I first want to thank everyone who offered their prayers and their support for me and my brother who passed away April 9, battling cancer.

I do hope that you forgive me for posting this post. I know many of you have lost loved ones or are currently helping your loved one through their difficult times.

We sometimes forget what is really important in life as we sometimes  are overwhelmed by work or building a business.

I have always stated that I always measured wealth not by money,but by by family, good health, and caring about others.

My brother was a true professional who through hard work built Ricardo’s Hair Design into one of the finest salons in Southern California. He was a great goodwill ambassador for his profession. He always was mindful that his success was the result of the hard work and the loyalty of his staff. In return he was also thankful and loyal to his customers and staff as well. The heartfelt grief of his team during his illness and passing was heartwarming to me and his family.

His business success spanning over 45 years is rare in today’s business climate.

He was always committed to a code of ethics, honesty, and a caring for people. His legacy will continue. He was a true professional. He will be missed by those who knew him, his children, and grandchildren. I personally have not only lost my beloved brother, but also my best friend.

It is my wish that this blog post will not only be a tribute to his legacy, but also one that can give you comfort and hope if your experiencing these difficulties or may have lost loved ones.

If this blog post helps even just one person, this article will not be in vain.

Follow these guidelines:

Balance your Personal and Business life — find ways to find time between work and family. We never know what tomorrow may bring.

Health — all the money in the world is meaningless if you have bad health. Exercise, eat right, and take care of your health. My brother died because he was a heavy smoker. Don,t smoke.

Avoid Worry — Live each day to the fullest, a recent survey was taken from people 95 years and older. They were asked what was their greatest regret, the conclusion, they wasted time by worrying about tomorrow and failed to enjoy the moment.

Take Responsibility — you control your own success and happiness. It is your responsibility to find happiness within. Your challenge is to find and balance your life accordingly.

Money — of course we all know that we still have to earn a living, but don’t let money dominate your life. Nothing wrong with being successful and earning a good living, but don’t let money overwhelm you at the expense of the people you love.

Live the Moment — life is short, live life and each day it to the fullest.

Family -– all the money in the world is meaningless when you lose someone you truly love like your parents, brothers, sisters and loved ones. Never take them for granted.

We live in a very complex and changing world,sometimes we have to take some time ,take a step back, and think about what is really important in life. I do hope this blog post will help define  what is really important in your life. Once again I thank you for all your prayers and support.

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This week’s blog posting is dedicated to all  Mother’s working in the beauty profession.

Trying to earn a living,be a good mother or owning your own business is a gigantic challenge for all women ; especially single mother’s  who want a better life for yourself and your family.

It is my wish that my blog from my new book I will be publishing soon, A Women’s Guide to Success and Happiness, will brighten your day, a day that should be special every day of the year.

A few thoughts on your Special Mothers Day:

Excellence Begins Within: unleash the power within, you control your own destiny and happiness; always believe in yourself, build self confidence, take the word I can’t out of your vocabulary and replace it with I can.

Stop Worrying — stay positive,stop worrying over things you have no control over,when you’re a little down on yourself or are having a tough day,always remember other people may have bigger challenges than you. Enjoy the moment and quit worrying about the next day,live the moment.

Set Your Own High Standards — live up to your own expectations, not the expectations of others. You control your own happiness. Never accept mediocrity personally, professionally, and financially. Challenge yourself  everyday to find the things in life that brings you fulfillment and happiness.

A Special Hug -– give your mother a special hug and let her know how much you appreciate all the sacrifices she’s made for you as your mother. Let her know you love her unconditionally. although flowers and gifts are nice,just a simple hug and the words I love you will really will make her day special. For those of you whose mother has passed away,always cherish the memories.

Balance Your Life — there is a time for work,and a time for your personal life and family. Your challenge is to find time for both. The easiest way to find that balance is to set your own goals and organize your business so you can manage your business ,not your business manage you.

Pamper Yourself — It’s okay to be a little selfish and pamper yourself once in awhile. Take a walk on the beach,or treat yourself to a relaxing massage or a special day at the spa. Appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds you,the bottom line is,enjoy life every moment.

Pride in Yourself — You are special,when you respond to yourself with compassion rather than anger,guilt,sadness,or disappointment,you will be evaluating yourself as the imperfect person you are. It’s okay to fail once in awhile, learn from your mistakes and move on.

