Editor's comment: why we need to share problems as well as successes

As a journalist, there are few things more frustrating than companies declining to talk about what they’re doing or planning for fear of being copied by their competitors. Of course, there’s a logic to releasing information only when a product or concept is finalised, perfected and available to the public, but the trade off is that by that point it’s unlikely to be newsworthy.

Secretiveness can be similarly irritating in the beauty world, where salon and spa owners are often reticent about discussing the challenges they face in their businesses in front of potential competitors. The result is that while everyone struggles with similar issues, it’s easy to feel as though you’re the only one. By sharing problems as well as successes, we’re more likely to be able to identify common industry goals and ideas for achieving them.

This is certainly the attitude of Rebecca Abernethy, who won the Professional Beauty Nail Professional of the Year 2017 award in February. As well as running a training academy, she organises events at her salon where local competitors meet to share new techniques and discuss issues they face over coffee. Find out more about her plans to expand into business training in the April issue.

Networking with other industry professionals is one of the most valuable ways to build your business, not only by sharing ideas but also through meeting people you may come to work with in the future.

The recent Professional Beauty show in London was geared towards exactly that, with nine packed conference programmes of business advice and ideas exchange, as well as a fresh line-up of launches that gave visitors a first look at the products and treatments set to be big this year. Check out our review in the current issue for all the details.

We also delve deeper into the concept behind some of those launches this month with our focus on emotional skincare in the current issue, which explores the science behind the mind-body connection.

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