Interview with Fred Vicario, CEO and President at Cherry Blow Dry Bar

Published on USAweekly.com on January 20, 2018

Starting a business is a big achievement for many entrepreneurs, but maintaining one is the larger challenge. There are many standard challenges that face every business whether they are large or small. It is not easy running a company, especially in a fast-paced, ever-changing business world. Technology advances, new hiring strategies, and now, political changes coming with the new administration, all add to the existing business challenges that entrepreneurs, business owners, and executives have to deal with.

Maximizing profits, minimizing expenses and finding talented staff to keep things moving seem to be top challenges for both SMBs and large corporations. We have been interviewing companies from around the world to discover what challenges they are facing in their businesses. We also asked each company to share business advice they would give to a younger version of themselves.

Below is our interview with Fred Vicario, CEO and President at Cherry Blow Dry Bar:

What does your company do?

Cherry Blow Dry Bar provides premium express services including hair blowouts, hair extensions, makeup services and treatments for a perfectly finished look, all at affordable prices through a unique membership model. Our teams are comprised of high trained and talented stylists who are equipped to work with all types of hair using the best tools and products in the industry. We only want the “Cherry” best for our clients and ensure that they’ll leave with a smooth style that guarantees perfection.

What is your role? What do you enjoy most about your role?

I am the President of Cherry Blow Dry Bar, and what I enjoy the most about my role is being able to connect franchisees with the opportunity to become business owners themselves. From the initial meetings when they voice interest, to training and grand opening days – I get to be somewhat of a mentor to them. It’s amazing to see others take what I’ve created and operate it as something of their own by cultivating connections with their clients and employees, and watching them flourish in the communities they operate.

What are the biggest challenges in your business right now?

Getting locations open and having the franchisees follow our proven system . In addition having them understand that selling memberships is our primary goal as we as a franchise continue to enjoy the recurring revenue.The biggest challenges our business faces right now is time management in terms of opening dates and having the franchisees follow our proven system. Things happen that can delay grand opening dates – which is understandable – however, it is important to nail down an ideal opening date and do your best to stick to it so that you can hold yourself accountable to being on track. Cherry’s business model is centered on the idea of membership that is where the bulk of our revenue is derived from, both as a franchise and corporation, sometimes it’s difficult to have franchisees understand that selling memberships is our primary goal.

If you could go back in time, what business advice would you give to a younger version of yourself?

Like almost anyone – I’d tell the younger version of myself to not be afraid of taking chances, especially if it is something I’m passionate about. People always say “choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” You can’t learn and grow as an individual without taking risks and learning from them. Failure is a mindset; you can either look at things as “you did not achieve X so you fail” or “you did not achieve X, what can you do better/differently next time?” Nothing is more rewarding then building a business you love.

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