You’re the owner of an employee-based salon/spa.

From operations, employee management, and culture building, to finances, planning, training and marketing, you have more “responsibility hats” than you know what to do with.

Owning and leading a salon/spa can be tough and exhausting work that continuously piles onto your shoulders.

So much so that when I hear owners say, “I’m bored,” I struggle to understand where that boredom is coming from.

I’m a business owner and know those leadership responsibility hats all too well. Strategies is over 26 years old and I’ve never experienced boredom.

As a business owner, I have experienced excitement, fear, frustration, pride, anger, extreme confidence and an occasional lack of confidence. But never boredom.

That’s why I’m puzzled when owners say, “I’m bored.”

As a business and leadership coach, it’s my job to drill down on the “I’m bored” statement to determine where it’s coming from.... Read More

Your passion has always been performing services and caring for clients. However, your salon/spa is growing in size, number of employees, and complexity.

You’ve been reducing your service hours but still find it a challenge to keep up with your business and leadership responsibilities. Something’s got to change.

After years of performing services, it’s time for you to become a full-time leader.

Decision made. You hold a team meeting and reveal your full-time leadership plan. You’ll finally be able get all that business stuff you’ve been stressing over done. Yay! Your team totally supports your decision.

Now comes the announcement you’ve been dreading — telling your clients that you are no longer doing services. As expected, your clients are not thrilled, but most are willing to try other service providers.

Fast forward six months…... Read More

I’ve been reviewing salon/spa financial statements for 45 years, starting with my own two salons back in the 70s. Yes, I used to do hair and own salons.

Whenever an owner calls me for help with his or her salon/spa, I ask for the most current Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet. Why? Because I need to know the story of how the company performs and what its state of health is.

The financials also tell me a lot about the owner’s understanding of financials, how much they pay attention to them, and the value they place on them.

In so many ways, a set of financial reports, specifically the Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet, are a numeric readout of the owner’s financial thinking and behavior.

Here are some examples of the story financials tell me:

• I expect to see financial reports that are no more than 30 days old. If the most recent financials are four or five months old, the owner isn’t paying attention to the financials, doesn’t understand them, or sees little value in them. If all I can get is last year’s tax return, there’s a big problem.
• The Profit and Loss Statement must have the percent of income column. The percent of income column is the fastest way to see how the business is performing and where the money is going. If retail sales are less than 10% of total income, there are no systems, focus or accountability for selling retail. The percent of retail and professional product cost tells me if purchasing budgets are being used. The service payroll percent tells me if payroll is within benchmark and if the compensation system needs fixing. An excessively high rent percent tells me the urgency to grow revenue, or if it’s time for a serious conversation with the landlord. Every line item and percent tells a story.
• The Balance Sheet quickly tells me how healthy the company is. If there is little to no cash, the company is in a financial crisis and most likely insolvent. It tells me if there is a cash reserve in separate savings account. It should tell me the total due in Accounts Payable. It tells me how many credit cards have balances and the total in credit card debt. KEY: Excessive credit card debt is a bad sign. It tells me how many loans there are and the principal balance of each. It tells me if the Retained Earnings are positive or negative. Negative Retained Earnings means the company has been operating at a loss for many periods. Lastly, it tells me if the Equity is positive or negative. Negative Equity means the company’s liabilities exceed its assets.

Here are some No-Compromise Leadership insights to ensure that your financials tell a story of success:... Read More

Owning an employee-based salon/spa business can certainly be a mixed bag of feelings and emotions.

The good times are great. The bad times are, well, anything but great.

The one absolute is that it takes people — skilled, service-minded people — to make a salon/spa business work.

Hands do the work. Hands create service sales. Those hands are attached to employees. And leading employees is, without question, the toughest part of being an owner.

Salons and spas thrive or die based on the performance and productivity of their employees. That performance and productivity is the owner’s prime responsibility.

It is in the execution of this responsibility where employees see owners focused on what they could have done better, or, what they didn’t do.

So in their effort to grow the company and provide the best for their employees, owners often feel a lack of appreciation for all they do.... Read More

In just over two months, I’m going to turn 70 years old. And guess what? I still have goals for what I want to accomplish in my business and personal life.

My company, Strategies, is a young 26-year old. And guess what? It has goals for what it wants to accomplish.

The difference between me and my company is pretty basic. You see, achieving my personal goals is up to me and me alone. For Strategies to achieve its goals, it’s my team’s responsibility.

I’ve learned a lot of lessons over my almost 70 years. The most important lesson is that the responsibility to achieve what I want in life rests squarely on my shoulders.

To achieve it, you must earn it. To earn it, you must be committed to go the distance.

But what exactly does going the distance mean? To me, going the distance means seeing a project, goal or vision through to completion.

It also means dealing with the setbacks, roadblocks, wrong turns, bad decisions, indecision and other stuff that gets in the way.... Read More