makeupartistzoe
Well-Known Member
Hiya fellow business owners!
When somebody copies you what can you truly do about it?!
18 months after I opened my cute little salon I read an article in a local mag that another salon was opening less than a mile down the road. This wouldn't have bothered me except their logo was very, very similar and the article suggested that they were going to be the only stockist outside of London for a particular lip retail product, that I had shipped from the states about 6 months prior. I just caught up with the owner on Facebook messenger, super casual and said 'just caught your article in xxx mag, good luck with opening your salon soon but just so you know I already stock this brand, if you want to stock it to, no worries but you won't really be exclusive' got a reply back and noticed the logo had changed so it still looks similar but our clients did keep commenting on it.
Then I designed and printed some flyers for pre party packages and the wording I had used, was almost directly copied into one of their adverts in a local magazine.
Then at Christmas they advertised in local print their 'blow dry bar menu' My salon is a blow dry bar 'soda beauty & blow dry bar' I know I didn't invent the blow dry bar concept, I know like nail bars they came from the states and was privileged to be featured in a national magazine as one of the few blow dry bars outside of London.
My cousin had her nails done by her beauty professional, she lives three hours from me. Her nails had been tagged by her nail tech and were super cute! Medium length square nails, painted with CND shellac in cake pop, when cake pop had just been released, then black moustache art on each one. I liked and shared the tagged image on my salon Facebook page, crediting the girl who had done them...' Look what my cousins beauty pro in Farnham has done for her! Any requests off you soda girls?!' To be noted almost exactly a month later by my copycat salon who simply posted an exact copy of the design with the caption 'getting creative with shellac' exactly cake pop, exactly moustaches, EXACT same nail shape.
Now this copycat salon have been on the quiet recently but the owner did just win a local business award for 'outstanding marketing and PR' This was announced by a local PR company who she now pays to do her marketing and PR. The temptation to comment 'I'm so glad xxxx is now paying you for this service, she clearly got exhausted mugging me off'
I know Karma will play her part but can anybody else share a similar story where karma has won?! Or give me advice to cool my boiling blood by exposing this person as having absolutely no originality or creative bone in her body?!
When somebody copies you what can you truly do about it?!
18 months after I opened my cute little salon I read an article in a local mag that another salon was opening less than a mile down the road. This wouldn't have bothered me except their logo was very, very similar and the article suggested that they were going to be the only stockist outside of London for a particular lip retail product, that I had shipped from the states about 6 months prior. I just caught up with the owner on Facebook messenger, super casual and said 'just caught your article in xxx mag, good luck with opening your salon soon but just so you know I already stock this brand, if you want to stock it to, no worries but you won't really be exclusive' got a reply back and noticed the logo had changed so it still looks similar but our clients did keep commenting on it.
Then I designed and printed some flyers for pre party packages and the wording I had used, was almost directly copied into one of their adverts in a local magazine.
Then at Christmas they advertised in local print their 'blow dry bar menu' My salon is a blow dry bar 'soda beauty & blow dry bar' I know I didn't invent the blow dry bar concept, I know like nail bars they came from the states and was privileged to be featured in a national magazine as one of the few blow dry bars outside of London.
My cousin had her nails done by her beauty professional, she lives three hours from me. Her nails had been tagged by her nail tech and were super cute! Medium length square nails, painted with CND shellac in cake pop, when cake pop had just been released, then black moustache art on each one. I liked and shared the tagged image on my salon Facebook page, crediting the girl who had done them...' Look what my cousins beauty pro in Farnham has done for her! Any requests off you soda girls?!' To be noted almost exactly a month later by my copycat salon who simply posted an exact copy of the design with the caption 'getting creative with shellac' exactly cake pop, exactly moustaches, EXACT same nail shape.
Now this copycat salon have been on the quiet recently but the owner did just win a local business award for 'outstanding marketing and PR' This was announced by a local PR company who she now pays to do her marketing and PR. The temptation to comment 'I'm so glad xxxx is now paying you for this service, she clearly got exhausted mugging me off'
I know Karma will play her part but can anybody else share a similar story where karma has won?! Or give me advice to cool my boiling blood by exposing this person as having absolutely no originality or creative bone in her body?!
