“Never accept mediocrity, good is not enough.”
These are troubling times for our country and our profession. Everywhere you turn there is doom and gloom. Unemployment, growing deficits, and rising business costs to name but a few of the challenges we face.
Despite these difficult times, I feel there has never been a better time for both hairdressers and salon owners to succeed.
Unfortunately far too many of our colleagues will follow the doom and gloom crowd always looking for excuses to fail.
Sadly far too many salons and careers will fail. This need not happen to you.
In my opinion adversity always present fantastic opportunities for committed professionals who refuse to quit when the going gets tough.
Those of you who are committed to making your dreams and goals a reality will succeed. You and only you can control your own success or failure.
Nobody is going to stop you from seeking self-improvement through on going education.
Nobody can stop you from taking that walk in customer when everyone wants to leave the salon on a late Saturday.
Nobody is going to stop you from handing out fliers with your name and phone number outside the supermarket . Nobody is going to stop you from learning all the benefits of social media and how you can easily promote yourself. Nobody is going to stop you from asking for referrals from your satisfied customers.
Nobody is going to stop you from asking your boss to help you improve your skills.
Nobody is going to stop you from maximizing your full learning and earning potential.
Your biggest obstacle will probably be yourself.
This is one of the few professions you can literally get all the overtime you want once you create value in your skills and create a demand for your services.
Follow these tips with an open mind:
Develop a Winning and Positive Attitude — your mind controls everything, anything is possible if you believe in yourself. If you always look for the good in salon, your boss, your coworkers, you won’t see very much negativity. Keep telling yourself I can instead of I can’t.
Yes you will experience peaks and valleys from time to time, that’s part of growing, but with a positive attitude you will overcome these minor setbacks. The book The Power of Positive by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale changed my life. Excellence within you starts with a winning attitude.
Invest in Yourself Through Knowledge — the more you learn, the more you earn. Seek out help from people who have more experience than you. Give your boss permission to help you get better; they will appreciate your efforts.
Cultivate your mind as well as your artistic skills. The decision to improve my public speaking skills changed my life. Work hard to develop powerful people and communication skills. Learn to work smarter, not harder. I urge you to improve your public speaking skills. Toastmasters International would be a good start.
Develop a Marketing Mindset — learn to toot your own horn by learning how to promote and create a demand for your services. Social media offers fantastic opportunities for both hairdressers and salon owners to promote their salon and services. You may want to film your own movie trailer using you tube, then add to your face book business fan page. It is easy and fun.
Be a Contrarian — don’t always follow the crowd, get out of the box. Most of the education we receive in the beauty industry is product driven. Seek out education that will benefit you, personally, professionally, and financially. If you want more customers, then focus on attracting more customers through self-promotion and improved marketing skills.
Excel at Customer Service — know its power in helping you gain that competitive edge. Work hard to exceed client expectations by giving your client a little more than what is expected. A sincere and caring attitude towards people is the right thing to do and will pay large dividends.
In these challenging times, we all need add urgency to our growth and development.
I am pleased to announce my upcoming business seminars for salon owners and personal success seminars for hairdresser will be coming soon. Check it out click here for complete details. I Will be announcing the dates and cities within 2 weeks. The purpose of these upcoming seminars is to help bring staff and management together to better understand each other’s needs in building a team culture where everyone benefits. A house divided will never grow.