Take pride in all that you do.

When working as a professional in the beauty industry, women must wear many hats while trying to be a good mother and add financial support to their families.

As a fellow professional, I have the utmost respect for all of you. It is my wish that these few comments will brighten your special day,and hope everyday of the year be a  Happy Mothers Day.

Jon Gonzales

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Many hairdressers are trying to raise their standard of living for themselves and their families in a very difficult economic environment. The question is how do you meet these challenges while at the same time balance your personal and professional lives? The following tips will help in your personal and professional growth:

• Invest in Yourself Through Ongoing Education — Keep learning. The more you learn the more you earn.You control your own success or failure,nobody can stop you from learning. Challenge yourself every day to keep learning something new everyday. There is no speed limit on how much and fast you learn. Tomorrow’s business minded professional will have to know more than how to cut and style hair if you want to stand above the crowd.
• Work Smarter, not Harder— Learn the business aspect of your development. Become more business minded.Cultivate your mind as well as your artistic skills. Taking classes in public speaking and self promotion would be a good start.
• Don’t Follow the Crowd of Mediocrity — Dare to be different.  The beauty industry has changed dramatically. Surround yourself with successful and positive people.Sometimes you have to go outside your profession to find quality education that is not biased towards product sales disguised as education.
• Develop a Marketing Mentality— Learn to toot your own horn. Learn all the endless possibilities of social media and marketing your skills. Social media offers fantastic opportunities that will help you promote your services to the consumer.
• Avoid Gossip and Negativity— Don’t allow yourself to be drawn into salon gossip and pettiness, instead contribute to a positive and professional salon environment. If you have a dispute,do so with the owner in private and find a solution,not in the back room with others.
• Take Personal Responsibility — Sometimes we have to look in our own mirror  if we are not as successful as we want to be. Your customer return rate will be your score card. Be honest with yourself and monitor your own customer return rate. You control your own destiny. If your not as busy as you want,give your boss permission to help you,they will appreciate your efforts.
• Stay Focused — Avoid distractions, so you can focus on maximizing your full learning and earning potential. As long as you pay your own bills, then you have to make sure you seek higher levels of excellence. a higher income and fulfillment will be your reward.
• Create a Demand for Your Services — Always work hard to create value in yourself and in your skills.

For a more detailed plan of action,  Click here

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Last week I created a wish list for salon owners in an effort to help them become better business men and women. There ability to develop strong leadership skills and become astute business men and women,will benefit our hairdressers personally, professionally,and financially.

I also wanted to help salon owners bridge the gap between management and staff,so we could better understand and communicate each others needs and concerns so we can create an enviornment of trust ,not fear.

Today I want to focus on my wish list for hairdressers, to not only help them achieve  success and happiness, but also help them gain a greater understanding  of why it is important and beneficial for them to work in a well managed salon. We all must share the same vision, and contribute to a professional and positive salon environment.

I want to dedicate this wish list to all  hard working hairdressers, and in fact, all the hard working beauty industry professionals including: hairdressers, nail techs, skin care, and make up artists in our profession.

It is also my wish that salon owners show a greater effort to better understand the educational and personal growth needs of their team members who work hard in our salons.We must always respect the dignity our staff.

It is also  important that hairdressers understand the business of salon ownership and perhaps be more supportive and understanding why salons need to be run like a business.

My Wish List for Hairdressers:

A Higher Standard of Living — As a profession,most hairdressers work hard day in and day out and should be rewarded personally, professionally, and financially for their efforts. A higher standard of living  for hairdressers and their family will benefit our profession.

Salon Owners Who Develop Strong Leadership and People Management Skills — if your salon owner works hard to earn your trust and support, you must also work hard  to take yourself and your salon to a higher level. Be a team player, your efforts will not go unnoticed by your owner

Education and Training — it is my wish that we upgrade and modernize an educational system where the focus towards learning is on you,not any special interest groups disguised as education. We are all victims of an educational system that needs reform.I formed Hairdresser Career Development Systems to help bridge this gap.

Mentoring and Guidance — that we find mentors and role models who are willing to share their vast experience and knowledge to make your journey to success and happiness easier than theirs.

