Clive Collins, HOB Salons
“January is a great time to hold team appraisals, catch up with managers and discover what worked – and more importantly what didn’t work – in the past 12 months. Put together a training plan for yourself and all your team members. Keeping on top of your skills and knowledge is essential in this ever-changing world, and with the pressure of everything else that is going on, it’s easy to put your education and training on the back burner. But be creative; product houses offer training for your teams and there’s some great business coaches that will make a real difference to your business too. It may cost money – so do your research – but it is worth every penny if it will make you stand out from your competitors.”
Elena Lavagni, Neville Hair & Beauty for L’Oréal Professionnel
“January and all of Q1 is normally the quiet period of the year, so take advantage of this. It’s the perfect opportunity to strategise the future and to share this vision with your team; ask for their input and find the best way to flourish as a team. Next, identify every part of the business where there may be scope to save, save, save! Giving into fear and pressure from other businesses isn’t the way of progressing. If you don’t usually discount, why would you do that now? In the short term, this game is OK – but the more you do it, the more difficult it becomes to return to your normal prices and your clients grow reluctant to pay anything more. As salon owners, our businesses are our lives; we need to do everything we can to thrive, not just to survive.
Sean Hanna, seanhanna salons for L’Oréal Professionnel
“Have a plan – don’t drift into the new year and then start thinking about what to do. It’s good to start January with something exciting: a new hair story, a new service, or a new campaign, for example. Get all the team on board and create a spirit of optimism for the coming year. We always hold our annual awards in February to ensure the team have something to look forward to and to become engaged with. After the excitement of Christmas and the busy December columns, it’s easy for teams to feel a little unmotivated, so creating a buzz at this time of year is super helpful for everyone.”
Marcello Moccia, Room 97 Creative
“Sit down, grab a cup of tea and a paper and pen… and breathe. Write a list of everything that has been successful for you in the last year, also focusing on what hasn’t really worked or has overly dominated your time. Focus on what you want to achieve and above all, be realistic. 2023 is going to be a tough year, so set goals that push you, but that aren’t unreasonable – completely unattainable goals would just demotivate the team! Look at the atmosphere you create and make sure it’s always positive for both your clients and your team. When holding appraisals, check how they feel as well as how they are doing; a happy team means happy clients and a profitable business!”
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