SALON OWNER, DO YOU DO SALON PLANNING AND GOAL SETTING?
PUT PEN TO PAPER ABOUT WHAT THE YEAR AHEAD WILL LOOK LIKE?
HOW ABOUT THE NEXT QUARTER OR EVEN MONTH?
Yes, we know it’s busy… busy… busy… to spend time salon planning and goal setting but unless we take a good look at what worked and what didn’t we will just be doing more of the same and getting the same results… right!
A plan gives you somewhere to put your attention. The useful question is whether it helps you decide what to do differently in the week ahead.
Salon goal setting and planning is something that can just waste time or be very time effective… just like most things in business and in life, there are 2 sides to the coin.
In this article I compare two approaches to planning and goal setting: getting caught in the problem, and making room to understand it and work towards a useful solution.
Let’s call them Type A and Type B for the exercise. They are approaches you may recognise in yourself at different times, rather than fixed types of person.
This is not about whether you run a corporate salon or boutique business, a big team or a solo operation. It is about how you use your attention, time and questions when something needs to change.
There are plenty of successful salons with burnt-out and frustrated owners wondering where their dream salon vision has disappeared to.
And it’s also not uncommon to find salons that are ticking over nicely but just not getting to the next level.
We will look at some of the problems these types of salon businesses face and how to take a different approach and bring a fresh perspective later in this blog.
The perspective you bring can change what you notice and the options you consider. The article on perspectives explores that idea further; it does not mean everything affecting the business is within your control.
WHICH APPROACH DO YOU RECOGNISE WHEN THE SALON GETS BUSY?
Are you spending so much time keeping things moving that there is little room to look at what keeps going wrong?
Or are you pretty successful but exhausted and frustrated by the issues coming at you every day?
Stock running out and just not going as far as it should. Trainees who yet again haven’t organised models. Team members again forget procedures like rebooking and using the new customer welcome procedure. Bookings getting mucked up, staff not charging correctly?
Does the solution to your problem only work short-term.. and yet again you find yourself with the same issues?
Let’s look at some things that you need to take an honest look at before things can change.
1. HOW WAS YOUR TIME MANAGEMENT?
Did you delegate, automate and train your team? Do you find this difficult? Do you find yourself micro-managing delegated tasks, then blaming them for getting it wrong?
Taking time to salon plan and set goals, talk to your team, find the jobs you need to delegate, and get them involved is necessary for you to be a leader in your business. But doing this well is another whole leadership skill that a lot of salon owners don’t get time to learn well.
In the A.S.C.E.N.D. Salon Method, structure is part of how I look at this. What has been agreed, how is the person learning the work, and when will you come back together to see how it is going? A task being handed over is only the start.
I’m sure you’d agree that successful businesses don’t just happen, they need a plan, a structure, and a framework to be more successful and less frustrating.
If the plan depends on you doing every task, look at which work actually needs you and which work someone else could learn. That is more useful than comparing your working week with the public image of another salon.
Do you need to hire an assistant, manager, or even a VA to help with tasks that are bogging you down and stopping you from stepping into the leadership role your business needs?
Can someone help you with salon planning and goal setting?
Hiring for roles or delegating needs careful consideration because if you just pass over tasks just because you were overwhelmed, you could be creating an even bigger headache for yourself.
Ask yourself;
Did you choose the right person to delegate to?
Have you agreed what the person is responsible for, and what support they need?
Are things being done within your framework?
What does the accountability framework look like in your salon?
For these procedures to work well you need to have a system of frameworks that everyone can go by.
For starters;
Do you need to create an updated procedure/operations manual?
Have you spent time on your salon culture and vision so everyone understands what you are working towards?
What does your feedback framework look like?
What is involved in your meeting structure?
Take the time to meet with your team too and plan out who does what, where you need to delegate, what can be automated, and also what needs to be shelved!
Are your team meetings productive and enjoyable?
Read our blog about productive team meetings HERE.
2. DID YOU INVEST IN YOURSELF?
Is it time to take a course to learn a new skill that could elevate your salon business?
Are you aware of the areas where you lack skills and it’s limiting your business growth?
Is there a step you would like to take but feel unsure you can manage? What are you telling yourself about your ability, and what is that based on? You may find a skill to develop, a real limit to plan around or an assumption worth reconsidering.
Which decision or task would you like more guidance with?
Do you want to become the leader your salon needs for success?
3. HOW MUCH DID YOU INVEST IN YOUR TEAM AND YOUR BUSINESS?
Does your branding still reflect your salon? What about your website?
If you have invested in your business, how has it played out with your team and customers?
- Did you do any surveys?
- Do you need to get some feedback?
- What do the numbers say?
- How were your team appraisals?
4. LEARN SOMETHING NEW BUT NOT REALLY IMPLEMENT IT?
Team building workshop, productivity course, customer service, and sales training… all sitting around on your computer, in your inbox, or unfiled on your desk?
Taking courses, watching webinars, downloading workbooks or attending workshops can set you up for growth, as does reading books or attending in-person events but… implementation is the key.
That knowledge needs a chance to become something you use.
We get comfortable, run out of time and end up making a lot of business decisions based on habits, assumptions, and guesswork but… taking the steps you need to really find out what needs changing starts with you.
If the same issue keeps returning, it is worth checking what needs to change before trying the same fix again.
Starting with a foundation that is out of date, unstructured, lacking technology and fresh insights is like putting icing on a burnt cake to make it look pretty.