More Customers — that hairdressers will always be busy with regular and new customers. We need to show hairdressers how to market and promote yourself and your salon . Referrals and repeat customers will be your reward.

Rewards and Praise— as incentives to reward you for your hard work and loyalty.

A Benefits Package — based on performance and productivity, but only when the salon is profitable. I urge salon owners to better understand the educational needs of your team and make this wish list a reality. But none of this can be possible without profits and without a constant merry-go-round of staff turnover. Let all of us join together, both salon owners and hairdressers, to make this a reality.

For weekly business tips, success tips, ongoing information .Click here

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Although I am expressing my own views and opinions based on my 42 years of real world experiences as a working hairdresser/salon owner, and as president of my educational company, I know my views are shared by many salon owners who I have had the privilege of meeting while a guest speaker at many top hair shows throughout the United States and Canada.

“What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?”

The Following is My Wish List for Salon Owners:

• Raise the Standard of Living  of Salon Owners — help salon owners improve their business skills ,improve salon profits,provide educational information so they can make better informed decisions based on fact ,not guesswork and ease the the stress,worry,uncertainty,and frustration of owning their own business. Far too many salons and are struggling, even worse too many salons are going out of business. Salon owners should be applauded for creating jobs and willing to take the financial risks of owning a business. A higher standard of living should be their reward.

• Combat Staff Turnover — No salon can grow and remain profitable with a constant merry go round of staff turnover. Everyone’s livelihood is affected. We must address the causes of turnover then find solutions.

• Better Dialogue Between Employers and Our Beauty Schools — Better prepare students in meeting job market and consumer demands. We need to form a better partnership and understanding of each others business needs and educational needs so we can create better high paying jobs.

• Unity Among Salon Owners — Why can’t we unite and share our vast experiences and learn from one another. Only if we join together in a united front can we address the deep rooted challenges salon owners face daily. United we can make this industry more responsive to our educational and business needs.We have no unified voice in addressing our business and educational needs.

• Demand an Apprenticeship or Intern Program — Allowing young talent with little hands-on experience to learn on paying customers at regular prices is just not acceptable. Learning by trial and error affects the entire salon. Nine months of beauty school is just not enough time to gain the necessary experience to work in an upscale salon. A workable intern or apprenticeship program would benefit our whole industry,sadly not enough owners are speaking out.

• Combat Staff Pirating — Recruiting another salon owner’s staff member is just unethical. Honesty and a code of ethics is the only way to do business. Getting ahead at the expense of others is just wrong.

• Better Understanding Between Staff and Salon Owners — We are in this together, we need a better dialogue between the salon owners and hairdressers. We must invite feedback from our staff from time to time,so we can better understand each others needs. We must find ways to bridge the gap between salon owners and hairdressers.

• Eliminate The Stress and Worry of Salon Ownership — Make salon ownership more fulfilling and profitable, by helping salon owners learn to work smarter, not harder with confidence.

• Develop a Well Educated Labor Force — Why is it so difficult to find quality staff? Our entrance standards to the beauty profession are just too low. Unless we raise the standard of living for all hairdressers,we will not attract quality people into our profession.

I am committed to helping salon owners tackle the above wish list through business education seminars, strategies and self-paced educational resources.  Please visit our main website, Hairdresser Career Development Systems, for additional information and follow my daily business and success tips and weekly blogs.

All the best,
Jon

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Salon owners that know how to develop effective communication strategies with their current customers and know how to connect with future customers for maximum effect will instantly improve their bottom line by keeping their clients informed.

Salons that not only connect with their customers but also strive to cement  long time relationships that are long lasting and beneficial to both will clearly stand above the crowd. Creating meaningful customer dialogues will translate to more business and improved profitability . Knowing how to deliver your message and earn the trust and loyalty of your present and future customers will be powerful.

Knowing how to connect with customers each time you reach them for maximum effect will dramatically improve your advertising and marketing efforts and save you money as well. Knowing how to reach people cost effectively in a clear coherent and frequent manner will build quality relationships for years to come. Unfortunately far too many salons are taking current customers for granted and not developing strong customer relationships with current and future customers. Today’s ’savvy consumer have many choices on where and how they want to spend their hard earned money.

By knowing how to create meaningful dialogues with your customers and future customers, you will indeed gain that all important competitive edge that will translate into more business and profits.

