How to create the right New Year's Resolutions

The New Year is all about resolutions and setting goals for the year ahead. While most people start with the obvious ones (eat healthy, exercise more, save money), by the time January comes to an end many realise that other priorities have crept up on them. This results in resolutions are discarded and put in the back of their minds. Setting goals and a strategy for your salon business is essential for growth and motivation. It is important to visualise your goals and decide what direction you really want to go. However, this can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. Trying to achieve too much at once can backfire and therefore it is important to identify what you are hoping to achieve throughout the year. Setting resolutions for your business is a great idea, but it's all about the right resolutions so that you won't fall into the trap of trying to achieve things that are sheer impossible.


An action plan is therefore a terrific idea to start with. Here you can note down your hopes and plan over the next months. You should look at previous years and identify what went well and what didn’t. This will lay out your foundation and to identify improvements. 
Did you struggle to attract a young clientele, for example? Maybe a social media campaign will do the trick. Or maybe you struggled with no shows, resulting in revenue loss and therefore you want to look into Salon Software and appointment reminders. Creating an action plan helps to identify any of these areas. Why not sit down with your managers or the whole team to get everyone involved and to show them that you value their opinion and contribution. A successful salon is more than just marketing. Good customer service and ambiance can equally be important and therefore remember this when creating an action plan.
To help you even further we have compiled a few things that can help you in the right directions with your New Year’s resolutions:


Know your goals for the year and prioritise accordingly

Make sure everyone is on board; therefore, January is a good time for an annual or quarterly meeting with everyone.

Here you can discuss the upcoming year and identify what went well the last few months but also any problems and come up with solutions.  
Often, hearing from staff and managers can be a good way to look at situations differently and maybe even address issues you weren’t aware off before. Getting everyone involved gives staff members the opportunity to speak from their own experiences. This does not have to be boring, why not get some drinks and snacks for everyone and make it a social but productive event. If you want to combine it with an annual awards ceremony then do so. Activities like that are always fun and motivate staff members to achieve goals throughout the year.


How can you be different from the others?

Have you ever identified your unique selling point? Why should customers choose you over others? Defining what makes you different and how you can show that to customers in order to attract them can be crucial for your performance. To determine this will make you stand out towards your competition. In order to achieve this you need to understand your ideal clientele. Find out what they’re after to adapt ways to please them.

Really can’t think of anything?

Is there anything you can learn instead or invest in? Maybe a new machine or treatment no one else is offering in the area. However, do your research to find out if an investment will be profitable. You don’t want to spend money just to find out that there is no demand for it. If you want to start on a smaller scale then simply create offers that are too hard to ignore or focus on excellent customer service with a little extra. Often small changes will work wonders already.


Testing

As mentioned above, we were talking about an investment that makes you stand out. If you want to try out something new do it when it’s quiet. January is a good time for that. You can see what is working and what isn’t. Drop what is not working and move on. Why waste valuable time on something that isn’t profitable for your salon?


Managing more efficiently

Anything from finances to marketing can be managed. That’s why many salons are investing in salon software at the beginning of the year. Not only does it save you time on day-to-day salon management it also helps keep track of spending’s and takings. Having an electronic booking diary is great for putting all your appointments in one place without losing track of them. If you are looking for special features such as online booking or an app for your customers to use, then why not make it a priority to look into the investment.
Move away for paper clutter and go digital!

With that said, we hope some of the tips come in handy and it gives you some ideas for the New Year. As always if you have any questions let us know via phone, email or Social Media.


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