[00:00:00] Antony W: Welcome to the Grow My Salon Business podcast, where we focus on the business side of hairdressing. I'm your host, Antony Whitaker, and I'll be talking to thought leaders in the hairdressing industry, discussing insightful, provocative, and inspiring ideas that matter. So get ready to learn, get ready to be challenged, get ready to be inspired, and most importantly, get ready to grow your salon business.

[00:00:29] Antony W.: Hello, and welcome to today's episode of the Grow My Salon Business podcast. I'm your host Antony Whitaker, and as always, it's great to have you join us here today. Throughout the year, we open our online courses for enrolment, and I usually do that via a webinar, but every time we have the webinar, we get requests for an audio version so that people can listen in the car or on the treadmill at the gym, or perhaps while they walking the dog.

[00:01:01] So as we're about to open our management course for enrolment, this podcast is focused on salon management and has been adapted from the webinar for an audio only version. So let's get straight into it. The title of this episode is quite simply called, Growing a business shouldn't be a mystery. But, for many people, 2023 isn't going to be an easy year to be in business. So the purpose of this episode is to help set you up to succeed in what will be challenging times for some people. But there's one thing that I know for sure, and that is that this year some businesses will thrive, new businesses will start, and existing business models will continue to expand and evolve. And as is always the case, there will be some great success stories that come out the next couple of years. And I want you to be one of them.

[00:02:00] In an email that I send out to promote the free video series, I speak about remembering the day that I was approved to sign the lease for my first salon. Now, if you're a salon owner, I'm sure you can recall that day for you too. I can remember it like it was yesterday, even though it was 1990. So what's that? 32 years ago. But even now, when I think about that day, I can feel the excitement, the optimism, the energy when I got the call from my real estate agent telling me that the landlord had approved my application. And I was so excited that I wanted to get the keys and go down there straight away, but as the agent said to me that that'll be another couple of days before I'd be able to have access.

[00:02:45] So I did what you probably did, and that was, even though I couldn't get inside, I went down there anyway, and I stood outside what would become my first salon. And with my nose pressed up against the window, I stared into a vacant empty shop. But I didn't see an empty space.

[00:03:00] I saw the salon of my dreams because I had a very clear vision of what my salon would look like from the color of the paint on the walls to the styling chairs and the workstations to the polished wooden floors. The lighting right down to the very last detail of the brass handle on the door and the font for the logo that I was gonna have. And after a few minutes staring into an empty shop, I decided to phone a friend of mine in New York and to tell him all about it. So that's exactly what I did. You see, probably just like you, I had a dream. I'm a very good hairdresser, and nothing was going to stop me turning that dream of my own business into reality. But as I stood there peering through the window, it didn't actually occur to me that I knew almost nothing about what running and managing a business entailed.
 
[00:04:00] And if I had stopped to think about that for a few minutes, which I didn't, I would probably have just brushed it off with a thought such as, well, how hard can it be? Because for the previous 10 years I've been working in one of the best salons in the world. And I knew that I was ready, so I opened my own salon and I learned a lesson that I think all new salon owners learn, and that is that the skills that make you a successful hairdresser behind the chair have absolutely nothing to do with the skills of building and running a business and managing a team. Now, I was very confident that I knew what I was doing, but the confidence and the competence that I had as a stylist wasn't enough on its own to help me build a business of my dreams. And recently I actually read somewhere that that overconfidence and lack of competence is actually a thing that people not just salon owners like me suffer from, and it even has a name.

[00:05:09] It's called the Dunning Kruger Effect, and essentially it's the journey that you go through when you open a business whereby you usually start with a high level of confidence, but don't recognize that the lack of competence you have is gonna hold you back because it's competence that's needed to run a business. Dunning Kruger refer to that point in your business journey as the peak of mount stupid, where the confidence is high, but the competence is low. And then usually very early in your business journey, you realize that actually this might be a bit harder that what I initially thought, and as a result, you start to lose confidence in yourself.

[00:06:00] Now, Dunning Kruger refer to that point in the journey as the valley of despair, and in the context of being the salon owner, the valley of despair is the frustration and the challenges that you experience when your are working say 50, 60, 70 hours a week, perhaps you're not paying yourself properly. Maybe some staff leave and when nothing gets done unless you do it yourself, and so you operate in a state of determination, but absolute overwhelm. But the next stage in the journey is what Dunning Krueger call the Slope of Enlightenment, whereby over time you gradually develop the skills and the competence needed to successfully build a business. And so month by month and year by year, you learn what it takes and eventually you reach a point that they refer to as the plateau of sustainability. Now, I know when I first understood the Dunning Kruger effect, I was amazed at how accurately it described my business journey and the journey that I've seen many salon owners go through.

