Editorial
(December 2003)
Past Editorials
While
attending the recent convention of the American Electrology Association, in Ft.
Lauderdale, Florida, International Hair Route conducted a mini-survey to learn
how electrolysis businesses fared in the past three (tumultuous) years, and
determine the degree of confidence electrologists have for the profession going
forward. Global economies, we are told, are in recovery, stock markets are
bullish, and employment numbers are improving. And it is helpful for
electrologists to know whether or not the unique world of electrology can
benefit from the revitalization process.
The Hair Route survey (a printed questionnaire with 32 multipart questions) was
designed to give us some insight into the condition of our profession as it is
right now, and we will be studying it in the year ahead and writing about its
findings in the March 2004 issue of the magazine. But in the meantime, I
couldn’t help taking a quick peek at some of the answers to see what the trends
are, and whether there is a consensus on some of the matters that have been on
everyone’s mind in the last couple of years. For example, what has business been
like for electrologists in the three years since laser got under way in the
yellow pages, and in the newspapers, consumer magazines, and beauty trade
publications? And how are things going right now, as we approach the holiday
season and the coming New Year.
I particularly couldn’t help taking a sneak look at the answers to three
questions that appeared near the end of the questionnaire: answers that might
affect this editorial, which typically carries the Hair Route’s best wishes to
readers during the holidays. The two questions to which I refer to are: “How has
your business fared during the past three years: Extremely satisfactory; Pretty
good; Not bad; or Poor.” Followed by the related question: “If your answer to
the last question was anything less than ‘Extremely satisfactory’ tell us what
hurt your business: War tensions; Terrorist threats; Poor economy and job
losses; Laser hair removal; Personal or family illness; or The weather?”
Busy as we have been with putting the current issue of IHR to bed, there has
been no time to tabulate and analyze the many variables of the survey, but the
broad answers to the above two questions are already clear: about 67% of those
electrologists who were asked how business had been for them in the last three
years replied that it had been less than “Extremely satisfactory.” This 67%
majority is split almost equally between the answer “Pretty good and the answer
“Not bad.”
About 24% of the respondents said business had been “Extremely satisfactory”
(which is a highly gratifying response), and only 9% said that business had been
“Poor” (which is equally surprising and equally satisfying).
Many of the respondents seemed to have trouble deciding why the majority of
businesses did no better than “Pretty good” and “Not bad” in the last three
years. Respondents were asked to choose only two reasons out of six reasons
suggested, but some respondents didn’t answer the question at all and others
(who apparently didn’t like being confined to just two out of a possible six
reasons given) checked three or more explanations for the business shortfall.
Regardless of how the results were computed, the main reason given for the
business slowdown was overwhelming due to “Poor economy and job losses.” Coming
a close second was “Laser hair removal,” and after that it was “war tensions,”
“terrorist threats,” “Personal or family illness,” and “The Weather,” in
descending order.
On a global scale, there has been a lot of optimism around in the last six
months about the current economic recovery, and I wanted to know if this
optimism was also evident in the electrology community. So, it was the answer to
the very last question on our questionnaire that I was especially eager to see.
The question was: “Are you hopeful that next year’s business will be much
better. Yes, or No?” The answer could not have been better. Out of all the
electrologists participating in the survey, less than 10% had a negative outlook
for the future of their business. Which brings me quickly to the main point of
this, my editorial message: To all its readers, the staff of Hair Route extends
good wishes for the holiday season and a safe, healthy, and prosperous New Year.
Evidently the old year was not as totally disappointing as feared, and optimism
is high that the upcoming year is going to be a good one!
— Derek R. Copperthwaite
Editor@hairroute.com
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