the Just Cuts concept to adapt to Canada, says Manning. There will be a few tweaks to things like marketing terminology, but she thinks that the bigger transitional challenge will be around supply chains.
Just Cuts manufactures its own products, so finding the right warehouse spaces will be key. So will making sure that builders and manufacturers can help the company maintain the consistent look and feel of the brand.
“We know in Canada that you like to use your local people, which is great,” says Manning. “But in Australia, we might have three or four shop fitters that travel all around Australia to do our work. So setting up these structures with local people, whether it’s in Toronto or Vancouver or wherever, will take some work, but we’re committed to doing it right to set our Canadian salon owners up for success.”
Finding the right franchisee
Prospective franchisees are already reaching out to the Australian head office via social media. Manning says the company has already received “a lot of” queries from potential owners across Canada.
None of those franchisees need a particular pedigree, she says. Current owners have backgrounds in fields as diverse as law enforcement, bank management, and accounting. Having experience in hairdressing or business management helps, but Manning says it’s perhaps more important that they can work with a team of hairdressers and inspire them.
Once Just Cuts finds the right franchisee, training begins with an introductory e-learning program, followed by three days of more intense in-person training on the brand and the business. It’s also around this time when new franchisees meet and start forming buddy networks to support each other.
Then it’s time for in-store training for both hairdressers and owners. It’s done concurrently so everyone understands what everyone else does, says Manning.
When the store opens, franchisees receive about six weeks of in-depth support and coaching from the marketing team to figure out where the opportunities are.
Ongoing, there’s operations and marketing support to help with everything from social media strategies to hitting performance goals.
Manning says Just Cuts is very much a turnkey system, and that helps if franchisees want to be multi-unit owners. As of writing, about 55 per cent of Just Cuts’ 125 franchisees owned more than one salon.
Time will tell if those numbers hold true in Canada, but for now Manning and her team are focused on getting the Canadian model right—and capitalizing on those similarities between the Land Down Under and the Great White North.
“Aussies have grown up with and loved Just Cuts for 30 years, and we’re putting in the work to open in Canada now because our market research and feedback from Canadians tell us you will love it too,” says Manning. “We’re ready and we’re so excited to bring Just Cuts to Canada, so Canadians can have access to award-winning quality cuts for the whole family, and franchisees can have the opportunity to be part of a proven model that’s delivered small business success for three decades—and counting.”