[00:07:08] And I suppose that that's good news because you know that you're not alone. Over the years, I've found that the challenges that I had as a salon owner and manager were not unique to me, but they're just typical of the problems of salon owners everywhere. And I suppose that in some ways that knowing you're not alone is sort of reassuring. Now I've now been in business for over 40 years, and I've opened a total of four salons over a period of 15 years until I sold them for a significant six figure sum. And then for the last 25 years, I've been presenting business seminars and now over 50 countries, and I've had coaching clients one to one in clients, one-to-one in over 12 different countries. And so it would be impossible, not to see the pattern of the same recurring challenges that salon owners everywhere experience.

[00:08:00] So in those specific order, the seven main challenges that I see with salon owners and managers everywhere are in number one, that most salon owners work too hard and
 
they receive too little reward. Many salon learners or many salon businesses, I should say, operate in a state of chaos they lack a system of doing business at work. So businesses don't serve their lives, their businesses consume their lives. Many salon owners perform too many functions, meaning that they wear too many hats and they have no plan for freeing themselves up from the technical work of the business behind the chair.And nearly all salon businesses are organized around existing people rather than business processes and systems.

[00:09:00] And then inevitably, that leads to inconsistent performance and just generally creates havoc when someone leads. And most salon owners blame poor results on their people. And finally, they don't feel that they can depend on their employees. So most owners felt trapped in the business. So does any of that sound familiar to you? Now, obviously I can't see you, but I know that there are some heads nodding in agreement. Now, as a young salon owner, I can remember a day when it felt all too much for me.

[00:09:30] I was about three years into my journey of salon ownership, and I suppose after three years I'd sort of lost my way a bit. And like many people who've come before me and many who will become after me, I was in the valley of despair. I was working behind the chair 40 to 50 hours a week seeing clients, and then easily another 15 to 20 hours a week dealing with the never ending list of jobs involved in managing the business.

[00:10:00] And on this particular day, I've just had two stylists leave to open up on their own. And does any of that sound familiar? And I was feeling disillusioned and frustrated, and I suppose generally a bit sorry for myself. Anyway at this particular time, I was walking back to the salon, and if you remember at the beginning of this episode, I told you a story about a time when I was standing outside what was to become my first salon, and that I decided to call my friend in New York to share my excitement. Well, as I'm walking down the road, as fate would have it, here I am three years later feeling disillusioned and overwhelmed, and he calls me out of the blue just to say hi. And in the course of the conversation he said to me, are you okay? And I was like, yeah, of course. Why? And he says, well, you just sound a bit beaten. You sound a bit disillusioned, and you know, to be honest, you sound a bit over it. And that's just so not like you. And I started telling him about my business challenges that I were having.

[00:11:00] And after a bit he said to me, what happened to the dream? He said, I can remember before you first opened and you rang me to say that you were standing outside the salon looking through the window, and you were telling me what you were gonna do, and you were so excited about it. So what happened to the dream? He said, where are you now? And I just arrived to the salon and I said, well, I'm standing outside the salon. And he said, where's the ambition now? Where's the excitement? Where's the hunger? The passion, most of all, where's the vision and the belief now? He said, look through the window again.

[00:11:39] And remember the business that you were going to build and feel how you felt before you said, and then get back in there and make it happen. Now, I know that there are many salon owners who can relate to that story or who have had days or weeks or months like that.
 
[00:12:00] Every salon owner has times like that. That's part of being a business owner, that's when you are in the valley of despair. It's a real thing, and that's not a great place to be because you can start to beat yourself up and adopt a very pessimistic mindset and a negative view of life and a business. But the valley of despair isn't all negative.

[00:12:23] It's also the beginning of transformation. If you're ready for it, it's an opportunity, it's the turning point. It's the beginning of the transformation that you need to go through to build a strong, sustainable business and it starts with you because it's your business and it is what it is because of you. And in order for it to transform, in order for your business to transform into the business that you dreamt of, you need to transform yourself first into a better leader and manager.

