Dario Cotroneo: Everything I need to run my business is in Timely
We recently caught up with one of our favourite Timely users, Dario Cotroneo, Dario Salon & Founder of DCI Education. We talked about how Timely has helped him with the flexibility and control of his business.
Dario Cotroneo was born in Darlinghurst and raised in Sydney. He first joined the world of hairdressing in the late 80s. 27 years later, he’s made an international name for himself, featuring in the likes of Harpers Bazaar, Singapore Elle, New Woman, and Cosmopolitan.
Watch Dario’s story above, or check out our full Q&A below:
How did you get into hairdressing?
My two sisters were both hairdressers and my father wouldn’t let them go to a seminar in the city without their younger brother accompanying them. So they begged me to come with them and much to my resistance I went along. At the end of the seminar I fell in love with this beautiful industry and that was the first time I had ever been inspired in my life.
As a business now, the salon has evolved. It started in 2001 this is very much like a private loft. I want my guests to feel very important here because we put a lot of effort into our curation of the customer experience here. I want people to really feel engaged but also very relaxed in here.
There is a lot of trust in this space.
How did you hear about Timely?
The guys at Timely came to one of my seminars last year and on that stage, part of my presentation without knowing Timely was in the audience I was talking about a problem that I needed to find a solution for. I was looking for a mobile point of sale that was more organic. My staff could make bookings, I could do bookings in the chair and they showed me the app and I started laughing.
I thought wow, the positive affirmation I was putting out there on stage everything I was talking about that I wanted was in Timely.
It was a goosebump moment.
And look, I have travelled the world many times for hairdressing and I had never ever seen a product like Timely that was not only looked great but functioned really well.
How has Timely helped you and your business?
I suppose the most significant change that Timely has had on my business is that I am not actually in my business.
I don’t have to be in my salon to see what’s going on.
It has allowed me the flexibility to be anywhere at anytime seeing who’s coming in or what the salon is doing. I can now walk my daughter to school in the morning and not have to be here an hour earlier to prepare because I’ve got my calendar in my pocket or I can check it the night before.
I’ve seen a significant change in my flow to my day, which has allowed me to be in more control.
