RE-EVALUATION has enabled hair salon owner Dion Padan to hone his business and indulge his passion for working at the “cutting edge”.

He opened his first Hooka men’s grooming salon in Liverpool’s Wood Street six years ago with ambitions to expand his waxing, tanning, eyebrow tinting and holiday grooming services in Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester.

Wiser and older he now sees the value in focusing on what he does best and keeping in touch with the shop floor.

He opened a second salon in Liverpool’s Button Street in January 2011 providing hair care for both men and women, but admits further expansion would be detrimental.

“Instead of focusing on loads of things we need to focus on what we do well, so we are just focusing on the hairdressing side now,” he said.

And he acknowledges two salons is about the right size for his business: “It is not that I am not ambitious, but it has been such hard work for six years.

“The bigger I have got, the more I realised I had to spend off the shop floor. Overlooking 23 staff is a massive responsibility and if I did open a third salon I know I would have to step off the shop floor, and that is not really my passion.”

He said soon after opening in Wood Street he began to re-evaluate the business: “We started as a men’s grooming salon, but after 18 months I struggled to get the right staff.

“So we started doing ladies’ hair and we have gone from strength to strength. I have more creative and artistic people working for me and our clientele is now 50-50 men and women.”

However, the men’s side is still his “bread and butter”, he admitted: “People are leaving hair care longer now because of the economy.

“Women used to come in each week for a blow dry and shampoo and set, but now they are doing their hair at home.”