You open a salon… You decorate the salon… You start to hire a team… You start attracting clients
And then…
You realise you’re a business owner and not a hairdresser or a therapist anymore
Oh Crap!
Today I want to share with you the 4 pillars of your business you should always be focused on and why.
We are in an amazing creative industry which is so inspiring, passionate and full of some of the most amazing people you will ever meet. The trends, collections, new techniques, products and skills develop at the speed of light we are one of the most innovative and creative industries. Which expands into fashion, health, fitness, photography and so much more, all of which we need to incorporate into our salons everyday.
But here is the problem
The very reason our industry is so amazing can also be the very reason you fall down there are simply just so many distractions, opportunities and demands of our attention. It is only natural that we gravitate towards what we know but this can draw us back into our comfort zones. The creative needs to be of equal importance to the business elements and although maybe not as enjoyable to begin with as the business owner this is where your focus now needs to be. You need to make that shift from therapist/hairdresser to business owner you need to become the #SalonBoss.
What’s next?
Lets dive into the secret sauce, when I coach my clients I teach them about the 4 pillars of their business. They should always be working or focusing on these 4 pillars at any time. Let me give you a simple overview of what that looks like:
- The first pillar is your PRODUCTS & SERVICES from a business point of view you should always be reviewing the services and products you offer making sure they meet the needs of your clientele. But let’s just take one step further as the salon owner you also need to know the business costs and profit margins in currency and percentage of each of the products and services you offer. These numbers should be the root source from which you make all business decisions from – the numbers.
- The second pillar is your MARKETING which will feed down from your numbers giving you a simple guideline on what you need to promote and when, not only that but it will also highlight to you the profit margins you have to play with. This is also where you want to get creative I don’t often advocate offers or money off but when you look into these numbers you can build promotions by batching treatments and services together or creating bespoke services for a limited time and so on. As well as the numbers when it comes to marketing you should have a crystal clear vision of who your marketing to with your client avatar live in your business you want to get your whole team on board and aware of your ideal client. And lastly from a numbers perspective set your marketing budget and stick to it don’t allow yourself to be caught up in the moment.
- Your third pillar is your team working on your team and having the right people in your business is crucial if you want to scale and grow having the wrong people can be very time consuming, counter-productive and most of all very expensive. We want to make sure we have the right team who we can invest in to grow our business and drive the culture forward, so even when we are not there the ship sails smoothly. Make sure you have training plans in place nurture and grow your awesome team members. But the sooner rather than later you can deter the wrong people the better.
- And finally my favourite and area of expertise SYSTEMS once your other three pillars are in place you now need systems in place to begin to lay the foundations for your business to scale & replicate. This sets the standards, policies, processes in which you expect every aspect of your business to be conducted. This will save you immeasurable amount of time in training new & existing staff whilst creating consistency feeding into and building your brand awareness. Having these systems LIVE in your business is not only a tangible asset but will be the key to having freedom and lifestyle from your business.
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Become the #SalonBoss you were born to be.