Of course, you can still taste the burnt cake.
And that’s what I see with salon owners so often. They are putting icing on top of a burnt-out, outdated business model and that causes more stress and anxiety, and frustration than actually taking the time to implement some new baking strategies in the first place.
When did you last check whether the way you do this still fits your team, customers and business?
Some of what served you then may still work well. Check the part that no longer fits before deciding what to replace, and I don’t just mean cutting techniques!
Think of your team, the way you communicate, team expectations, customer management systems, etc…etc… etc…
And the biggest mistake I see that prevents salon owners from doing this well is coming up next.
5. IS THERE A BALANCE BETWEEN YOU WORKING ON AND IN YOUR BUSINESS?
Do you focus on the numbers in your business regularly?
For example
- Do you know how many new clients came in the door?
- How much did they spend and did they rebook?
- What marketing efforts did they come from?
- How about productivity and utilisation?
- Did your team grow their sales skills and customer retention?
MOVING INTO LEADERSHIP AND THINKING LIKE A BUSINESS OWNER IS CRUCIAL FOR GROWTH AND SUCCESS
The skills that helped you build a clientele are valuable. Owning the business brings other decisions too: how time is used, how work is supported and whether the salon is giving you what you need.
You can be excellent at your craft and still need time and support to learn the business and leadership side. Notice which decisions need your attention as the owner, rather than assuming the answer is always more time behind the chair.
That is the distinction we are exploring with the Type A and Type B approaches.
6. ARE YOU MEASURING YOUR GOALS?
How do you goal set and do you achieve them consistently?
Do you regularly assess where you are performing well and what needs attention?
A monthly revisit can be a useful starting point for keeping track of business goals. Adjust the check-in to the goal and how quickly you need to notice a change.
Breaking a longer goal into a 12-week or 90-day working block can make it easier to see what needs doing next.
Ask yourself these questions and apply to which time frame you are working on.. year, quarter, month or week.
- What worked this year, quarter, month, and what didn’t?
- Who and what am I grateful for this…?
- What do I want to be happy for this time next…?
- Can I serve better next…, if yes who?
Start with these simple points and get them written down.
A clearer question can help you find a more useful next step.
So be brave and ask the questions that will help you get to where you want to go. Take some time over this and bring INTENTION to your planning and goal setting.
Start with where you want to be and work backward.
Your turn…
Ok so now you have answered these questions and have a grounding about what went on… and how you want the next period to look.
ASSESSMENT EXERCISE.
Get a piece of paper and do this simple task. Write down all your wins from last year, quarter or month. Why it was a win and what you learnt from that win.
Then look at the losses or things that didn’t really go as planned or never made it off the to-do list. Why was that a loss and what did you learn from that?
Don’t judge yourself here… just give yourself space and get it down on paper.
This is an amazing exercise to do to help you break through the clutter and reward yourself, plus learn more about how you operate.
WHAT DOES THIS HELP YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT YOUR NEXT STEP?
You can do this for all aspects of your life.
Here are some suggestions.
Business, family and home life, health and wellness, community, and contribution. Do each category on a new page.
Then put the reviewing to rest for a moment. Keep the notes that will help with your next decision.
The next year, quarter or month is all about starting with a clean slate, on a new page with a fresh mindset.
Do this exercise with your team. It’s a great way to work through how everyone perceived wins and misses in your business.
Next… look forward.
Whatever time frame you are working with, break your next goals down into projects and tasks. Reverse engineer what you want for yourself and your business.
Get your tool of choice and get the time blocked out now. Schedule family, business, and time for yourself.
NOW A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TYPE A AND TYPE B APPROACHES
We all like to think we are performing well in our roles. It’s understandable… easier to look outward than inward. But if we expect honesty from our teams can we apply the same lens to ourselves?
Take this simple question and answer quiz to look at the way you handle things.
- Are you someone who underestimates or overestimates how long things take?
- Do you delegate, abdicate or micromanage tasks you hand over?
- Do your systems and frameworks support your ideas? What is the evidence of this?
- How do you perceive challenges? Read the blog HERE for insights on this
- Are you stretching and setting advanced goals for yourself and your business or more achievable comfortable ones?
- What drives your decisions. Perfection or Excellence? Surviving or Thriving? Problems or Solutions? Being in Management or Leadership? Reactions or Focusing on Controlables?
Would you do this……
Make assumptions
Get worried
Start to panic
Try solutions based on those feelings
Create team disharmony and confusion
React to the details
Withdraw and not communicate effectively
OR this……
Go to the data
Access facts to gauge what’s happening
Use things you have learned to access the situation
Use feedback and accountability to uncover truths
Take enough time to understand the part you are trying to change
Test solutions to see what are the next best steps.
ONCE YOU HAVE HONESTLY COMPLETED THE QUESTIONS HERE LOOK AT MAINLY WHERE YOUR ANSWERS FALL.
WHICH APPROACH DO YOU RECOGNISE, AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO PRACTISE NEXT?
YOUR SALON LEADERSHIP LIBRARY
If you would like to work through a goal on paper, the Leadership Goal Setting guide can help you put what you want into words and plan your next steps. It is one of the three guides in the Library.
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What a great article! I am sure this will motivate and inspire many salon owners and professionals alike to work towards defining their goals for a successful year.
Thanks Brad. I certainly hope it does motivate and empower salon owners as they will really need lots of that to be successful. Thanks for your positive feedback.