This issue… 5 smart things to do in January
January is a notoriously quiet month in the salon, which makes it the ideal time to re-focus and start the year on a high. Your team will have been flat out in the months leading up to Christmas so it’s no wonder that day-to-day admin or more strategic salon goals may have been overlooked. If December is all about being ‘busy’, January is all about getting back down to business!
1 TAKE TIME OUT
Encourage staff to take time off and spread their holiday entitlement throughout the year. Maybe you need a break from the business after the festive rush too. Let’s face it, maybe your team need a break from each other! Whatever the case, accept that January is a quiet time and book time out while you can.
2 SCHEDULE APPRAISALS
The start of the year is a great time to set expectations with your team and catch up on targets for the months ahead. Be honest with your team about the financial performance of the salon – where it’s been previously and where you want it go. Let them see a breakdown of turnover so they can understand the costs that go into running a salon. It encourages ownership and a desire to work together to reach a shared goal.
3 FINE TUNE PROCEDURES & PROCESSES
Nobody’s diary is fully booked with clients in January, so be wise and maximise every minute of business time. This could be looking into training for all of the team and planning it into the year ahead or a refresher or re-evaluation of your salon systems and processes. Is there a job on the list that you’ve been meaning to get around to? Don’t let ‘downtime’ be idle – make it useful.
4 BRAINSTORM
Not so much New Year Resolutions, more ‘start as you mean to go on’. Are there are any areas of your business that can be improved? Equally, what does your salon currently do well and how can you make it better? Get everyone involved in contributing all their best ideas for how they’d like to see the salon thrive and grow in 2023. You might be surprised at the gold dust they come up with!
5 CLEAN START
I’m obsessive about keeping the salon clean and tidy and January is a brilliant month to blitz. If things are looking a little less than pristine after the Christmas decorations have come down, you may want to consider redecorating. Or, it might just be a case of having a thorough pre-spring clean, assessing stock levels on your product ranges and making sure everything is perfectly neat and tidy so that you kick off the year in good shape.
Find more business articles from Phil Smith here…
