The path to exploring a children’s franchise opportunity is not always a straight one. Prior to becoming a successful Snip-its franchisee, Jill Raedels, like many soon-to-be entrepreneurs, was on a completely different career trajectory. She started her career in sales with Enterprise Holdings, Inc. after completing training widely known to be very challenging. Little did she know this experience would provide her the skills and foundation to become a multi-unit owner of 7 children’s hair salon franchises.

As life progressed, Jill became a mother and was looking for a place to bring her daughter for a haircut. To her surprise, there was nothing available in the suburbs of Lexington for kids’ haircuts. Realizing that there was a unserved need in the market, she set out to research children’s franchise opportunities. She recalled hearing about a great kids hair salon in her hometown of Greenville, SC, and began researching. This is where Jill found Snip-its Haircuts for Kids. Within six months, she was signed on and planned to open her first Snip-its location in Lexington, SC, in 2011.

Balancing Life

Initially, Jill continued to do both her corporate career while working on the salon business mainly on weekends. However, juggling motherhood and the salon started to take too much time and energy away from what was most important, her family. Knowing she wanted to be her own boss, Jill decided to go all in and focus on Snip-its as a full-time career. Jill quickly expanded her salon footprint by purchasing the Greenville, SC, and Charlotte, NC, locations in 2013 and by mid-2015 she opened her 4th salon in Columbia, SC.

Since then, Jill has expanded her business outside of the Carolinas. She now has locations in Millbury, Peabody, and Canton, MA, rounding out her ownership of Snip-its to seven locations. How does she do it? She believes those considering franchises in the salon industry should have tenacity and be self-starters. Franchisees need to ask a lot of questions, trust the model, and follow the processes that Snip-its has created. She thinks Snip-its’ competitive advantage is their ability to balance the needs of the children, parents, and hair stylists. This was the goal the founder of Snip-its had when she created the first location, and Jill said she believes its why Snip-its has done so well over many years. Keeping each part of this triangle happy in their experience is critical to promote long term growth and success among franchisees who follow the model.

Success Factors

Her business card says “Chief Happiness Officer.” She says one factor with franchising success within Snip-its is to create a good organizational structure. Hiring great people and giving them the autonomy to manage the day-to-day work gives them a sense of ownership. Recruiting a staff with this level of autonomy in your business is critical to becoming a multi-unit franchisee. This structure provides visibility across all salons and ensures employees are being supported and enjoy their jobs.

Jill had seen double-digit growth in most of her salons before the pandemic in 2017, 2018, and 2019. She says Snip-its corporate team was pivotal in helping her manage her expansion and take advantage of this niche children’s franchise opportunity. “The more engaged and involved you are with the corporate team and their initiatives, the more successful you will be,” Jill states.

Living the Dream

Her goal is to continue building her portfolio of salons, but the reward for her is seeing the children. “Very few children’s franchise opportunities allow you to actually see and experience the impact we have on kids and families. “Working in a business that is actually helping to build self-confidence in children is a reward all of its own. And providing a workplace for stylists that share this same passion is such a joyful way to spend my life. I don’t need to think about my dream job because I’m already living it,” Jill concludes.

To learn more about opening your own children’s hair salon franchise with Snip-its, click here to request an informational packet.

In 2015, Jason Porter took his three small boys to Snip-its for a haircut, and the rest is history

“I was looking around and just fell in love with the concept and how it was executed,” Jason Porter said. “So I started looking more into the brand and knew this was a perfect fit for me. In 2019, I actually acquired that very same location.”

Porter now owns eight – that’s right, eight! – Snip-its locations. From the start, Porter realized that Snip-its offers an experience you just can’t find anywhere else: “It’s like Dr. Seuss meets Disneyland meets haircut.” It’s one of the many reasons why he chose multi-unit ownership as the path for him in his entrepreneurial career.

“This is the American dream,” Porter said. “My goal is to make this a household brand. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

In this interview, Porter talks about how Snip-its supports its franchisees, what makes the brand special, and how Snip-its offers a great work-life balance.

As a first time business owner, how has the support team helped you?

The support team has been very solid and instrumental in my development as a business owner and set me on the right path towards success. But, you know, it’s also important to remember it’s my responsibility to succeed, too.

How is the work-life balance at Snip-its?

One of the primary reasons for going down this road is to be the master of my own destiny and control my time, because time is more valuable than anything we can ever have or own. To be able to be with my family and my kids in the morning, that’s key for me. Snip-its really allows you as the franchise owner to have a lot of flexibility in your schedule and work day.

I imagine that’s even more so as a multi-unit owner?

If you have big goals and aspirations, multi-unit ownership is a great path. You don’t need to be there to cut hair. You do have to be involved and play multiple roles. Because I own so many locations, I do a lot of the behind the scenes work – payroll, paying bills and taxes – because I enjoy it.

What makes Snip-its special?

You can go get a haircut any place, but are you going to get an experience with it? Snip-its is more than just a haircut, it’s an experience. As a franchise owner, if you can buy into that concept and deliver that consistently, then this is a great opportunity.

Do you think hair care is a resilient industry?

Oh yeah. It’s just one of those things that you just can’t do yourself. Everybody wants to look presentable, and everybody wants to have a decent haircut. Even during the pandemic, one of the things most people rushed out to do is get a haircut as soon as they possibly could.

I bet it’s fun coming in to work everyday and seeing happy kids?

To see the smiles and them having fun in your salon is a huge win. It makes my heart feel good. We also do a lot of work with children on the autism spectrum and try to create safe spaces for families where they feel welcome, because it can be a real challenge for kids with autism to get a haircut. This brand really allows me to do something good for the parents and children in my community.

What advice would you give to a new franchise owner?

You have to be patient, because success doesn’t come overnight. Any business you start is going to take time. You have to build relationships with your team and community. And you have to create an environment that’s positive for people to really succeed and promote the brand. Anyone can do administrative work. This job is about maintaining relationships and nurturing them.

Learn More about franchising with Snip-its!

Are you ready to learn more about an exciting franchise that puts smiles on children’s faces? To start, we invite you to visit our research pages here. If now is the time to start a conversation with our franchise team, we invite you to fill out our form here.