8 questions with Eighty-8 nail salon

The London-based Nail Salon Eighty-8, with studios in Notting Hill, Covent Garden, Battersea and Chelsea, has been growing since 2017. On their website they describe themselves as ‘a nail salon you can trust (and love)’. Built on quality and luxury, they’ve built a chain with over 50 members of staff and studios across central London. Managing them is no easy feat, however, but that’s where Fresha really shines. 

So we sat down with the owner Lam Ho to ask him eight questions about the story behind the salon, why he uses Fresha, and where he sees his nail salon brand going next. 

1. Why did you name your salon Eighty-8?

88 is my year: I was born in 1988. I believe it’s a lucky year and a lucky number.

2. What inspired you to start your salon? 

I’ve been in the nail and beauty industry since 2012, and while working I found a gap in the market: a nail salon with a very good skill set from technicians. That’s why I built my brand. 

3. What makes you different from other nail salons? 

Because our customers have a good experience coming into our salon. Not just the quality of the treatment, but it’s also a relaxing atmosphere. They feel like they’re at home. 

Clients sometimes come to the salon after working long hours, tired and exhausted, to get their manicure or pedicure, and we make them feel relaxed. 

4. What makes you proud about Eighty-8?

The people. I'm very proud of my team who have been there for me and have always supported me in recent years. My team is very important to me. I am most proud of how we survived the Covid-19 pandemic which was very hard. But we survived, and we made it. 

5. What's your favourite part about being a small business owner? 

I think it’s the knowledge you acquire. If you own a business, you have to know a lot of different aspects of the business. For example, I’m not in marketing, but I have to know how to speak to my clients. And I am not an accountant, but I need to understand the cash flow management to keep the business on track. 

I chose Fresha because they offered a lot, not only for the booking system but also features for management. Their features really enriched by business.

6. How has working with Fresha helped your business?

Fresha is a great partner to my brand in terms of the booking system, but also other features it offers. The best thing about the app is the management of different locations, I find that to be the most helpful for my business. I feel like Fresha team is also a part of my team because they are always available if something happens in the system or if my team and I need any kind of support. They help us straight away.

7. Do you have a favourite Fresha feature?

They have a very good review feature: after every single appointment the client gets an email to submit a review. And the marketing emails that we can send using Fresha are also attracting a lot of clients to come back to our salon for another treatment. So every now and then, when we have some kind of a promotion or a special offer, we can send clients messages about the promotion.

I also love their location management. It’s not easy to manage multiple locations, but Fresha has really helped me in terms of managing everything. With Fresha I can have separate calendars for all my locations, but I can also see what is going on at every location because I have detailed reports for every location within the app and I consult them before making any decision. 

8. Do you have an example when Fresha helped you in a difficult situation? 

Before using Fresha I didn’t notice the high number of our cancellations and so called “no-show” clients we had. But when we started using Fresha, all of that was clearly visible in the reports. So, the team from Fresha contacted me and gave me advice on how I can solve this by setting up a cancellation and no-show fee, and the number of cancellations instantly dropped.

Lam tells us that in five years he sees the opportunity for Eighty-8 to expand

Not just in London, but throughout the UK. “I can see the potential of Eighty-8 becoming an international brand” he tells us. 

“I’d recommend Fresha to any business owner in the beauty industry. It’s phenomenal.”

Check out Fresha, world’s #1 online booking platform, so you can see what it can do for your business.