salon leadership | Hairdresser Career Development Systems

Overcoming Burnout and Anxiety

Overcoming Burnout and Anxiety

"Burnout is nature's way of telling you to take a break." Jon Gonzales Building and growing a hairdressing career or owning a salon/spa business can be daunting. Balancing your personal, professional and financial development is a challenging journey that can cause a series of peaks and balances that will from time to time cause burnout. Our current Corona Virus is certainly a concern for all of us. Instead of worrying and eventual burnout, use this idle time to start developing a passion for self improvement [Click here to read full article...]

hcds4you342020-04-03T13:25:11-07:00April 5th, 2020|

My Wish List for 2020

My Wish List for 2020

My Wish List for 2020 As we enter a new year, it is my wish that we as professionals take back our profession and our salons and a higher standard of living for salon owners, hairdressers, and beauty professionals. Unfortunately as a profession, we have not adapted to the many challenges and changes we face in the beauty profession. Many of our salons are failing, many more are struggling unnecessarily. Sadly many of our hairdressers are struggling to make a decent living. Until we [Click here to read full article...]

hcds4you342022-04-12T08:40:36-07:00January 5th, 2020|

My Christmas Wish List for Salon Owners and Stylists

My Christmas Wish List for Salon Owners and Stylists

"Let Christmas play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year!" - Thomas Tusser I personally want to wish all my friends and colleagues and their families a very Merry Xmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year. I do hope 2019 was a very good year for you and your salon. As we prepare to enter a new year with new challenges, I put together a personal wish list in the hope of making 2020 a better year, a year that [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2019-12-21T12:51:13-08:00December 22nd, 2019|

Staying Busy After the Holidays

" Finding ways to keep yourself and your team motivated will be your challenge." Jon Gonzales During the Holiday Season, most salons will be busy,especially if they are well managed. Unfortunately, after the holidays, many salons will experience a slow down period after the holidays. Overcoming the potential slow months of January, February, March and April; this can be a challenging period, especially to our younger workers trying to build a clientele. A tough and competitive economy doesn’t help matters. For this reason I urge [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2019-12-17T15:03:30-08:00January 27th, 2019|

Tips on Growing Your Salon in 2019

Tips on Growing Your Salon in 2019

As many of you are aware, the costs of owning your own business will continue to escalate, especially after the new proposed tax increases, new labor laws, minimum wage and overtime mandates, and more. These and other new laws will make your challenges even greater in 2019. Two other factors causing more challenges facing salon owners and their workers will be rising business costs and the cost cost of living for both salon owners and their workers. Despite these challenges I feel well managed salons [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-12-09T11:09:14-08:00December 9th, 2018|

Tough Love by Jon Gonzales

As many of you are aware, the beauty profession has changed dramatically. Finding answers to the many challenges of salon ownership is getting tougher in a changing job market. Most owners are working long hours behind the chair leaving very little time to becoming astute business men and women and promote their business. Finding time to address your challenges is a challenge in itself. Beyond the Glitter and Hype of the Beauty Profession. We as professionals have no voice or time in combating the [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2019-12-17T15:22:26-08:00December 2nd, 2018|

How to Raise Prices

How to Raise Prices

"People do not mind paying a little more if you exceed their expectations." Jon Gonzales Salon owners, like business owners across industries of every kind, are struggling in this changing economy to to stay ahead of rising business costs and make a good profit. As business costs continue to rise, as well as the cost of living, far too many salon owners are trying to find solutions to these challenges by trial and error. As your business costs keep rising we must create a demand [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-11-05T11:46:30-08:00November 4th, 2018|

Define Your Terms of Employment

"A house divided will never succeed. " Jon Gonzales Finding, hiring decisions and keeping staff will always be a challenge. I’m always asked the same questions by salon owners. How do I find my diamond in the rough? How do I write my terms of employment? How do I attract top talent? How do I establish strong work habits for my team? How do I screen a potential new member to my team? How do I avoid staff turnover? How do I determine who fits [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-10-28T11:16:01-07:00October 28th, 2018|

Thank You From Jon Gonzales

Thank You From Jon Gonzales

"Appreciation and Thank You are two of the rarest but one of the most beautiful virtues." Jon Gonzales Thank you for following my weekly blog and for your interest in Hairdresser Career Development Systems. My informative blog posts are my way of saying thank you for your support. My goal is to help you meet the growing challenges of owning a successful and profitable business, so you can make informed business decisions based on fact, not guesswork. As a fellow salon owner/hairdresser, I certainly understand [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-10-05T13:05:04-07:00October 7th, 2018|

When a Good Worker Turns Bad

When a Good Worker Turns Bad

" When a good work refuses to be part of your team." - Jon Gonzales When a good worker drifts away from your efforts in building and growing a successful business-- the question is --how do I turn this person into a team player? The key to owning a successful and profitable business is to make sure everyone on your team contributes and shares your vision and goals of your salon. Business stability and growth will be your reward. Business will not continue to grow [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-09-30T09:15:13-07:00September 30th, 2018|

