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Be a THRIVER … Not a Survivor

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FACT #1: For businesses large and small, start-up or established, “business as usual” ceased to exist when the pandemic began in March 2020.

FACT #2: For your salon/spa to thrive — you need to be a bold, innovative, and decisive leader. Anything less keeps you stuck in survival mode. Survival mode sucks.

There have always been employee-based salons/spas that, from all outward appearances, are wildly successful.

Likewise, there have always been salons/spas that struggle with toxic cultures, employee turnover, and cash-flow problems.

More than any time in recent memory, the salon/spa business landscape is separated into two distinct segments — those that are thriving and those that are merely surviving.

Wake-up call: The merely surviving group is abnormally high and cause for concern.

What’s going on?

  • All businesses in every sector of the economy are dealing with a severe labor shortage. According to experts, the labor shortage may ease a bit when unemployment benefits expire, but it isn’t going away any time soon.

  • The ever-present employee turnover at salons/spas, combined with the labor shortage, complicates an already stressful situation. As a result, many owners are having trouble seeing any light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.

  • Rising operating costs and tight cash flow just add to an already stressful situation.


Many of the challenges and frustrations that salon/spa owners are experiencing existed long before the pandemic. It’s the after-affects of the pandemic that are pushing too many owners to ask, “Is this all worth it?”

So … is business ownership worth it in these crazy times?

The answer is an emphatical — HELL YES!



Without question, all owners strive to be thrivers. But what many fail to realize is that thriving is a collection of leadership disciplines, accountability, determination, culture building, financial literacy, innovation (the ability to think outside the box), just to name a few.

Here are six No-Compromise Leadership strategies to get and stay in thriver mode and say “goodbye” to survival mode forever:

  1. Thrival mode is a choice: Misery loves company in survival mode. Why? Because all the members of the survival mode club are in some level of business pain. KEY: It’s time to join a new club where thrivers are thriving. It’s your choice to remain stuck or to begin the climb back to a better place. Yes, it may be a long road, but better to be heading in the direction of prosperity, pride in ownership, and having fun being an entrepreneur.

  2. Take control of your salon/spa: When you’re in survival mode, you’re not in control of your business. It’s free-floating. It’s coasting and making zero forward progress. KEY: Leaders lead. Leaders make big and tough decisions. Leaders show up ready to inspire and coach their employees to achieve their full potential so the salon/spa can achieve its full potential. And no matter how painful it may appear, if you have a toxic employee, it’s time to purge the negativity. Take control.

  3. Reignite your culture: You can talk culture until the cows come home, but nothing changes until you decisively hit the reset button. KEY: “Decisively” means renewed purpose, clarity of vision, and a level of determination that everyone on your team can see and feel. Remember, culture shifts begin with the leader.

  4. Don’t allow the labor shortage to derail you: OK, there’s a labor shortage. You can complain about all you want, but it’s not going away anytime soon. KEY: The resources are people you have right now that are your precious resources to leverage a better future. The hell with the labor shortage. Fire your team up to do more with what you have. There’s a whole lot of good that comes from mastering the disciplines of operating fast and lean.

  5. Raise your freak’n prices: Recent Monday Morning Wake-Up blog posts have been cheerleading the need to raise service prices. Not just minor incremental price increases — but major make-a-statement price increases. KEY: High demand and high productivity rates create the perfect storm for a major price increase. This is NOT a money grab or attempt to take advantage of clients. This is business. Industry-wide price increases are long overdue. Charge what you’re truly worth.

  6. Show up every day as the “yes we can” leader: No one wants to follow a burnt-out leader that doesn’t believe in a better tomorrow. KEY: Snap out of it. You can do this. Take the first step to a better tomorrow and the steps will continue to get easier as you make progress. Do it!


Here’s my challenge to you: We’ve been coaching salon/spa owners for over 27 years. We’re damn good at it.

We can show you the path to a better tomorrow, but it’s your choice to take that path. Our job is to teach you how to use all the tools on your business control panel — and hold you accountable. And yes, we’ll talk you off the ledge when necessary. Hey, it happens to all of us.

Thriving is the goal of every salon/spa owner. Learn and master the disciplines. Build momentum. Create a dynamic employee-based culture. Build cash reserves.

You can thrive.

? Schedule a free 60-minute strategy session to start building your Team-Based salon, spa, or medspa … CLICK HERE



 

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