[00:00:00] Antony Whitaker: 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 Whitaker: Hello, and welcome to today's episode of the 
Grow My Salon Business podcast. I'm your host, Antony Whitaker. And as I always say, it's great to have you here with me today. Most people that listen to the podcast are salon owners, but I also know that we have an incredibly varied mix of listeners from over 70 countries that regularly tune in from all over the world. So, wherever you are, and whatever stage of the business and life journey you're at, I just want to say thank you for being a listener and giving me and my guests the opportunity to share what we've learned with you, which ultimately is for the benefit of everyone. So, with that said on with today's short episode. When you do a color consultation, there's multiple things going on inside your head. On one level, you're looking at the client's hair and you're asking questions about what chemical services have already been done to it and how recently were they done? And you're asking about what the sort of result is that they are envisioning. And maybe you're looking at what they're wearing and thinking about eye color and skin tone and suitability.  
[00:01:37] Antony Whitaker: And on another level, you're probably being thoughtful and charming and maybe suggesting additional ideas.  
[00:01:45] Antony Whitaker: But then there's something else going on as well. And that is the numbers that you are either consciously or unconsciously thinking about. Meaning that you're thinking to yourself. Well, she's currently a level six, but she wants to be a level 10. So, I'll use some 10/0 and some 30 vol and some 12/81 and some 12/89 with some 40 vol. Now, I'm not a colorist, so I'm probably making a hash of the numbers that are used in the formulation. But the point is that it’s a formulation. And the formulation is a plan. And it's the plan, that is going to get you to the result that you want to achieve. And that plan is all built on an understanding of a system that is based on numbers.  [00:02:37] Antony Whitaker: And that's why I'm always amazed when hairdressers say, “I'm not good with numbers”. When, especially if you're a colorist, everything you do is based on an understanding of the numbers. And so just as a successful outcome of the color is based on an understanding of the numbers of successful outcome. In business is also based on the numbers. Just like there's a formulation for hair color that relies on your understanding of numbers. There's also a formulation in business that equally relies on your understanding of the numbers that matter within the business.  
[00:03:13] Antony Whitaker: And so, as a business owner, you need to know your way around your salon's financials, with the same level of comfort and certainty that you have when you're working with a color chart. Depending on what your objective is. There are many ways to think about the numbers in your business, but one way is that in every business. There are input numbers and output numbers. The output numbers are often things we refer to as key performance indicators or KPIs. So that'll be things such as the total sales. Well, the total number of new clients, the total pre-booking percentage and the average bill. They're the outputs or the results of what you've done. Whereas the input numbers are things like, well, what was the total number of social media posts and the engagement that has helped. Generate the new clients. Or the total number of follow-up phone calls that helps ensure that clients are happy and likely to return. All the total training events that ensure that you and your team are continually growing as professionals. All the total marketing budget and exactly how and when it's to be spend.  
[00:04:27] Antony Whitaker: Which again, if done right exposes you to people who perhaps didn't know that you already existed. Then there's a follow-up emails that are sent out, whether it's a client survey or purely a welcome email for new clients. I'm sure you get the idea. They're all measurable. They can all be boiled down to a few numbers that you either did them, or you didn't do them. And what sort of responses you got, et cetera. And if those things are consistently done, then surely it will increase the output, meaning increased productivity. Client retention and a healthier bottom line. But perhaps as salon owners, we are sometimes guilty of just expecting or even demanding that the output numbers should improve. Well, just demanding that output should improve is a bit like trying to change the color result. Without adjusting the formulation. If you want a different result, you can't just demand it. You have to do something different. So as a business owner, stop and think about the input that drives the output. Because a lot of that will be dependent on you. And so, if you focus on what will cause the result that you want, whether it's actively posting and engaging on social media every day, or increasing the training sessions for your team. Or an increase in your marketing budget  
[00:05:56] Antony Whitaker: Or an increase in the one-to-one coaching sessions with your team. All of those things are putting the focus on the input and then outputs, meaning the results hopefully will automatically improve.  
[00:06:10] Antony Whitaker: When I had my salons, I used to measure everyone's productivity across a range of different metrics. And depending on what level they were at, they were what I called levels of expectation, meaning what their expected output was, whether it was client count or average bill or total service sales. So, for example, if you were a new stylist, then within three months, you were expected to be doing. A thousand dollars a week and service sales, but in six months it was $1,500 a week. And after 12 months it was expected to be $2,000 a week. And we did the same thing, the other metrics such as treatments or pre-booking percentage and the percentage of clients that had color services, et cetera. Now just to be clear, I would provide all the training and marketing support, that would make achieving those goals. A reality for most people. And one of the reasons I did that was that if you don't set an expectation of productivity, then people simply don't perform. To the level that they're capable of. For example, if a new stylist starts in a salon today, and at the end of the week, they've achieved $400 in retail sales. Then what will happen in most cases is absolutely nothing. And if that same stylist has got to the end of the week and they've achieved $0 in retail sales. Then again, what will happen is absolutely nothing. Now I hope you're all screaming at me that that wouldn't happen in my salon. And so, congratulations. If that's the case. But the reality is that it does happen in most salons. And the reason is that there was never any set level of expectation. So, there's nothing to aim for. There's nothing to be measured against and there's no consequence good or bad. Regardless of how you perform. So, before we start to wrap up, here's my challenge to you. We talk a lot about the output KPIs or the results that your team members achieve. But what would be four or five measurable input KPIs. In other words, the things that you need to commit to do as a business owner and that you'll do consistently every week in order to get your team to increase their own output. And therefore. Increase the total output of the salon, which will then increase the profit margin of the business and the personal income of those on your team. As you can see in hairdressing, whether we're talking about the technical creative side or the business side. The numbers do matter. And just like you have the power to transform a client's color with your understanding of the numbers. You equally have the power to transform your business with a better understanding of how to manage the people and the numbers that drive their productivity. So, before we wrap up this episode, as you may know, we have a series of online courses designed to help you, the salon owner build the business that you aspire to.  
[00:09:15] Antony Whitaker: Whether that means having one successful salon or dreams of expansion, either way, the key to success is education and having a path to follow. To find out more, visit, grow my salon business.com or click on the link in the show notes of this episode to find out how you can develop the salon management, the financial and the leadership skills needed to take you. And your business to the next level. So that's a wrap until next week when I bring another great guest to you on the grow, my salon business podcast. And if you'd like to get a free download of our salon management checklist, then visit  growmysalonbusiness.com forward slash management hyphen checklist. And I'll also put that link in the show notes for today's podcast. So, till next week, keep safe.  
[00:10:03] Antony Whitaker: 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