A New Beginning: New Year Resolutions for 2017
“Happiness is that particular sensation you encounter when you’re just too busy to feel miserable.” – Jon Gonzales
I do hope you all enjoyed a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Now that the holiday season is behind us, let’s plan and prepare for a new and successful year for your salon and team. Although many salon owners had a difficult time making a profit sadly and many more failed. As rising business costs continue to hurt our bottom line, I feel 2018 can be a great year.
In spite of our challenges well managed upscale salons will be in great demand. although many challenges lie ahead, business minded salon owners will prosper.2017 is expected to be a difficult and challenging year for both hairdressers and salon owners, due to an uncertain economy and rising business costs. Yes there will will be a lot of doom and gloom, especially during the first three months of the new year.
Despite these challenges, I feel 2018 can be a great year for those of you who are well informed and determined to take your team and your salon to a higher level. Adversity always presents fantastic money making opportunities for true entrepreneurs. Your attitude towards adversity will determine your own success or failure.
If you have a positive attitude, an open mind to seeking help, devel0p powerful business skills and are determined to succeed, then adversity should only be seen as an opportunity to improve your team and business. Tough times always present fantastic business opportunities for entrepreneurs who are determined to see their business and team succeed above the rest. When the going gets tough, the tough get going! As long as you keep going and never give up, you’ll probably win by default because the majority of salon owners will not take the time to learn the business end of our profession. This kind of work requires effort, new thinking, new ideas…but those who don’t want to put in the effort are in denial, creating excuses to fail for themselves. Far too many in our profession simply give up when it gets tough.
Here are some suggestions as you prepare for 2017:
Review Your Profit and Loss Statement — review your past year’s profit and loss statement. Did you really make a profit this past year? Did you reach and exceed your business goals? If not, what is your plan to turn it around? The easiest way to improve profits is to cut overhead expenses. Numbers don’t lie. Your profit and loss statement is your score card.
Planning and Setting New Goals for 2018 — separate your goals into business goals, personal goals, and financial goals. Develop a plan of action on how to make your 2018 goals a reality. Without goals and planning, you will drift aimlessly.
Combating Down Time — use down time and slow days for education, designing your marketing strategy, and improving your business skills. Have a one on one evaluation with each member of your team, helping them set their goals and finding improvement in their work, by encourageng them to learn from one another. Plan to use every opportunity to improve yourself and your team! A great way to start is to set aside May 22-23 for my intensive 2-day business seminar in Las Vegas.
Review Staff Performance and Productivity — Did you measure the performance of your staff by the number of return customers and referrals? Did your staff perform and exceed your expectations? Are you demanding too much of your hardworking team, or are they not working hard enough? These are important questions to ask as you enter 2017.
Measure Your Strengths and Weaknesses — Above all, you should lead by example. Read my salon owner’s quiz found in my book Developing Your Skills to learn all about measuring your own strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes we have to look in the mirror and examine our business and leadership skills before improving anything else. Excellence does start at the top.
Staff Recruitment — develop a comprehensive staff development program so you have more choices when adding a new member to your team. My book Creating Your Salon offers a staff development model for you.
The year 2018 will be a very challenging year, but if you prepare for it now by educating yourself and your staff, you can begin preparing now for a profitable year in 20178 Much of my information is free, so there’s no need for you to spend thousands of dollars on coaching fees and other expensive seminars. Help is available.
Be sure to take advantage of my two day business seminar and prepare for a very profitable 2018! Complete details will be released soon.
It’s about time that someone is addressing the important issues of salon management.