You may never have started your salon to make money, but it soon becomes a reality that you are struggling to keep ahead of the bills and losing money fast.
With an estimation of 95% of salon owners never making a good living from owning a salon and 50% of salon owners letting their salons go due to financial difficulties it needs to be a priority.
Making money is all about profit, how much you have left after your initial bills. The more you have the more you can share with your team but also the more you get to keep for your efforts.
You will notice that your passion is a driver for your salons growth and NOTHING drains your passion more than working for nothing.
Everyone wants to be more profitable.
After all, profit is how we keep score in business.
It’s not about what you make – it is all about what you keep. Sometimes the simplest ideas can help you increase your profits. Let’s jump start your profit today with seven ideas for you to implement in your salon.
Go through your client database. They are a gold mine.
How many clients are in your database? How many clients are active customers (you’ve done business with them in the past 18 months)? Usually the number of clients in the file is much greater, sometimes exponentially greater, than the number of active clients. Reactivate your inactive clients. Send a postcard or email series with the theme ‘We want you back’. You’ll be surprised at how many call and say, “We were just too busy and never got around to coming back”. These people have visited you and spent money from you at least once. Give them a reason to try you again!
Don’t get stupid when you get busy.
Discipline in busy times as you discipline in slower times. When it is busy you have a tendency to let infractions ‘slip under the rug’ because you don’t make the time to deal with them. The fear is that you can’t afford to be without that person because it is busy. If an employee does something that annoys you, deal with it, even if it means letting them go. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is. If you don’t let them go, your revenues may start to slip. Other employees will see that ‘someone got away with something’ and they will be less likely to work as hard. Less hard work means less revenue. Less revenues usually means less profits.
Ask for referrals.
One of the best ways to grow your salon is through referrals from happy clients. Put a statement at the bottom of your emails, news letters, and the back of your business cards. Print ‘We grow our company through referrals from satisfied customers. If we provided excellent products and customer service, please tell your friends and colleagues. If we did something wrong, please tell us and we will fix it. Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction’. This statement lets a client know that you are serious about providing outstanding customer service and that you appreciate referrals. Some will call you with referrals. Some will let you fix a problem rather than spreading the fact that they were unhappy to friends, neighbours, and social media.
Call 3 days after a new client has been to your salon.
The staff member who looked after the new client should call 3 days after the clients visit to make sure that everything is ok. They should also ask for referrals, at this time as well (the client will tell people about their experience with you) and now is a great time (if you think they were really happy with what you did) to just ask, if you know anyone that is looking for a ………………………….would you mind passing my name to them as I am looking for more great clients like you.
Save 1% of every dollar that comes in the door.
This is your emergency cash account. For each transaction that goes into the till, at the end of the day or week transfer 1% of that deposit amount into a savings account, one that is hard to access (no card issued) . You still have 99% to use. That 1% will be there when you need cash for payroll or taxes.
Get timely, accurate financial statements each month.
Reviewing these statements takes less than 30 minutes per month. You will spot minor issues and can take care of them before they become major crises. You will also be able to make great business decisions based on the accurate information you get. Knowing where your money is going each month will make you focus on the amounts you spend. I always remember the saying my boss used to say, “look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves”. This is so true. Spending a little extra on wages, stock, treats for the staff soon add up and those small indifferences can make a massive impact on YOUR money and your bank account.
Keep your staff happy
The process of hiring and training new staff members takes time and money. Avoid that cost by doing what you can to retain your existing staff. Over the long run, having engaged, knowledgeable staff will increase your bottom line. While you should keep pay competitive, small changes like flex-time hours, a discount or a bonus for hitting targets and also treating their families well also will help your staff to feel valued. If they feel valued and rewarded for their work, they are more likely to stick around. I promise you if you put the work into even one of these seven ideas your profit will increase
Richard McCabe
‘The Lifestyle Salon Coach’
www.lifestylesaloncoach.com
When you’re ready here are ways I can help you…
1. WORK DIRECTLY WITH ME AND MY TEAM If you own a hair or beauty salon and you’re fed up with having no cash leftover then check out our group coaching programs. If you’re a new salon owner or have less than 2 employees then this just for you Check it out here
If you’re established and have 3 or more employees this is perfect for you Check it out here
2. HOW WOULD YOU LIKE A FREE COPY OF MY BEST SELLER SALON BUSINESS BOOK? Just send an email to rmccabe3@me.com with the subject line BOOK and I’ll get that to you