[00:13:00] The valley of despair is simply the fork in the road where you start asking big questions of yourself. It's a test, how bad do you really want it? You may have heard the expression actually, you probably haven't because I've only, I'm the only one I've ever heard use it and it is, but you can't get half pregnant. You either are, or you aren't . Well, it's the same in business, you can't be half-hearted about it. You are either a hundred percent committed or you aren't.

[00:13:33] And so if you aren't a hundred percent committed to learn and to deal with the challenges and to grow through them, that's when you start asking very disempowering questions of yourself. Disempowering questions like, why does this always happen to. Or should I just give up? Or what else could I do? How could I get out of this? Should I sell the business? Should I just walk away?

[00:14:00] Do I even have what it takes? But when you are in the valley of despair, that is the very time when you have to start asking empowering positive questions like, what am I meant to learn from this? What should I do to prevent this from happening again? Who understands what I'm going through? What are the next steps? Where can I find the solutions? What am I missing? What should I put in place instead? And the answer to all those questions begins by learning to become a more effective leader and manager, because that is the only way, that is the fastest way, that is the most efficient way. That is the only sustainable way .To create more profit in your business and more freedom in your life.

[00:14:48] Most salon owners and managers are also hairdressers. Now, that can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Scissors, combs and tint brushes are the tools of the hairdresser, but they're just the beginning. And when the technical creative skills that the hairdresser are combined with the communication and the people skills of what I call the super stylist, they will make you a busy, productive stylist. But it's important to recognize that the skills of becoming a busy and productive stylist or barber or beauty therapist with a full column of clients and the skills needed to manage a team and build a business and run a successful salon are just not the same thing. There's a photograph that I sometimes show in my seminars or webinars of a man doing a haircut in the middle of what looks like a bomb site. Now, I don't know what the real origins or the backstory behind the image is, but when I look at the photograph, I think of it as a metaphor for what is really going on in many small businesses.
 
[00:16:00] Now to explain the metaphor, the story I tell myself, and I have no idea if it's true,but let's assume that this man is a barber or hairstylist and he is doing what he likes to do and what he is good at, and that is cutting hair. And the metaphor or the analogy is that this is what so many of us do as managers. We are working in a bomb site. They're on the surface, it might not look like a bomb site, but in terms of leadership, organization and consistent management practices, it is often a bomb site, and that is what I call the salon manages fallback position. Meaning that they typically try to solve all their problems by doing what they know, which is doing more hair.

[00:16:44] A little bit like the guy in the bomb site, he's obviously got bigger problems. But he's trying to solve his problems by doing another haircut. But the real problem won't be solved by doing more hair because the real problem in most salon businesses out there is a lack of vision, chaos, lack of systems, disorganization, and a lack of leadership and management structure. So you need to make a decision about the sort of owner or manager that you want to be because whether you're a hairstylist or a plumber or an architect, or a beauty therapist, or a chef or a barber or anything else, doing the technical work of the business and building a business that does the technical work are two totally different things. And just because you're good at the job of the business, it doesn't mean that you'll be good at building a business. And if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got. But it doesn't have to be like that.

[00:17:47] There's a quote by the late Dr. Wayne Dwyer. It's one of my favourite quotes, who said, when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change, or another way of saying that is how you see something determines what's possible. And so when you change the way you look at your business, the things you look at in your business start to change. And so back to me standing outside my salon looking in the window, my salon or your salon didn't just happen. You had a vision to open a business. Congratulations, you did it. But what's the vision now? Because without a vision for your business, It will go nowhere. You've probably heard or read that the odds of succeeding in business are stacked against you. If not, just type into your browser. Something like what percentage of small businesses survive? You'll come up with a whole list of articles.

[00:19:00] One I just typed in and came up with an article said, according to the US Small Business Administration, over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year, and 95% fail within the first five years. Now that is a particularly gloomy prediction, and depending on which one of those articles you read, the percentages will vary a little. But what they all unanimously agree on is that the majority of small businesses simply don't survive. But once again, it doesn't have to be like that. You see, most people underestimate how hard it is, and oftentimes there's an assumption that your business journey will go something like this. You get the idea to start a business, someone else give you the money, you build it, and it's an overnight success. However, it's far more likely to go something like this. You start a business, you spend all your money, you fail a lot. You work really hard, you get lots of help. You get really insecure, and it seems like an overnight success to everyone that wasn't involved.

[00:20:00] And the reality is that some people just aren't ready or prepared for that sort of rollercoaster ride and the risk that goes with it. I want you to imagine that you can see two
 
salons in front of you, one on the left and one on the right. Now, the salon on the left represents where your business began.

