There’s nothing more exciting than a successful salon! I love working with salons across Australia and helping them with their success and growth. Whilst, not every beauty biz stands the test of time, to find out what makes a good salon great and the recipe for success – I’m sharing with you firsthand the best tips to grow your biz!
Create Systems For Everything
Now I’ll be the first to put my hand up and say – systems used to freak me out. Creating them was going to be time-consuming however as my team grew past myself. I knew that they were desperately needed.
Creating systems will give your team the exact steps to follow to do their jobs with ease. A great team needs great systems to grow. That way everyone's on the same page and working efficiently. Look at creating systems as an investment in your time, so you can focus on growing the business.
What you systemize now – will create less stress and micro-management down the track.
Prioritise Education
As the beauty industry evolves, so are the techniques and methods used to perform treatments. You want to ensure you are regularly up-skilling your staff (stylist, assistants and support staff) on the treatment and products used in the salon. Prioritizing education will grow your staff and your revenue and help you keep at your best. There’s a common saying ‘keep up to date, or get left behind
Constantly striving to give your clients the best experience is also very important, you will be constantly evolving on all fronts whilst staying true to your brand values and your mission.
Remember that a Salon is a Team Effort
Your salon team is like a little family. Your team spends more time at work than they do at home. So everyone needs to be looking out for each other. As the salon owner, you need to be the one to embody this core value so you set the standard in the workplace. Treat everyone as equal and forget the labels of each stylist.
Stylists need to remember that their clients are the salon's clients. They need to be mindful of everyone that's coming into the salon to make sure they are made to feel welcome and comfortable. Ultimately a salon should feel like a community.
Schedule Feedback Meetings
Regular meetings with your team will help you identify challenges so you can face them together. By meeting regularly you should be solving problems before everything starts to fall apart, making them much easier to solve.
Get feedback from your team on what’s working, what needs improving, and how to make upgrades. Your stylists are the ones that have the eyes and ears on the day-to-day running of your business, so they will be able to provide you with the best feedback crucial for your biz growth.
Having fun is an Indicator of Success
Don’t get completely bogged down with systems, KPI’s and micro-managing. You should be measuring success by the happiness of your employees and your clients. No one wants to work in a salon where everyone is miserable and dreading coming to work!
Value Open and Honest Communication
Just as important as checking in on the salon challenges, are your team's personal challenges too. Check-in with your team 1:1 regularly so you know where they’re at, and how you can help them grow. Your more confident extroverted team members will share regularly what s going on in their personal lives. But your introverted quieter team members may not.
Make sure you stay present as a leader and check in with your team regularly. This will help you establish their core needs and the level of support they need to do their role and grow. Your team is your greatest asset so you want to make sure they are getting the help they need.
While there’s no rule fits all for salon owners, it’s important to keep your focus on your team and the business to ensure a happy community that your staff and clients will enjoy coming to.