With the advent of social media,there are many ways to not only attract new customers,but also cement  long term business relationships and customer loyalty as well. Whether you connect by your web site, Facebook, twitter you tube,blogs or other means; staying in touch with your current and future customers is critical if you want to maintain a high profile salon.

                                                Email Newsletters is Cost Effective

Your salon works hard to build and increase salon traffic, but it’s even harder to build a strong customer base and keeping them coming back time and time again if you don’t stay in touch . We all know that positive word of mouth referrals will always be your key barometer  on how well your performing and will be your cheapest and best form of advertising . Implementing a strong client retention program is essential to growing your business. Building long term customer loyalty to your business , by retaining those valued customers should be one of your top priorities.

One effective and cost effective method of reaching your current and future customers is by writing an effective email newsletter, either monthly or quarterly. There are many people that will do this for you if you have limited time. An effective newsletter offers many opportunities that  will help you  stay in touch with your customers by keeping them abreast of the latest developments in your business and special offers.

Your email newsletter  will allow you to make special announcements , new staff announcements , send messages of thanks to your customers ,  allow you to stay in touch with current clients ,offer salon incentives , early bird incentives , fashion and design tips , sell retail products or services , measure customer retention , invite customer feedback on your relationship building efforts ,shore up your market position in your community with communication tactics that are little know and rarely used by others ,  press releases , and fully connect with customers each time you reach them for maximum effect . Make sure your newsletter will be linked with your salon web site and other social media resources.

E mail marketing is an excellent and cost effective method to adding a personal touch to your business by informing your customers and future customers that you do value and appreciate their business.

You can also use excerpts of your newsletter via post card advertising or writing a salon newsletter as well. Please refer to my book, Growing Your Business for other helpful cost effective marketing and advertising ideas. Click here. I urge you to take the time to explore and develop effective communication strategies for your business. It will set you apart from your competition.

These and many topics will be discussed at my all day intensive business seminar in the following areas of the country. For complete information click here.

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Salon owners wear many hats in trying to build a profitable and successful business. Salon owner, marketing expect, human resource expert, managing people, book work, and usually working behind the chair 10-12 hours a day. The heavy duties and responsibilities of owning your own business can be overwhelming, especially if you want to become astute business men and women.

How does one find time to accomplish all these tasks? In the beauty industry time is money. Your ability to manage all these tasks and become astute business men and women can be daunting. This need not happen to you. I formed hairdresser career Development Systems to be your partner in helping you ease the heavy duties and responsibilities of salon ownership.

The following guidelines will help ease the heavy responsibility of owning a successful salon:

Organization — Do you have a staff development program in place? Do you have a client retention plan in place? Do you have an employee handbook? Do you have your business and marketing plan in place? These are a few guidelines you must have in place if you want to manage your business instead of your business managing you. I urge you to view my table of contents of my book creating your salon. Click here.

Planning — Few of us entered business with a clearly defined business plan when we opened our business, many of us had to learn by trial and error. You may want to step back and pretend you’re opening a new business, and measure your strengths and weaknesses.

Delegate — get your staff involved, give them a little responsibility like assigning job duties such as clean ups, director of education, manager, business consultant, social media manager, etc.

Get Help — attend as many time management classes as possible.  I urge you to attend my business classes when one comes to your area. Click here.

Education — seek out knowledge and information so you can make better informed business decisions with confidence, especially in the area of business management. Learning by trial and error is just too costly and time consuming.

Employee Training — invest in your salon’s greatest asset, educate your team. If you select , educate, and train them correctly, you will dramatically ease the heavy duties and responsibilities of salon ownership

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I’m always asked the same questions by salon owners. How do I deal with a problem employee who refuses to be part of my team? How do I deal with salon gossip and pettiness? How do I avoid staff turnover? How do I improve staff performance? The list of chalenges goes on and on.

Before you make the decision to add a new member to your team make sure you clearly define your terms of employment in the beginning process of employment. Many of your management challenges can be avoided if you establish positive and professional work habits within your team through your salon orientations period of training.

