7 minute read
Things to Do in January By Kym Krey
African Proverb
Do you find yourself beginning each new year making all sorts of plans and goals for your business …… but then getting swamped when the team come back from holidays and the pace picks up again?
You start out with all the right intentions, buy a nice new wall planner or diary, but by April those goals are a distant memory and you’re back into the same routine.
So, how can you make 2022 different?
How can you make sure that this year, you finally do what you need to do to get the progress you need?
In my experience, it comes down to 3 things: 1. Clarity 2. Bite-sized tasks 3. Implement like a Mofo!
Clarity: You must get very, very clear on exactly what you want to happen. No vague statements like ‘I want to make more money’, ‘I want to attract more clients’, ‘I want to work less in the business’. Vague. Ambiguous. Destined to fail. The more specific you are with your intentions, the more clearly you’ll see them, feel them, and take action toward them. And I use the word ‘Intention’ rather than ‘goal’, very deliberately.
‘Goal’, to me, still feels like a wish. A ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ statement. Like “Wouldn’t it be great to win lotto?” There’s no commitment in that.
‘Intention’ has some skin in the game. It says: • ‘Here’s what we’ll be turning over by June’. • ‘These are the services my apprentice will be performing on the floor by April’ • ‘Here are the days I’ll be working from March’ • ‘Here’s how much money I’ll have in the bank by November’
The difference between the ‘goal’ statements and the ‘intention’ statements is the word ‘will’. Not ‘like’ to have. Not ‘hopefully I’ll have’. It’s ‘I WILL’ have.
It says, ‘Here’s how this is gonna roll!’.
I can feel the commitment in that… and that gets me excited. That’s when BIG stuff starts to take shape. So think about each important area of your business:
• Financials/Money
• Staff progression (skills)
• Staff performance ($$)
• Culture/Team • Lifestyle
Now, think about how you want your business to look in each of those areas and write a clear, specific statement of intention that makes a commitment to a precise outcome. Example:
MONEY
• The salon will generate $1m in turnover by December 31, 2022
• The salon will be averaging $15,000 week by July • I will have paid off all credit cards by Christmas 2022
• I will be personally earning $100,000+ year by January 2023
• I will have total wages costs under 40% by July
Staff progression (skills)
• I will have Lucy foiling up to full head on the floor by April
• I will mentor Tracey into a 2IC/Manager role by June
• I will have employed a great Salon Coordinator by April
• I will have Brenton on the floor cutting by August
STAFF PERFORMANCE ($$)
• I will have Bailey consistently hitting target by March 31
• I will have all staff above 15% retail by September
• I will have all staff above 70% rebooking by August
LIFESTYLE
• I will begin 2022 working 4 days on the floor
• I will reduce to 3 days week by May
• I will attend my favourite yoga class every Wednesday morning
• I will take a minimum of 2 x 2-week breaks + 4 x long weekends away in 2022
Get the idea?
Bite-Sized Tasks: One of the biggest reasons why our goals don’t stick is that we leave them as big, scary ambitions that seem so far away. We don’t see a clear path forward and often we just don’t know how to get started.
I’m a huge fan of the 90-day plan. Long enough to get big things done but short enough to maintain momentum!
Here’s how you do it: For each of the intentions you’ve created, work backwards to create smaller milestones. E.g.
• ‘To be averaging $20,000 week by December, we need to be averaging $18,000 by September, $17,000 by July, $16,000 by April’.
• ‘To have paid $9,000 off credit cards by Christmas, my balance will be under $2,500 by September, $5,000 by June, $7,500 by April, $8,000 by March
• To have Lucy doing full head foils by April, she’ll be competent at half-head by end February.
• To achieve 15% retail by September, we’ll be above 13.5% by July, above 12.5% by May, above 12% by March
Then, create 4 x 90-day plans which will capture all of your intentions in small steps. That way, you don’t need to worry about achieving 15% retail when you’re sitting on 10.8%, you only need to get to 12% in this quarter. Easy peasy!
• Jan- March • April-June • July-Sept • Oct-Dec
What you end up with is something like this:
In the next 90 days, we will achieve:
• Average weekly turnover of $14,000
• Total wages costs under 44% (inc. annual + sick leave & super etc)
• Retail at minimum 12%
• Lucy foiling to ½ head within 60 minutes
• Brenton doing basic long haircuts on the floor
• You working max. 4 days week on the floor
Then you re-set each of those goals with milestones for the next quarter. It also helps to break these down further into monthly intentions, e.g. ‘To hit these milestones by end March, where do we need to be by end Feb? End Jan?’
There’s one more thing that’s vital to the process, and that’s if it goes into the 90-day plan, it gets done! That leads me to the 3rd step…. implement.
Implement. OK, here’s where you need to get serious. You really have to want this or you’re just not going to be willing to do what it takes and get uncomfortable if you need to.
All of this is do-able… it’s just a matter of steps, but you know it’s not just going to fall in your lap, right? Stuff is going to go wrong… and you’re going to do it anyway. You’re going to employ and invest in a promising new staff member, and they might not work out. Start again. Your highest performing senior is going to want to cut back to 3 days week. You’re going to work around that and keep going. You’re going to get so close to paying off your credit cards and your hot water system (or washing machine, or…) is going to die and you’ll need to buy another. Buy what you need to buy and get back to your savings plan.
You’re going to put months of training into your new apprentice and they’re going to tell you that they just don’t think hairdressing is for them. Cool, next! You’ll just cut back to your 3 days a week and feel like you’ve won the lottery…. and then your senior brakes her wrist roller skating and you’re back on the floor for 8 weeks. Arrange meal delivery and a house cleaner and get in there!
It’s all temporary and it won’t stop you. It’s. Worth.It. It doesn’t matter what happens or how frustrating it is… it’s all part of the journey of business and the price of creating a life you love. It’s just ‘stuff’. Do it anyway.
Nothing is going to take you off your path. You will have the lifestyle, the income, the business you choose to have because you’re not going to settle until you do. Simple!
Now… will you do this for you?
Is it your time now?
Make it so.
If THIS is the year that you’re finally going to make it happen and you’re ready to step up, then I have something exciting for you. If you’ve dreamed about having a business mentor for years but worried about the cost, you’re about to get your New Year Wish!