Building Your Championship Team

Building Your Championship Team

"Time spent building your championship team will be time well spent." Jon Gonzales Why is it so difficult to find hairdressers who truly have a passion about maximizing their full learning and earning potential ? Finding and keeping your diamond in the rough will be your key challenge in building your championship team and your business. There are many reasons why it is so difficult to find quality people who are serious about education and building a career in the beauty profession . [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-09-17T10:12:12-07:00September 16th, 2018|

Preventing and Overcoming Staff Turnover

Preventing and Overcoming Staff Turnover

Most of us have lost a staff member from time to time. Some leave because they feel they can advance their career elsewhere, and some are lured by being offered more commissions or booth rental options. Of course client lists are expected to follow when your staff walk out the door. No business can continue to grow with a constant merry-go-round of losing members from your team to your competitors. Any interruption to building and growing your business is a major challenge to salon owners, [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-08-16T16:30:55-07:00August 19th, 2018|

Your Journey to Success (Part 3)

Your Journey to Success (Part 3)

For the past few weeks, we've been discussing why some people make it big while others barely get by. Now for our final part of our series, we'll look at the last guidelines you need to complete your journey to success. Your first step towards making your dreams and expectations starts from within and your attitude towards a better life for yourself and your family. Do you have what it takes? Do you know what it takes? Follow these guidelines with an open mind: Business [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-08-05T08:42:53-07:00August 5th, 2018|

Your Journey to Success (Part 2)

Last week we reviewed the characteristics of successful people, figuring out together why certain people tend to stand above the crowd. Now that's all mapped out, we continue our journey to success by learning from their triumphs. Like last week, I urge you to follow these guidelines within yourself every day to unleash your inner power. You and only you have the power to be as successful as you want to be. Follow these guidelines with an open mind: Professional Appearance --- are we are [Click here to read full article...]

hcds4you342018-07-22T10:59:26-07:00July 29th, 2018|

Creating Your Apprenticeship Program

There is a real need for an apprenticeship program in the beauty profession. Unfortunately, not enough owners are aware of the numeral benefits of having such a program in their salon. Apprenticeship programs help combat the high dropout rate of young hairdressers, most of whom leave the profession due to lack of opportunity and experience. More importantly, having an apprenticeship program helps to upgrade the quality of education in your salon, equipping your team to better meet job market and consumer demands. As salon owners, [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-06-19T08:53:26-07:00June 24th, 2018|

Experienced vs. Inexperienced Hairdressers, Who to Hire?

Making your hiring decisions will be one of your most important decisions when adding a new member to your your championship team as a salon owner. Choosing between experienced vs. inexperienced hairdressers will be an critical decision for your business. Selecting committed professionals will depend on finding people who share your vision, goals, and quality control standards will be a key management skill. A hit and miss approach to hiring a new member to your team is just too costly. Below are some of the [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-12-03T11:51:09-08:00April 29th, 2018|

Crafting Your Employee Handbook

The key to employee training begins with your employee handbook. As our economy struggles, salon/spa owners are being stymied by government regulations that make it difficult and challenging to own a small and profitable business. Compounding the many challenges salon owners face is how to avoid turnover and improving staff performance and productivity. You can avoid a lot of hardship and protect your rights as an employer, as well as protecting the rights of your employees, by drafting a well thought-out employee handbook. How can [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-04-15T10:10:13-07:00April 15th, 2018|

Facing Business Challenges with Confidence

Confidence can be hard to find. The daily pressures of owning a growing business, balancing your personal life, and raising your standard of living can be daunting especially in today’s business environment. Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed? Does your business manage you, rather than you managing your business? Are your salon profits increasing? Are your staff out of control? These are just some of the questions many salon owners face daily in trying to grow their business. Owners must wear many hats in trying to [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2018-04-01T09:53:12-07:00April 1st, 2018|

A Compensation Reward Systems

Compensation Rewards System - Incentives for Improving Staff Performance and Productivity Our business is such that we must rely on the performance, productivity and stability of our staff to reach higher levels of excellence. There are many ways to improving staff performance and productivity, which salon owners must do if they wish to encourage their staff to continue performing at their absolute best. And one of the best ways is providing a reward system for peak performers. But before you develop a compensation rewards system, [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2017-11-11T10:07:35-08:00January 20th, 2018|

Honesty and a Code of Ethics

Many hairdressers and salon owners are working hard and experiencing challenges as they try to provide a better life for themselves and their families. In order to make this a reality, we must join together as professionals and address a topic that is hurting our salons, our profession, and our livelihoods. It my hope that this article will help bridge the gap between salon owners and hairdressers, so we can provide a better dialogue and better understanding between staff and management. It all starts with [Click here to read full article...]

Jon2017-11-19T09:23:43-08:00November 19th, 2017|

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