8 Ways to Dramatically Improve Your Salon Business

Making money is often discussed and viewed in a negative light. We’re often afraid and don’t want to be labeled as greedy or money-hungry by talking about money. But making money must be at the forefront of any successful salon business and is crucial to creating the freedom you truly want in life. In fact, it’s a challenge being passionate about making other people look and feel great when you’re feeling a little hopeless or stressed about paying your next bill.  

Trust me, I know what it’s like to have nothing and what it’s like to thrive as well. I think we would both agree having money is a lot more enjoyable, more fulfilling, and it gives you options. Here are 8 ways to dramatically improve your salon business and create the freedom you deserve.

Take Full Responsibility. The very first change that must occur to be more successful in your salon business is a mental change. Before improvement can be realized in your business, there must be a change in your inputs, i.e. how you think and envision everything around your business. You must take full responsibility for everything that happens, both good and bad. Don’t blame the economy, your past, or your clients. Don’t think the world is out to get you. Waiting for someone else to swoop in and do what is our responsibility is a recipe for disaster.  Looking to others to do for us only creates a state of helplessness and an inability to create change for ourselves. A great quote says, “the moment you take responsibility for everything in your life, is the moment you can change anything in your life.” Change begins by accepting your responsibility to create the difference you want to see. Go and make it happen.

Narrow Your Focus. Stop doing what’s not working. We all know the saying “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a difference result.” If you aren’t satisfied, the first thing you must do is stop doing what you’ve been doing because your current actions are creating an unwanted reality. At Sola, the beauty is that all of this choice is yours! Get rid of products that aren’t selling. If you are offering services that you don’t enjoy doing or are not profitable for you, cut them from your service menu. Any activities, services, people or products that are not having the financial impact you what in your salon business, must be eliminated. Narrowing your focus will allow you to concentrate your time, efforts, energy and resources on those things that produce the greatest return for you and your business.

Start placing a higher value on your time. When given a choice, especially when funds are limited, we are tempted to do everything ourselves. But as you begin to earn more you must begin to move towards making wiser money and time investments. Your time is so much more valuable than money. You can always get more money. You can never get more time. Focus on delivering superior value so you can become twice as valuable, and make twice as much money in the same amount of time. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. It’s what you do with your time that determines everything.

Make a list and prioritize your profits. Think of a list as a contract. Adopt the habit of writing down what you want to accomplish for the day, week, month and year, and then prioritize the list. Action items in written form are closer to being accomplished than are the things you merely think about. When you set up your weekly schedule make sure you start with scheduling income-producing activities. Of all your activities, 20 percent will account for 80 percent of your income. Really think about the top two or three things you need to do daily and weekly to create income. Now put those in your schedule consistently to assure you are creating income. Constantly ask yourself if what you’re doing is profitable. Focus on doing what you should do versus what you feel like doing. This way, you'll effectively allocate what’s necessary to each task in accordance with its importance. You are agreeing to make these things happen the moment you write things down.

Increase sales to existing customers. Current customers are a cheaper and more effective way to increase sales than trying to find new people to buy your services and products. “Up-servicing” is the simplest and fastest way to increase your income. The idea behind “up-servicing” is to provide a greater salon experience by taking care of more of your clients’ needs, not what you want to sell. Making service and product recommendations is your duty and should never looked at as “pushing” things on people. Up-servicing is all about what they need vs what you want for them. Explore ways to have customers to become repeat clients, find customers who’ve stopped buying from you and trying to win them back. Fully utilize SolaGenius or whatever POS system you’re using to keep a record of who your customers are and what you sold to them. Create product and or service bundles to increase sales.  

Review your prices. Regularly reviewing your prices can be an effective way of increasing your sales and profits. Has the cost of operating your salon business increased since you had your last price adjustment? Is your pricing keeping up with inflation and cost of living? Now is a great time to do a price review in preparation. Consider implementing referral and loyalty programs to jumpstart sagging sales. Estimate the likely effect of different price changes on the sales, cash flow and profitability of your business. Be prepared for a few clients to leave by having a client attraction and retention program at the ready. Small changes to pricing and adding loyalty promotions or bulk discounts can increase sales to both existing and former customers.

Get a coach. Working with someone who has a proven approach to business challenges can make all the difference in dramatically improving your salon business. A business coach can help you identify key areas of weakness and opportunities to build and grow your business in a way that fits your personality and overall business vision. Really good coaches have been in or have coached many other people through similar experiences successfully. Working with someone who has a vested interest in your success can be just what you need for a fresh perspective and level of accountability.

Attract new customers. One way of attracting new customers to your salon services and products is by Powerbase marketing. What is Powerbase marketing? Powerbase marketing is connecting, reconnecting and leveraging the relationships you already have to attract more customers to your business. Believe it or not, there are probably contacts in your cellphone or on your email list who don’t know what you do. If you’re not top of mind when it’s time for them to make a buying decision, they can’t buy from you. It’s your responsibility is to create awareness of what you do and share the benefits your guests receive when they do business with you. The great thing about Powerbase marketing is they already know you, so you’re already in the second step of the “know, like, trust” phase. Create the habit of reaching to at least 2 or 3 people a day and work on creating value from them and improving their lives one person at a time.

You have the opportunity to completely change your story and direction overnight. Regardless of your past decisions or where you are in life, you’re always one decision away from making the right one.  To learn how to create more income and freedom in your salon business, check out The 6-Figure Salonpreneur™ 8 Easy Steps to Making $100K Working 3 Days a Week or Less.

About the Blogger: Alex B. Jones, M.B.A. is a Salon Suite Business Coach who helps salon suite owners, booth renters and independent contractors create more income and freedom in their salon business so they can finally live their dreams. He is also the author of Amazon’s Best-Seller The 6-Figure Salonpreneur™ 8 Easy Steps to Making $100K Working 3 Days a Week or Less. For more information, please visit alexbjones.com