Business Foundations to Take Your Salon from Alright to Amazing by Rebecca Miller

Owning a salon over the past few years has been no mean feat! The strength, resilience, and determination we’ve needed to come out the other side is second-to-none so as we enter a new financial year, make sure you take a moment to celebrate all the wins, lessons learnt, the wisdom gained from the challenges and all those little magical moments in between.

If your salon business has just been going through the motions, now is a great time to take stock of the way you’re operating.

Heartfelt leadership is the key and right now our industry needs more inspirational leaders to leave their legacy behind for our future emerging leaders.

Throughout the article, I’ll ask you questions. Write down your answers and use this as a guide to see where you have gaps in your business.

Foundations

Your purpose, mission and values play an essential role in your business. Without them, it’s almost impossible to align your team with your strategic goals, enhance team collaboration and culture or empower your team to be the best version of themselves. When we create an environment where our team can truly feel our purpose, we’re delivering a space of inspiration, motivation, and empowerment.

Purpose

It all begins with your WHY. Your purpose is the reason that you jump out of bed every day, this is your calling, the reason you step into your business and why you do what you do. Having clarity on your purpose and articulating your why in such an inspiring way others want to follow. It’s your cause, the legacy you leave behind and it’s the reason your business exists. Can you articulate your purpose (WHY) right now?

Mission

This is your 5-to-10-year big hairy audacious goal (BHAG),so you and your team understand where you are now and where you want to be and know they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Your mission is a commercialisation of your PURPOSE and I encourage you to think about the impact and value you want to create and bring into the world. Clarity is key so think BIG… If you can think it, you can create it! A great mission is clear and compelling and will serve as a catalyst for growth and inspiration. What is your 5-to-10-year BHAG?

Values

Your company values are the heartbeat of your business; the DNA. In essence, your company values are the beliefs, philosophies, guiding principles and behaviours that drive your business. They impact your team’s experience you deliver, as well as the relationships you develop with your customers and the companies you partner with. Your cultural values are your company’s DNA. That’s why you can’t make any important business decisions without having them in mind. Having a clear set of values helps your team understand what you as a business stand for. Well-defined values provide a moral direction to guide you and your team in difficult times. As a result, you’re more likely to make the right decisions — the decisions that help you all achieve the company’s vision and goals. Your core values support the company’s vision and shape its culture. That’s why every single business decision should be aligned with these values. How can you build great teams, deliver excellent customer service and foster innovation if you haven’t defined and found your company values as a team? Yes, include the team! Are your team aware of, connected to and living your business core values? Do you use your values to make decisions in your business?

Planning

If you’re still feeling like a hamster on a wheel, you’re not embodying the greatness of your purpose! Let’s get you off that wheel and embracing the power of planning. It’s the secret sauce of every successful salon business after all. Planning goes beyond your day-to-day and looks towards the year ahead and what needs to happen to achieve everyone’s personal and professional goals. Planning means creating your future in advance. So, is your planning setting you up for success in the coming financial year?

Needle-moving business activities

One of the biggest mistakes I see salon owners make is not allocating time each week to work on their business rather than in their business. If growth and scaling is one of your business goals, it’s imperative that you block time off in your diary for the needle-moving business activities. These are the activities that are going to propel your business. Do you have regular allocated time for working on your business?

Team pathways

As leaders, it is our job is to create more leaders and generate opportunities for our team to evolve and feel empowered by new skills, knowledge, and experiences. Every team member should have a personalised pathway established that includes opportunities to work on their professional and personal goals. Do each of your team members have a pathway for success for the new financial year?

Celebrate the small stuff

An integral part of maintaining an engaged and motivated team is rewarding them for their efforts but what may surprise you is that whilst money is a motivator, it’s not the be all and end of all why people work with us! Many rewards structures in our industry revolve around financial renumeration but research indicates that employees hold feelings of acknowledgement and appreciation for their efforts in a much higher regard. Meaningful actions, taken by leaders, can boost your employee satisfaction much higher than some extra cash in their pocket; it comes down to uncovering what it is that motivates them. One of the best reward systems you can use to motivate your team is social acknowledgment. You can acknowledge team members in your daily huddles when they do great work, utilise ‘Wednesday Wins’ where each team member shares their greatest achievement for the week and choose stand out team members with ‘Monthly Wowser Awards’. How are you acknowledging your team’s great work?

Training opportunities

In additional to personalised pathways, your business should be engaging in regular training opportunities. This could include internal and external training, recommended books, practical experiences, and role-playing activities to consistently improve the delivery of your services and customer experience. Are you offering weekly training opportunities for your team?

