10 questions with Dino Anthony, the founder of Paradigm Male Image

Dino Anthony started his barbering business in North London almost five years ago, and since then, he's worked hard to build relationships with his clients, and build his brand awareness. We caught up with him to learn more about his day-to-day, what he loves about the industry, and how he relies on Fresha to keep things running smoothly. Read on for his story.

What challenges did you face when you started your business?

When I started this brand, I was trying to get people to understand that cutting hair is not just a hair removal service. It's something you need to get done professionally, and I think people don't see barbers as professionals.

What makes Paradigm different?

What makes us different is that we are a big family where we can kind of push Paradigm forward together rather than being just one person advocating for the brand. Everyone's opinions make a difference. That makes me proud because I get to watch people succeed. They either learn or they take a shot at moving on in their careers. I want to make people feel like they are at home and like they can be themselves. I am strong believer everyone should be themselves, regardless of what's going on around them.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I wake up, drink some water, and look at Fresha to see how my day is going to go. If I don't have an appointment in the morning, I'll get on with other stuff. Then, I'll come in to work to cut hair, maybe talk to the boys, make sure everyone's all right. To finish my day, I'll look at the analytics on Fresha again and make sure everything is looks good. A whole lot of my life revolves around Fresha.

Why did you choose Fresha?

The main reason I chose Fresha from the beginning was the simplistic design. It didn't have a lot of features that I didn't need. I continue to use it because it's still minimal, still kept to its basic format, but it has a lot of features that you can implement if you like, you can customise it for your business. Fresha is the best.

How did Fresha help you grow your business?

Fresha helped me immensely with accounting. You can see exactly what's happening and how the money is coming in, whether it's cash, card, etc. My time is very important to me and so is everyone else's. So it helps me understand where I need to be, at what time – I use it to track my life. And it's just an incredible marketing tool. The initial set up process was very simple, actually, and I think that's what impressed me the most. It wasn't like, oh, you need to fill in this and this, fill in this... it was it was very long time ago, and I can still remember it being very simple.

How has Fresha helped you in a difficult situation?

I had nerve damage in my left hand and I couldn’t cut hair for three months. And without Fresha, it would have been impossible to call everyone. Not only that, but with their client profiles, we could see the barbers they'd booked with in the past so we could match the people I was supposed to do with staff members who have cut their hair before.

What's your favourite Fresha feature?

My favourite Fresha feature is probably the newest Fresha feature: Tap to Pay, where you use your mobile phone to make and process payments. 

How have Fresha's marketing features helped you?

Whenever we increase our prices, we send out a blast campaign. Whenever we have a new person joining the team, we send out another blast campaign. Or if someone is learning, we send out a blast campaign again just to inform people that we've got new members and we have new services. 

What makes Fresha a great partner?

Fresha is a great partner because they really listen. I've heard from other people that they're great to work with as well. But for me, they listen to what we want, and they are quick to address it. They don’t wait two years to change something, there's things we've asked for where they've done it two weeks later, which is an amazing turnaround.

Would you recommend Fresha to someone in the beauty and wellness industry and what would you tell them?

I would recommend Fresha to anyone in the beauty industry including barbers and hairdressers. And what I’d say to them is if you aren't using a booking app or you're using another booking app, Fresha is the most innovative system I've ever seen.