[00:20:22] The one on the right represents the vision that you have for your business, the salon of your dreams. Now I wanna ask you a question or I want you to ask yourself this question. What does a salon on the right do that the one on the left doesn't? I mean, they both cut hair, they both color here, they both have stylists and they both have assistance and they both have chairs and mirrors and shampoo stations. They both have products and retail shelving, they both have priceless. They both have receptionists and they both have clients. But what is it that the one on the right does that the one on the left doesn't? Well, the answer is that it doesn't do one thing that is different. It does dozens of seemingly insignificant little things, that's what makes 'em different.

[00:21:11] So now I want you to imagine that there is a line representing a scale of zero to 10, with zero being where your salon began, and the 10 being the salon of your dreams. Now, here's the question. Where would you rate your salon on that line? Now, let's imagine that you said it was a four. The question then becomes, what do you need to do to move it towards a 10 .Because that is the gap between where you are and where you want to be. The gap is what's standing between you and the transformation that you want. You got your business to where it is today with your current level of skills and knowledge, and that separates you from where you began.

[00:21:58] But what separates you from where you want to go, what you want to become your vision requires another level of skills and knowledge and habits and disciplines and resources that you don't currently have, and that is the journey that you are on. You have to keep learning, you have to keep growing, you have to keep evolving, and that means change. So what does the word change mean to you? Because it means different things to different people, and it means different things depending on the particular issue, and it means different things depending on the time in your life that change might happen. But don't make the mistake of automatically saying that people don't like change, because that's just not true. For example, if I said that this year you're gonna earn twice as much as you did last year, that's a change. And you'd probably love it, but you are right too because sometimes change makes people experience emotions that they don't like. For example, the emotions of fear and anxiety, because sometimes change means risk or loss, or lack of control or uncertainty or frustration. But change can also mean excitement and fun and opportunity and challenge and growth and success. I'm sure you get the idea. Change can mean many things, and sometimes the same event can cause one person to experience a negative emotion like anxiety, and the next person might experience a positive emotion, like excitement from exactly the same thing.

[00:23:35] So change means different things to different people, but how you respond to change and what it means to you as a manager and leader determines how you succeed in life and in business. And the reason that's important is that change is what stands between you and whatever you imagine a 10 to be, the 10 being the vision for your business. It's the transformation that you and your business need to make, and it doesn't automatically just happen over time. And so the first thing that you need to do is to define what the 10 is, what
 
your vision is. And vision isn't just about the physical representation of your salon, it's about how your business will operate in every way.

[00:24:19] Remember when I was talking about the vision that I had for my salon as I stood outside staring into a vacant, empty space, the vision I had was all about the visual representation, the color of the walls, the lighting, the floors, the workstations. In other words, what the salon would look like, and I achieved that. And I imagine that you have two, but now you need to develop a vision for a business and how that business will operate in every way. You need to get clear on exactly what the vision means to you, and that doesn't mean coming up with a fancy statement to impress other people. Let me explain what I mean.

[00:25:01] Imagine you drew a large circle on a sheet of paper. And inside the circle, you wrote everything down that encompasses what your vision represents. Essentially, it would be made up of a combination of at least four different components. The first one being marketing, meaning what is the vision for how your business will generate new clients? How will you turn them into regulars? How will you keep them as long as possible. The second one is the financial standards, meaning it's important to remember that this is a business and it will survive or fail based on the numbers. So what is your vision for the productivity and financial standards that will matter in your business? Third, we have the products and services. Now in hairdressing, the product is primarily the services that we offer. So what is your vision for the work you do and the reputation you have.

[00:26:00] And finally we have our team because whether there's one of them or 100 of them, well that's your team. Nothing happens. So what is the vision that you have to attract, train, nurture, motivate, and reward your team members?

[00:26:14] When you are developing the vision for your business, it needs to address each of these four areas because together they make up the whole. So, for example, let's start with the vision for your marketing, and as you answer these questions, you're developing your vision. The first question is, what is the concept for your business? For example, are you a full service salon or a color specialist, or a spa, or a blow dry bar, or a barber shop or an extension specialist? What is the concept? Secondly, who is your target market? Don't make the mistake of saying that everybody is your target market, because well, they're not.

[00:27:00] So ask yourself, who is your ideal client? Are they male or female? Are they 20 or 50? What services do they have? How frequently do they visit? Are you aiming for the premium or value end of the market.

