The recipe for a successful, profit-making salon has changed quite significantly over the last decade. At HOB Salons, for
example, we have had to adapt our strategy in multiple ways to ensure a long-lasting and sustainable business. With this in mind, I wanted to share my three top tips we have focused on to turn turnover into profit.
1/ PRODUCTIVITY
Our focus on productivity has been game-changing for our business. We aim for each team member to perform 100% productively, and we evaluate the number of staff against client demand to ensure our schedules reflect this. Making sure you have enough team members in on the right days is critical, and maximising columns with services that produce high profit is key.
We focus on turning every client into a colour client, because colour is ultimately what brings the highest profit. We do this by implementing a strong marketing strategy to generate ‘bums on seats’, whether it’s promoting the earlier part of the week with a colour offer or filling the spaces with our on-the-day blow-dry service. Once we have the clients in the salon, we then build a relationship with them to offer a personalised experience that goes beyond just one service.
Sometimes the client will upgrade their service on the day, and other times we’ve planted the seed for their next appointment. Either way, ensuring a good flow of clients will keep each stylist’s column busy, contributing to increased turnover and overall profitability.
2/ ADD-ON SERVICES
Yes, ‘turnover is vanity and profit is sanity’, but you need the turnover first in order for the profits to increase. We have focused on boosting turnover by introducing packaged services that include personalised colour treatments, hair treatments and homecare products at great value for money. Where possible, we are trying to offer beauty treatments and are looking to enhance our salon spaces to enable us to offer a diverse range of services. Rather than clients having to visit their beautician, their aesthetics doctor and their hairdresser separately, particularly when most people are time poor, we want to offer hair and beauty all under one roof – this attracts a broader clientele. Plus, it’s proven that the more time a client spends in your salon, the more money they spend as well!
3/ STOCK PURCHASES
Efficiently managing your stock can make a huge difference to your bottom line. Regularly assessing inventory levels and getting rid of deadstock is a great start. Find out what your bestsellers are and make sure you have enough of them in stock at all times. Consider when you’re purchasing your stock in line with your cash flow and plan for seasonal times of the year such as Black Friday and Christmas, when you know you need to have more stock to cater for higher demand. Most importantly, aim to maintain a stock-to-gross-turnover ratio of no more than 10% and watch your profits rocket!
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