I do not believe hairdressers perform poorly on purpose. Many of our challenges are caused because of poor training and education of many hairdressers during their formative years. Most people that enter the beauty profession do so with unrealistic earning and career expectations. They see all the glitter and hype and fail to learn basic salon skills for our everyday customers who want easy to manage hair styles, experience outstanding customer service, and hairdressers that are skilled at listening and committed to work hard to exceed client expectations. Without the proper education and mentoring, many of our young hairdressers develop poor work habits, soon become discouraged and eventually leave the profession. Many more go from salon to salon searching for that perfect salon; their are no perfect salons.  Along the way they develop poor work habits and negativity.

I think you will all agree that 9 months of beauty school is not enough time to teach them all the skills they need to work in an upscale salon.

In the absence of an apprenticeship program you will have to train and develop your own.

Assuming you already have a staff development program and have chosen your new member I suggest the following.

Probation — I suggest that you set a six month probation period. Make sure you state that your salon is an at-will salon which means that you can let them go during probationary period and they can quit at any time as well

Employee Hand book — How can you expect your staff to perform if they don’t know what is expected and how those expectations will be measured. Your employee hand book should be the foundation to developing your  salon and team . For more information on writing your employee hand book,click here.

Salon Orientation— Make sure you cover everything from proper customer draping procedures, review your terms of employment in your employee handbook ,customer handling procedures, telephone etiquette, quality control guidelines etc.

Quality control — Before working on any customers, let your new team member assist and observe other hairdressers, and when you feel they understand your high quality control standards, elevate to junior stylist at reduced prices under your supervision or your director of education on paying customers at reduced prices. This allows you to gradually allow them to gain valuable hands on experience without compromising your client retention efforts.

Define Your Goals and Expectations — during their orientation period, make sure they share your goals, vision, and team culture.

These tips can and will help eliminate many of your internal challenges and help you take your business and team to the next level. For complete management  information. Click here.

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” We will never find solutions to our challenges by ignoring the questions that have to be asked.”

First I want to report that our Salon Owner’s Conference Cruise to the Caribbean was a huge success. The friendships and  camaraderie among salon owners along with the  great discussions that identified the many challenges we face and discussing  ways to combat these challenges were exciting and rewarding.

What a fun week we had,  building friendships, having a great time relaxing and  visiting St.Thomas, Princess Cays, St.Marteen and the Caicos Islands. It was fantastic. The weather was perfect and the waters of the Caribbean was awesome.

We also learned a lot from one another by discussing the ways to ease the heavy burdens and responsibilities of salon ownership. Salon owners learning and sharing together our vast experiences and knowledge was inspiring. Who better understands our educational and business needs than those of us working daily in our salons? What became apparent was that our profession needs boht educational and business reforms.

The purpose of this conference was to start a new grass – roots movement to form a united front in addressing the many deep rooted challenges affecting our salons, our profession, and our standard of living, for both salon owner and hairdresser. We all agreed that these challenges are universal and the need for change is now.

Why is there so much pain and havoc in our profession? Who is at fault?

These are some of the challenges and obstacles we identified:

Beauty Schools —  we need educational reform. Much of the curriculum  taught  in beauty schools is outdated and does not meet growing job market and consumer demands. Although beauty schools are designed  to protect the public health and safety of the consumer and help prepare their students to pass the state board,we need more than that. Far too many students are leaving the profession because they lack the skills needed to compete in a very competitive job market.

Petition Our State Agencies for an Apprenticeship or Internship – there is no substitute for on- the- job training. We all agreed that we must sign a petition to our local state government for change.

Staff Turnover and Business Interruptions — no salon can grow and raise prices in this environment. We must define the causes of turnover and take preventative action. How can we grow our business and improve profits in this negative en environment?

How to Bridge the Gap between Staff and Management — there is a need to discover ways to  bridge the gap between staff and management. A house divided will never grow.

How to Promote Honesty and A Code of Ethics — we have created dishonesty within our profession by allowing an underground economy to flourish. All we ask is for for an equal playing field. It is not fair for salon owners to invest in training and educating hairdressers only to lose them to a booth rental salon.

Salon Owners — why is there so much apathy and indifference among salon owners? Far too many feel threatened by other salon owners.  However there is more than enough business for everyone. If we all play by the same rules everybody wins.

State Board of Cosmetology — there are frivolous fines that many of our colleagues cannot afford.Why can’t the state board understand we are trying to make a living? Perhaps a first time offense and warning would suffice.