[00:27:15] Where do your potential clients live and work. Next, what are your brand values? Meaning what? What is important to you as a brand? For example, is it ongoing education? Is it being part of a community? Is it teamwork? Is it competitions? Is it supporting the environmental or, or philanthropic causes? And who will your product brand partners be? What product manufacturers will you align with and do they share your brand values too? And where will your salon be located in order to attract the target market you want at the price point that you offer and the team that you want?
 
[00:28:00] Would it be best to be located on the main street or in the business district or the shopping center or the local mall or the city center or the suburbs? And finally we get to the hairdresser's favorite part. What will the salon look like? The floors, the walls, the styling, the shampoo stations in the design and decor of the salon. And what is your social media strategy? What social platforms will you use? Will you do it yourself? How frequently will you post? And how much time will you devote to creating content in engaging with your online community? And last on my list, how will you grow as a business. For example, are you reliant on walk ins or word of mouth or social media, or are you working with a publicist or advertising, or is your growth dependent on the location? You see that list of questions is by no means a final list, but from a marketing perspective, as you answer each one of them, you are a step closer to defining your business vision.

[00:29:00] Then you need to go through that same process and develop the vision for your financial standards and develop the vision for your products and services and develop the vision for your team.

[00:29:07] Your vision is important in many ways, and it keeps you on track. So let me ask you this. Where do you want to be in three to five years? That might seem a long way into the future. So it's easy to put off what you need to be doing today or to be caught up doing the wrong things today to get there. But having a three to five year vision will then make you focus on your annual plan, which are all the things that you need to achieve this year in order to take you towards achieving your three to five year vision for the business. Your annual plan is the projects that need to be completed this year, the positions that need to be filled this year, the benchmarks that need to be hit this year, because this year is very real because in case you haven't noticed, you are in it right now and working backwards from that annual plan, you need to break that down into your quarterly goals. What are the landmarks that you need to reach in each 90 day block to keep you on track? If you are to achieve your annual plan and working backwards from your annual plan, what are your weekly objectives, the things that you need to be focused on doing in achieving consistently every week to keep you on track, to reach your quarterly goals, and finally, working backwards from your weekly objectives. What are the things that you need to do now? Today to keep you on track and focused not just on your immediate objectives, but ultimately on achieving your three to five year vision.

[00:31:00] So yeah, vision is important, but if the vision is about the business that you are going to build. Culture is about who you need to be as a team to make that happen. And just like you define the vision, you also need to define the culture because culture is the foundation upon what your business is built, and it is in many ways your only real point of difference. So define the culture or it will define you because if you don't consciously decide what your salon culture's going to be, it will just happen anyway.

[00:31:26] It will evolve over time, but it probably won't be what you want. It'll be what's easiest and most convenient to the individuals who work there, and that may or may not be what's best for the business. As the owner and manager, you need to decide what the culture will be and you need to nurture it and protect it because if the culture isn't intentionally defined and written down and people trained in it, then it will depend on the individual. It will
 
be their culture and as and when they come and go, ] whatever the culture is, good or bad, it goes with them.

[00:32:04] As an owner or manager, you need to build your business in such a way that it's not a part of you, but a part from you. That is a really important distinction. Not a part of you, but a part from you. And in order for that to happen, it's important to recognize that one of your roles is to create the business management systems so that your business is able to run without you having to be involved in everything, not because you are involved in everything. When it comes to talking about systems, I always think that a good analogy is a human body, which is made up of 11 systems from the skeletal system, the muscular system, the nervous system, the digestive system.

[00:33:00] Sure, you get the idea, and those systems hopefully all function in the background without you having to think about them. That is what you want your business to be like with systems that function in the background to support you and to enable you to focus on the experience and the relationships with your clients and with your team. Every successful business, whether it's large or small, needs to have systems around every aspect of how their business operates in order to produce consistent results. Whether that's management systems or financial systems or marketing or HR or training or personal development systems. But the problem is that it's easy to think you don't have to do that yet because, well, you're not big enough, but it's that structure and those systems that will help you grow into the business that you want. So if you put the systems and structure in place at the beginning, you'll start to give yourself the best chance possible to grow into the successful business that you've dreamt of. But if you don't, you won't.

