Professional Beauty Solutions: Its History, Present, and Promising Future
Professional Beauty Solutions is one of Australia’s most respected and trusted distributors of professional beauty brands to salons, spas and clinics across the country. We sat down with Matt Williams, CEO and owner of PBS to discuss what you can expect when you partner with us.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS
My parents originally met Pauline Youngblood back in 1995 and after falling in love with her brand, convinced her to award them the Australian distribution of Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics. Nine years on, after they had built a loyal salon following, they understood that to grow the business they were going to need some help. In 2006, my wife and business partner, Lisa and I took over operations, growing the business from a team you could count on one hand to over 40 exceptional team members at our head office in Sydney. Today, we distribute 11 professional beauty, skin and body brands that are leaders in their categories, throughout more than 2,000 salons, spas and clinics across the country.
WHAT PRODUCTS DO PBS DISTRIBUTE?
As soon as we expanded our offering beyond makeup, we became fixated on providing our salons with everything they need from one convenient supplier. Today, our salons trust us with offering the best in mineral makeup, skincare, tanning, spa body, hair removal, inner beauty nutrition and aesthetic devices to satisfy their business needs. Our collective of world-class brands is chosen based on their efficacy, innovation, performance and profitability for their salon.
WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL MISSION AT PBS?
The question that we are constantly asking is, “How do we help our salon, spa and clinic partners become more profitable?”. That is our key goal at PBS, and is what drives our decisions when acquiring new brands and coming up with strategies to support and nurture our salons.
With more than two decades of experience behind us, and having bought, built and sold several businesses over this time, we understand the challenges that small businesses face. We have taken all the experience, knowledge and the lessons we have learnt and channeled it towards doing whatever we can to make our salon owners’ life easier, from the marketing tools and ongoing education to the business support we offer.
2022 PBS Team Development Day
DO YOU OFFER ANY INCENTIVES OR REWARDS TO SUPPORT THE GROWTH OF YOUR SALONS?
Absolutely! Our PBS Rewards Program makes it much easier to leverage your buying power by pooling your rewards points when you stock more than one brand with us. By combining rewards from up to fourteen brands – even as a small single operator, you can reach a reward status that might otherwise have been reserved for much larger businesses. I think this is a rewards system that truly levels the playing field and is unlike anything else in the industry.
WHAT MAKES PBS STAND OUT AS A DISTRIBUTOR IN TERMS OF THE LEVEL OF SERVICE YOU OFFER?
I think the greatest differentiator for us is our focus on supporting salons in becoming better business owners, carrying them to the top of their game. Most brands and distributors focus entirely on educating salons on their product’s benefits and how they can sell more. This is only one aspect of running a successful, profitable and predictable business, and a small fragment of what we offer. We have now developed systems for each aspect of your business, from daily sales tracking sheets to business health checks and workshops that address the financial foundations of the business. Our exclusive ’Marketing on a Platter’ – where we deliver FREE marketing sets for each brand – is just one of the ways we provide a service that cannot otherwise be found in this industry.
AS FOR THE FUTURE OF PROFESSIONAL BEAUTY SOLUTIONS…
Our mission drives our vision for the future of PBS! We know that over the next decade there will be much more disruption in our industry and we can’t be complacent, and we can’t resist change, but we will remain guided by our mission to make PBS salons, spas and clinics the most profitable in the industry.