Product Company’s — Most education we receive is by the product companies that are biased towards their needs. Having us promote their products when we to see these same products sold at Wal- mart and other outlets at reduced prices is insulting to all hard working salon owners and hairdressers. Where is the loyalty?

Cost Effective Marketing and Advertising —  using social media is a very cost effective way to grow your career and business. We  need to educate both salon owner and hairdresser on the fantastic benefits of using social media.

Booth Rental Issues — most salon owners are mis classifying their workers which violate labor laws and tip compliance  rules. Owners need to seek the advice of a labor law attorney who specializes in independent contractor issues to understand these issues. We need to create an equal playing field, getting ahead at the expense of others is just wrong.

Finding Quality Educational and Business Resources — most of the education opportunities  we see at the hair shows are biased information about the product companies products. This does meet our  educational and business needs.

Employee Training and Development — until we see educational reform we must develop our own educational training and development opportunities.

How to form a United Front — the only people that can demand educational reform are we the salon owners. There is power in numbers.

Reform our Educational System — the earnings of hairdressers and profits of salon owners is not keeping pace with the rising cost of living. We need to think outside the box for real educational reform.

These were some of the topics  we discussed. We also agreed that there was a need for us  to unite as salon owners and have a clear voice that will  find solutions to these challenges.

I urge  concerned salon owners to call fellow salon owners in your community and meet for coffee once a month  and discuss these challenges.

If I receive enough interest, I will schedule our next conference in Las Vegas in the fall. And  yes there will be another cruise in 2014.

Feel free to call me at 1-800-490-4237 if you want to get involved.

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Many of us are creatures of habit, some of  us are able to form good work habits, while others develop  poor work habits.  This is a challenge many salon owners  face everyday.  It is much easier to prevent bad habits than to break them, especially when you are trying to instill a team culture in your salon.  Tardiness, absenteeism, negativity, keeping customers waiting, poor customer service, salon gossip, are just some of the poor work habits  salon owners must confront if you want to create a positive and professional salon environment.

As I travel throughout the U.S. and Canada, I am always asked by salon owners, how do I address a worker with poor work habits. My answer is to take preventive measures and address the problem immediately . This is a major challenge of leadership you must cultivate if you want to improve staff performance and productivity.

If not addressed, your top performers and younger members of your team will assume that allowing poor work habits by certain team members is acceptable by management. Eventually, they too will drift into acquiring some of these negative work habits.

It is not easy being a salon owner, you’re not in business to seek acceptance and friendship or to win a popularity contest with your staff; your business is to take your business and team to a higher level. Allowing negative work habits within your business can ruin the morale of your positive team members, and is expensive.

By allowing this type of behavior in your salon,you will not gain the respect  as a leader of your team.

Follow these tips:

 Poor Hiring Decisions – many salon owners hire people just to fill a chair. Make sure you develop your own staff development program or follow mine. One bad apple can ruin your business Click here.

Training and Education — it is essential that you develop a thorough employee training program, by instilling positive attitudes and strong work habits .Your orientation program is critical at the beginning of their employment. My educational programs for hairdressers will be very effective in helping you develop a team culture. Click here.

Job description — how can you expect your staff to perform if they don’t know your expectations and how they will be measured?

Probation – six month probationary period will allow you to measure their performance and productivity, making sure they share your vision, goals an help your new team member develop positive and professional work habits.

Job Description – make sure you clearly define their job duties,and your expectations in your terms of employment.

Evaluations – one on one evaluation are very effective.

Employee Handbook —your terms of employment should clearly state your expectations as to tardiness, absenteeism, dress code etc. Follow mine. Click here

Courage — Sadly many salon owners fail to address this challenge in fear of losing a worker , especially with a following to a competitor. What they are really doing is holding you hostage. One bad apple will eventually affect your efforts in developing a team culture.

When a member of your team starts develop some of these negative work habits, address  this problem on a one to one meeting, letting them know of your concern. If they continue this behavior, then you must have the courage to terminate this individual, your other team members will respect your efforts. Strong leadership sends a clear message to your  other team members that you will not tolerate this kind of behavior, you don’t have time to be a baby sitter.

I will soon be presenting my upcoming seminar for your staff and address this and other challenges for you. My Hairdresser’s Guide to Making Money will be available soon.  Click here.

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