[00:34:00] But let's face it, creating business systems isn't as much fun or as exciting or as creatively rewarding as learning a new technique. We're doing a photo shoot. But in case you haven't figured it out yet, learning new techniques as important as it is, and photo shoots are not the key to building a successful business. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't do them because of course you should, but when it comes to building a successful business, be realistic about what they will really achieve. A successful business doesn't happen just because of what you can see. It succeeds because of what you can't see. In a successful business, you need systems that integrate and form a framework, an infrastructure of interconnected pieces that work together just like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

[00:35:00] It's like an invisible framework of being organized and having systems and processes in place so that the business just works. Think of each piece of the jigsaw as another piece of the puzzle in building a successful business. It's hard work and it's a never ending process, but it is what defines your business, and without that structure, everything will forever be dependent on you because without that structure, guess what you are the business. So think of each piece of the jigsaw as the tools of management that operate behind the scenes.

[00:35:37] People will see the results without seeing all the work that makes it happen. And in the process, it transforms your business from a great looking space into a great business,
 
which frees you up to focus on growing the business. You need systems to ensure consistent standards and predictable results.

[00:36:00] As a leader and manager, it's your job to define and develop the systems and processes. That are in line with your brand experience and that reflect your values and your culture. So leave the people alone first, look at the systems because a solution to most problems are system and training solutions. But having said that, don't be afraid to be the leader and the manager that your team needs you to be. Now, I know it's not always easy, but people need your leadership in order for them to become the best version of themselves. They won't always like it, but as the leader and manager, that's your job.

[00:36:44] Unfortunately, many people are put into management positions for all the wrong reasons, and with no training for how to be an effective manager, and so they do the best they can with the resources that they have.

[00:37:00] For example, what I mean by that is that crossing your fingers and hoping it gets better is not a management strategy any more than waving a magic wand and expecting a miraculous transformation is all gazing longingly into a crystal ball, manifesting and hoping for answers to appear. That's not management, neither is praying for a miracle or bursting into tears and having a breakdown or being a tyrant and a bully and screaming at people in order to achieve a result. That's not management either. None of that is effective management. So let me ask this question. Why did you become a manager?

[00:37:40] Was it because that responsibility of management came with the keys to the front door when you opened your business like it did for me? Or was it because you are the oldest and you've been made manager in someone else's salon, or that you were the busiest stylist, or that the team like you or that you've been there the longest or perhaps you asked for it?

[00:38:00] See, none of those things mean that you have the skills to be a manager, and that's the problem. I don't know if you've ever read the book, the Road Less Travelled by Scott Peck. It was a hugely influential personal development book and best seller in the 1980s, I think, and it is still relevant today, but even if you have read it, you probably don't remember the first sentence of chapter one, which is simply, life is difficult, which is true in itself.

[00:38:30] But I like to change a phrase life is difficult to, managing a salon is difficult because it is, and there's no point in pretending otherwise. And when new owners realize that, they often tell me that they need to employ a manager, someone who will look after the people side of things. In fact, I recently met a salon owner with only one team member, and she told me that she was making them the manager.

[00:39:00] Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't have a manager, because at times there might be a very good reason why that is exactly what you need. But when your business is small. The best advice is generally to remember that this is what you wanted. It's your salon, and these are your problems, and so you need to take ownership of them and sort them out. Stop looking for this mythical manager who's going to arrive on a white horse and sort out the mess because by and large, they simply don't exist. But if your salon is growing, then that
 
might be a different scenario where you will need to train someone to become your manager or employ someone who already has some management skills that you're looking for. But I can't emphasize enough that if you are the owner, it all starts with you. And if you are not gonna take ownership of the daily challenges that come with salon ownership and people management, then you really need to ask yourself why did you own the salon in the first place?

[00:40:00] So how do you become an effective manager? Becoming a good manager is not a case of being anointed with some mystical powers from on high, or a case of because you've been given the title or the keys to the door, that you'll automatically have the skills and knowledge to be an effective manager. Becoming a an effective manager happens when you have both the structure, meaning the systems and the processes, and you are able to combine that with the leadership and the people skills, and when you have both, that's the sweet spot of having both the skills and the knowledge to lead and manage a team, so that it's a win for everybody. Because learning to become a better leader and manager is the most effective way. To create more profit in your business and more freedom in your life.

