Salon Owners Collective

Answer this.  Is your Salon profitable? Too often, I hear Salon Owners answer this question with a ‘no’.   Either you are paying your team first and not paying yourself enough,  or WORSE not paying yourself at all…OR you are paying yourself a good wage, but your business isn’t profitable.  And this becomes stressful, right? Because you’re living week to week, always worrying about the business bri...

You opened your own Salon so that you could follow your own rules, right? To create a life for yourself that allowed you to have freedom and security within your business so that you could do all the things that you wanted to: Make it to your kids’ sports games, work the hours you want to, spend time with your family & friends, build a career that you are passionate about… But how can you have...

That awkward conversation…  You know the one, where the ONE team member, who hasn’t been hitting their sales targets, comes up to you and asks for a pay rise.  It can feel like a child throwing a tantrum in a candy store, you’ll give them the sweets just to keep them quiet because let’s face it, it’s easier and less “work” in the short term. But this actually becomes a vicious cycle that I don’t w...

You don’t often get a second chance to make a first impression, especially in the Salon Industry.  In today’s online-dominated world, 95% of people who visit your website are new clients.  Yes, that’s right ! NEW clients. Potential new clients will stalk your Salon’s website and socials, forming an expectation of what they will get if they come to your Salon…will you live up to their expectations?...

The path to Salon success is not a straight one.  Take it from me. Business is not a one-size fits all approach. Nobody gives you a handbook on how to grow your Salon overnight.  This means Salon Owners often end up winging it on their journey to success…throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks. But when it comes to having confidence that the things you spend time on will work…and not wast...

It’s time to ditch the old way of how you lead your Salon team to succeed. Ok, let me explain… Too often, I see Salon Owners who constantly feel like they have to chase their team members up. Ugh, it’s exhausting, right?! You try to flag your team members down during a busy day in the Salon, doing what I call ‘hallway management’, simply because there’s no other time to check in!  I get it…leading...

There is a fine line between having great technical skills and being a great business owner. You start out as a stylist or therapist, you’re passionate about what you do, and you’re good at what you do. It’s enough to make you decide to open your own Salon.  But technical skill can only take you so far.  Because when you’re so good at serving clients, it often means clients only want you,  which l...

Business Ownership can be lonely …and the reality is that your business can feel like it’s your entire life. Without it, who would you be?  You spend more hours in the day in your business than you see your partner, family, or friends. And whilst this is never the intention, you feel it’s just what has to happen to ensure everything gets done; putting out the team fires, the admin jobs, rebooking...

Are you sometimes guilty of being a little desperate when it comes to your team? Ok…hear me out.  It’s not easy to find team members in today’s climate, right?  So you suddenly feel the need to put more focus on your existing team culture. Build a culture that is so strong no one wants to leave…  But a mistake I often see owners making every day is, instead of focusing on building a strong salon c...

You’ve made it.  This last year is just about to be done and dusted. You have tackled all the highs and lows that have been thrown your way - so it’s time to celebrate!  We rode the wave of trying to manage a growing team, and navigating a shift in lifestyle demands as well as increased challenges in attracting & hiring new team members! You were able to ditch the masks in the Salon and greet...

The biggest mistake you can make as a Salon Owner is to assume your team knows how to sell.  After all, they are trained to do hair or beauty, right? Not how to be a salesperson and actually they often don’t want to be a salesperson. So even when you have clients coming through the door, and you have a full team of stylists, you aren’t seeing the growth you had hoped for… and as the Salon Owner, ...

I often compare Salon ownership to an ongoing game of Tetris.  You’re always trying to move the pieces around: your team, your sales, and your clients, to make them fit perfectly together and win the game of mastering a successful business.  The challenge of this is that the pieces are always moving and are unpredictable (humans!!) and while the more experience you have in running a Salon, the mor...

Want to know how 18 Salon Owners grew their income by $100k a year? I’ll give you one clue, it ends with ditching the hustle culture! Yes, I know it well.  As a Salon Owner, there’s an immense amount of pressure to ensure the business is profitable and is bringing money in through the door. You want to provide a completely personalized experience for every single client that visits your salon….. A...

