Alex Mane: My name is Alex Mane and I'm the founder of the Oxygen Room & Beauty Bar. My business started onsite. I would go onsite for makeup and hair, weddings, and Square gave me the ability to grab that little reader and have other people buy services from me on the spot. And then from there, my business grew and now we have a full on POS system with Square, which I absolutely love. It was so exciting to open up my first brick and mortar. I used Square Capital. To me. I was like, wow, you can just take out a little bit of each transaction. And before I knew it, I just paid off that loan so quickly, and so that really helped me grow my business. I felt empowered because I didn't have to ask anybody for help. So I feel really passionate about what I do because it helps people feel good about themselves.
I think Square has truly helped me be organized as a business because I have so many different services and retail items that I offer here. You can buy candles, sunglasses, shoes, clothes, and so I'm able to keep track of how we're doing for the month, who's the best salesperson, what services and products are selling the best. I have all of these tools available to me. All of this data that I'm able to look at and see how to be better. I am really there for these turning points in people's lives. So I feel really privileged to be a part of that, and I love feeling connected to the salon and to our customers, even when I'm not in the salon.
I travel to New York a lot, and so what Square has allowed me to do is really keep a close eye on my business, all from my phone. I'm able to pay the front desk. I'm able to invoice on a job that I just did. Every time you have a client, you want them to come back and see you. Square Messages allows me to communicate with my clients without giving my personal information. And so that is really nice to stay connected, hear feedback from clients in real time. The moment they walk out the door, they're sending messages, it comes straight to my phone. It's all in one place.
Square Marketing emails allowed me to continue my business even through the pandemic. And so what I did during that time is we sold color kits and we let everybody know on an email blast we're doing curbside pickup. I mean, we did all kinds of things as far as retail, because that's what we could do during Covid. I would tell somebody who's starting their business, I would definitely recommend Square, even if you don't have a brick and mortar and you're starting out just like I did onsite, it's incredible to see the tools.
It's incredible to be able to look at your dashboard, see how you're doing all of these tools. They make me a better business owner, and that's always been my goal, is to just constantly keep growing and Square allows me to do that.