[00:40:51] Your success is no longer determined by how good you are at doing hair or how busy you are behind the chair. Your success is all about how well you build a business, and that all starts with you and how well you manage yourself, your time, your goals, your productivity, and your own business education. You have to invest more time and money in your own development than anyone else's because there's no point in blaming everyone else or expecting anyone else to do it for you. If you aren't happy with any aspect of it, what are you going to do about it? You see most salon owners open to salon for all the wrong reasons and completely unprepared for what lay ahead. But your business is a reflection of you, and so if you already own your own salon, you should first of all, congratulate yourself because being in business is a big step and it's a big responsibility. But as I said, your business is a reflection of who and where you are at this point on your journey. And if you don't grow the business, never will.

[00:42:00] Building your business is a constant and never-ending ongoing process of evolvement. It doesn't stop and no one else can do it for you. They can't even if they wanted to, and I know at times it can be frustrating or even soul destroying, but do you know what? That's when you learn and it's potentially when you grow the most.

[00:42:22] But building a business can also be financially very rewarding. It can be a lot of fun. It can be creative and incredibly fulfilling to build a team and a business that works because of what you do. So what do you most need to work on? Is it vision? Is it culture? Is it systems? Is it management and leadership? At the beginning of this episode, I spoke about the most common challenges that salon owners have. Many salon owners and managers feel stuck. They don't know how to make their business more structured, more organized, more systemized, so that every decision doesn't have to go through them. Many salon owners are tired of being the busiest person in the salon. They're tired of the long hours. They're tired of carrying others. They don't know where to start. They don't know how to create a culture that reflects their values and attracts a team of followers. Many salon owners want more so that their business is less reliant on them doing the most of everything. They want more
 
productivity from their team. They want more consistency and standards. They want more time for themselves away from the business, and they want more profit in their business. There's nothing wrong with wanting all these things and more, but it doesn't mean it's just going to happen just because you want too. As a leader and as a manager, you have to make it happen.

[00:44:00] Growing successful businesses shouldn't be a mystery. Well, it isn't a mystery and you can do it. That's why I love New Year because it's a good time to start afresh. So it's time to put the past behind you. Imagine for a minute, if in 12 months from now you had already created a more professional, more organized and efficient business, a business that didn't consume your life, and that actually gave you back more time, what would that mean to you? How would it make you feel if you already had a business that paid you properly for the time and the investment that you've made, and a business that had a culture that people were drawn to and wanted to be part of? What impact would that have on your life? What would it mean to you if you had a business that wasn't reliant on you doing everything because you developed the systems and the structure and the operating processes that freed you up to grow the business or to step away from it if you wished. All of that's possible, but it involves work. It involves commitment, and it involves an investment of your time and money.

[00:45:10] But it is work, commitment and an investment that has a long-term benefit. This isn't the time to cross your fingers and rely on hope as a reliable business building strategy. This is the time to get proactive and transform yourself and your business so that you finally get on top of the management side of your business.

[00:45:33] So if my message and the content of this podcast has resonated with you and you feel like it's been relevant and that you are ready to change your business forever. And as I said at the beginning of this podcast, I'm extending an invitation for you to join us on my online management course, which is open for enrollment on the 9th of January, but for a limited time only. Now, I know that some of you have already been wanting to join up and others are just curious about it. Either way is fine with bit's, totally up to you. But if you really do want to transform your business and your life, it starts here. The management course is aimed at helping every salon owner or manager finally get the vision, the structure, and the operating systems in place that are needed to take your business to the next level.

[00:46:24] So to find out everything that you need, visit Growmysalonbusiness.com/jan2023. So j a n. 2023, the numerals. So Growmysalonbusiness.com/jan2023, and watch the video titled, an Invitation to Salon Management, where everything is explained in more detail and every possible question answered. This is a time sensitive offer, this course is only open for registration until end of day on Wednesday the 18th of January, and then it won't be available until sometime later in 2023. So once again, to find out everything you need to know, visit Growmysalonbusiness.com/jan 2023 and I'll also put that URL as a link in the show notes for today's podcast.

[00:47:24] So with that said, thank you for staying until the end. I know it was a long one. I appreciate you still being here. And so to wrap up, thanks for listening to this week's podcast and I'll look forward to speaking to you soon. Bye for now.
 
[00:47:41] Antony W: Thank you for listening to today's podcast. If you'd like to connect with us, you'll find us at Grow My Salon business.com or on Facebook and Instagram at Grow My Salon business. And if you enjoy tuning into our podcast, make sure that you subscribe, like, and share it with your friends. Until next time, this is Antony Whitaker wishing you continued success.