There is ONE word that so many Salon & Spa Owners dread. Do you know what it is? I know that when I owned my own Salon, I would cringe at the thought of this word…  CHRISTMAS! Newsflash: it doesn’t have to be this way! With Christmas RIGHT around the corner, it’s time to get on top of things NOW. This is the year to finally be able to actually enjoy the busy lead-up ‘til Christmas because you...

Do you ever get the feeling that you haven’t quite yet reached your full potential as Salon CEO? Things are ticking along, your Salon is growing, your team is happy, and business is “as expected,” yet you have this fire inside of you to keep going, to keep dreaming big. Everyone has their own unique idea of what success looks like... for many owners, that could be purchasing another Salon, growing...

Are you ready to hire a Salon apprentice? Or more importantly, is your business ready?  Like, your Salon is so busy that you feel like you can’t catch a break. At peak times, your Senior stylists or therapists are booked up weeks in advance, and as a result, you have to turn away clients as you simply can’t fit them in…and that’s money walking out the door!   Hiring another Senior stylist to take...

What does freedom mean to you? Is it being able to spend time away from your Salon, and with your family? Being able to come and go as you please without feeling guilty? To not have any financial stress about whether the Salon is making ends meet?  For me, freedom is a choice. It’s a choice to be able to create your dream life, to choose when you work, who you work with and what your family time i...

The Hair & Beauty industry is forever evolving.  Between a new generation of stylists and lifestyle changes, social media taking over our lives & clients demanding more from a client experience, Salon Owners are left wondering what’s next. It can feel like you’re a soldier going into battle, putting out fire after fire with your team, Then when you get home from the salon, instead of switc...

As a Salon Owner, it can be so easy to get sucked into what I call “shiny object syndrome”, especially when you first open your business…press pause on that team retreat for now!  You’re ready to hit the ground running, and do all the things you have always wanted to when stuck behind the chair working for someone else. You feel like a kid in a candy store, right?!! But in my perspective, this can...

Is this you? Your current team doesn’t want to work Saturdays or late nights, and they aren’t hitting their targets, yet come to you asking for a pay rise… OMG are they serious?! And when you try to hire someone new, it’s crickets! It seems like nobody wants to work these days…is this familiar? So to make up for it, you have to pull the weight for your team… you’re putting in all the hours, saying...

Is your Salon Manager really helping the business move forward, or are they instead hindering the future success of the Salon? As the Salon Owner, you already have too many tabs open.  You’re thinking about a million different things and you have a to-do list that is never-ending. Your role is to lead your business and ensure that it continues to grow, which is why you need a right-hand man, or wh...

What do you want your Salon to be known for?  Why should a client choose your Salon over the one down the road?   These are the questions you need to ask yourself if you want to stand out from the rest and ensure clients choose YOU and always return… After all, we all BASICALLY offer the same thing, right?!   Thinking back to my early Salon days, I remember sometimes feeling like I had t...

Have you ever felt like: You’re working yourself to the bone: You’re busier than ever with clients, plus managing an ever-evolving team...  You’re hardly present with your family as work has taken over your brain space… but what makes it worse is you’re not growing.   But still, you end up saying YES all the time:  Like when a team member needs our help with something, we jump at the chance…...

Does self-doubt stop you from increasing your salon’s prices? You know deep down you need to put your prices up, but the thought of asking your clients to spend more just feels so daunting.    What if they push back? What if they leave and never come back because they can’t afford your services? How will you equip the team to handle these objections… when you feel nervous about it yourself? H...

Have you ever felt like you’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing?  You feel like you own a seemingly successful salon, with a great team and loyal clients... but you still experience waves of anxiety and loneliness that often roll through your mind. You begin to wonder: is this all too good to be true? If you have experienced this, then you are not alone!  Imposter Syndrome affects 70% of humans, includi...