One-on-one sessions

This is deep connection time with your team as individuals. When we provide each team member regular undivided attention, we can attain an authentic insight into the needs of our team, understand any prospects for growth as leaders, identify their opportunities for learning and upskilling and acknowledge their commitment to the business. Gratitude goes a long way. These regular meetings should be diarised and never moved – not even for appointments! Remember, listen to hear, not to respond. Have you scheduled 1:1 catch-ups with your team members?

Planning your marketing

This means not being reactive with last-minute promotions but instead, knowing exactly what you’re offering and when. Your marketing calendar should feature all major dates throughout the year and guide the promotions on offer. My coaching clients and I plan their marketing every quarter, so they know exactly what they’re working towards over those months. Is your marketing and promotional calendar prepared for Q3of 2022? Is your team aware of and prepared for upcoming promotions?

Systems & processes

Systems and processes have gotten a bad rap as being the ‘boring part of salon owner life’ but they’re actually the gateway to a profitable and productive business! They provide you, as a salon owner, FREEDOM.

Daily huddles

This is a great way to start the day on a high and ignite your team! Daily huddles are an opportunity for your team to share their goals, wins, challenges and illicit the values they’ll be showcasing in the business that day. Are you getting each day started with a team daily huddle?

Consultation process

Is your team consistent with the questions asked during a consult? Creating a system around this can enable you to get to the crux of the client’s concerns sooner and maximise their experience. By roleplaying or mystery shopping your existing consultation, you can identify its strengths and opportunities, and make tweaks to support bringing more value to each client. This formalised system is then used in onboarding for new team members. What’s your method to ensure consults are consistent and profitable? means even before they walk through your doors! Every step of this journey should be well-defined with touchpoints that keep them wanting more. Once you have identified your client avatar/ ideal client, you’ll design & define their ultimate customer journey, truly visualising the steps you need to take to deliver a flawless experience. One of my favourite ways to refine your customer journey is to go through it yourself, with your team as if you were a client! Do your customers have a clearly defined journey from the moment they book?

Client retention

Most salon owners don’t know their retention numbers! If you’re noticing a trend in clients not returning or rebooking, then this could be a sign more training and development is needed in your business. It’s also an opportunity to ensure you’re attracting the right kind of clients. You only find these things out if you have a system in place that regularly measures, compares, and acts upon your retention numbers. Is your team following a client retention process that works?

Knowing your numbers

Do you know what your breakeven number is? Understanding your numbers and exactly where you can access them is fundamental to the profitability of your business. Check in weekly, have clear KPI aligning behaviours, values, and goals to these to create an autonomous culture that are intrinsically motivated Do you know exactly what numbers you should be looking at and where to find them?

Mindset

The number one thing holding people back from living their best life is their own mindset. Having a thriving mindset keeps you focused on your game plan and means any negativity or limitations that arise don’t stand a chance!

Living your purpose

Every leader should know who they want to be, where they’re going and how they’re going to get there. This is the reason that you’re waking up each morning and should align seamlessly with your values. When we know our purpose and live through our values, we are setting an expectation for ourselves and those on our journey with us. They support our decision making, our behaviours and give each day of our lives innate meaning. Are you leading through your purpose, mission, and values? the key to living your best life. This comprises of daily rituals that have you moving your body, invigorating your mind, visualising your purpose, and setting your intentions. Are you taking time each day to enrich your mind, body, and heart?

Mastering manifestation

If you truly want something in life, you need to believe it will happen in every inch of your soul. Visualise it in your mind being part of your life and the feelings of accomplishment that come with it. Manifestation is the actualisation of the saying, “anything can happen if you put your mind to it”. Do you truly believe you can achieve your longterm goals?

Knowing is growing

The more you can grow and experience as a leader, the more influence you can have on those around you. Influence is a key component of leadership – it’s where people really see our greatness! This comes from continually learning and expanding what it means to be a leader in 2022. A growth mindset comes from reading, joining courses, watching seminars, attending events and anything that encourages you to expand your way of thinking and leading and of course having a coach support your journey. Are you expanding your knowledge as a leader and business owner?

Creating your tribe

Business owners need their own support team to ensure they’re truly giving their best each day. Coaches see what you don’t see, know what you don’t know, keep your accountable and focused on your purpose and mission and have the hardhitting conversations with you. When you have someone keeping you aligned to your personal and professional goals, you’re on your way to transforming the way you lead, the culture you cultivate and start living a life you love. Are you aligning yourself with the right people to help you achieve your goals?

Rebecca Miller

For more free salon coaching, advice, resources and daily salon inspiration, join my community on Instagram: @rebeccamillerzingcoach