Becoming the ace of fades with Fresha

Based in Melbourne, the idea for Aces first came to Declan Seca when he started cutting his schoolmates’ hair at 15 years old. The name was a simple decision: Seca backwards. 

Declan officially opened Aces in 2018 after spotting a space in the Melbourne market: a barbershop in the suburbs that keeps up with worldwide trends, while keeping that community feel. 

Aces describes themselves as a barbershop ‘where all feel comfortable and welcomed’. Declan’s focus on community is clear: ‘being able to establish [our community] in five years is what makes me the most proud’.

And being on the Fresha marketplace has helped make it what it is today 

“It puts us on the map with other like-minded businesses and allows the wider community to find us in a really easy way,” he says.

As we talk to Declan, we reflect on the journey he’s been on for the past 5 years, the obstacles he faced along the way, and how Fresha has helped him grow.

“I started the business at 23 years old, when it felt like everything was a challenge” 

As he thinks back on what he would tell 23-year-old Declan, he says “I would tell myself to put more time aside for the ins-and-outs of the business, but at the start I didn’t have a platform that I could do that with”.

“Fresha marketing tools are a game changer for me because they put the data and analytics in a really easy way to track”. 

“It’s really easy to streamline and put little fires out all the time. Fresha helps with the little hurdles that we come across everyday. Little things like no shows, cancellations, and late showings.”

But aside from managing appointments, Fresha helps Declan bring in more clients to Aces. He’s a big fan of sending email campaigns to his clients. It’s helped him communicate with his clients easily and saved him a lot of time. 

He finds the features and interface intuitive – describing the initial setup as "super easy".

“Blast and auto campaigns are probably my favourite part about using Fresha” 

“They keep my clients connected and coming in. And I can run them in the background so I’m not spending too much time messaging lots of people in one go.” 

Blast campaigns are one-off email campaigns, usually used for last-minute discounts or updates. Mother’s Day coming up? Blast campaigns are great for encouraging your clients to book for specific holidays. Auto campaigns are scheduled emails you can set-up to send after appointments, after booking, or whatever works for your business and your clients. 

The ability to see and track who’s interacting with the campaigns is also really useful

“I use the reporting and analytics part of Fresha constantly”. Declan says “It’s the best way for me to grow my business as I can concentrate on the numbers. I think that’s what really sets [Fresha] apart from other platforms”.

Fresha Insights and reports lets you know how your business is performing so you can make the best, and most profitable, decisions. It summaries sales and appointment trends, and gives you helpful hints so you can really understand your performance. 

Having a booking system that takes care of everything, from payments to scheduling to marketing, means that the precious time you save can be spent elsewhere. Whether that’s giving clients the best experience or making those creative decisions that make your business stand out. 

It’s allowed Declan to focus on the part of running a business that he loves.

“My favourite thing about being a business owner is the freedom”

“The freedom to create” Declan says “I kind of thrive on”. “It’s all up to me, the decisions I make kind of dictate what happens. [Fresha has] been able to free up more time for me to focus on the business”.

But what about Aces’s future?

“I see Aces in 3-5 basically being one of the biggest names in Melbourne, and the brand growing further and further and getting stronger in our community” Declan says. 

“Fresha is a great partner for my business as it aligns with our values and the direction that we’re going with the business. I love the aesthetics of Fresha and the support that I receive constantly: if I have any issues, they get resolved faster than you’d expect. So it’s a great partner for my business”.

Want to know more? Watch our full interview with Declan here.