“ It is more honorable to acknowledge our faults than to boast of our merits.”
I think you all will agree, that salon owners are facing many business challenges. Rising business costs,turnover,commission and price wars, booth rental issues, finding good help,finding education that is not biased towards product company needs,to name a few of the challenges salon owners face. A tough and uncertain economy also compounds our obstacles. There are many other reasons why salons struggle and many more fail.
Here are a few tips that will help Identify and Avoid the Causes of Business Failure:
Lack of Business Management Skills — unfortunately many salon owners fail to learn the business aspect of salon ownership and attempt to grow their business by trial and error. Far too many salon owners are in denial and won,t seek help because it requires effort. It is much easier to stay in the comfort zone. Owning a salon is a business and should be run like a business.
Lack of Time — most owners work behind the chair and lack the time to manage their business. The key to more time is organization, setting goals, and structure. Attending a time management class will also be beneficial. Read my book Creating Your Salon. Click here.
Staff Turnover — many owners fail to identify and prevent the causes of turnover. You can start by and creating conditions that foster loyalty.
No Unity — among salon owners. We need to join together and address the many challenges and obstacles to our business and ask why are we not addressing these challenges as salon owners?
Poor Leadership Skills — if you can’t manage yourself, how can you expect to manage your team? Excellence starts at the top. Your challenge is to develop a championship team that shares your goals and vision.
Denial –— many salon owners prefer to stay in the comfort zone and accept mediocrity because it requires effort. A successful salon requires a lot of hard work and knowledge.
Lack of a Staff Development Program — inability to hire the right team that share your vision and goals is one of the leading causes of salon failure.
Rising Business Costs —inability to budget and control rising business costs. The easiest way to improve profits is to cut overhead. Review your profit and loss statement. Numbers don’t lie
Many economists predict that it will take another 3 years to overcome this lingering economy.
In spite of these obstacles, I truly believe that those of you who are well informed, and develop strong business skills will prosper. Adversity always presents fantastic opportunities. You’ll probably win by default because the majority of salons will continue to struggle while others go out of business. Help is available, to answer these and other challenges in my upcoming business management seminar. Click here for full details.