For nearly a decade, Dean Ahuja has been a part of the FS® Cut & Color family as a franchise owner. After 25 years in the corporate world, Ahuja was looking at alternative career paths when a former colleague suggested Fantastic Sams. Ahuja has since opened three FS salon locations, and he’s eager to continue growing with the brand. By Shelby Green
For nearly a decade, Dean Ahuja has been a part of the FS® Cut & Color family as a franchise owner. After 25 years in the corporate world, Ahuja was looking at alternative career paths when a former colleague suggested Fantastic Sams. Ahuja has since opened three FS salon locations, and he’s eager to continue growing with the brand.
“The support at Fantastic Sams was better than I expected,” said Ahuja. “I felt confident that we could also be prosperous at running a successful salon. I was also very intrigued by the FS business model, especially since it offered the full-service salon concept.”
FS Cut & Color helped Ahuja understand and work through the challenges that come with launching a new business. The brand’s regional team explained the entire process for opening a successful salon and gave insight into what to expect as an owner. Additionally, Ahuja was able to network with other salon owners at several events, including the brand’s biannual convention.
“These networking opportunities are invaluable in gaining additional insights to make operational improvements in our salons,” Ahuja explained. “This year at the convention, FS will be celebrating 50 years in the beauty industry, so there will be a lot to celebrate.”
Since joining the FS Cut & Color family, Ahuja has achieved great success with two of his locations being named in the top 100 salon performers within the FS network. Several of Ahuja’s stylists also have earned recognition for their artistry at the Fantastic Sams Artistic Hairstyling Awards.
“My biggest achievement has been the team and culture that we’ve built,” said Ahuja. “My salons have very low turnover in an industry notorious for high employee turnover. I spend 75% to 80% of my time ensuring that the team is in a good space, where they have opportunities to earn a good living to support their families, enjoy their work and grow their careers. I want my staff to be proud of where they work and know they are appreciated. That priority applies from my general manager to our newest stylist fresh out of school.”
Not only is Ahuja a successful franchise owner, but he’s also a regional development agent, helping others open their own FS Cut & Color salon. Ahuja also aims to reach the top 50 salon performers and expects at least one location to break the top 10.
Ahuja’s success doesn’t come without hard work. Here’s a glimpse of his day-to-day responsibilities.
- 6 a.m. Ahuja reviews the previous day’s salon dashboard report and ensures all employees have checked out.
- 6:30 a.m. He reviews the weekly meeting schedule with the salon managers, creates agendas and runs metric reports to review with them and compare against targets.
- 9 a.m. He inspects retail and color inventories and submits orders if necessary.
- 10 a.m. Ahuja conducts manager meetings at the salons. He checks on the teams three times per week.
- 2 p.m. Ahuja meets with the Fantastic Sams regional team, owner network or vendors.
- 4 p.m. He educates himself on the upcoming promotions, new service launches and approaching product releases.
Shelby Green