3 Things Salon Owners Should Focus On in 2024

“My team keeps leaving to go solo!”

Opportunity always comes out of crisis - and we’ve been through a lot as an industry (and the world) over the past few years. 

We’ve heard a lot about teams leaving to go solo, profits dropping and Salon Owners have hit their limit with pricing. 

2024 is a new chapter and a new opportunity for us to grow our Salon and make a killing in the industry.

And although a new chapter brings new challenges, it doesn’t have to be challenging… look at it as a new opportunity for growth and success. 

You just need to focus on the three things you CAN control…

Create a brand that attracts new talent

You’re not just building a Salon, you’re building a brand. 

With the rise of the solo business owner, it’s easy to think that there is no one out there who wants to work in a team. 

“Everyone is working solo”

Wrong. I know we weren’t going to say the dreaded C-word in 2024, but post-covid, people are pickier and more savvy with what they’re looking for in a job. 

This is why the use of your brand will help both attract and retain your team.

Many factors go into creating a brand that people want to work for:

• What opportunities are there to grow and develop new skills?
• Is there any flexibility in schedules or work-life balance?
• Are there programs in place to support employee well-being? 

Promote your answers to these questions when recruiting. You also need to make sure you follow through with them so your team don’t feel misled and begin looking for new opportunities.  

Solo salons aren’t the future for everyone and team-based teams definitely aren’t over, you just need to adapt your recruitment and retention to this new environment.

 

Clients aren’t spending less… they’re spending differently

We went through a lot in 2023 but there is a common misconception that all clients are spending less. Whilst this may be true for some, a lot of clients are just spending differently from what they used to. 

You just need to know how to sell to the 2024 client.

• Look at the habits and trends in consumer spending, there will always be economic fluctuations and anticipate these changes so you can adjust pricing ahead of time
• Online shopping is a game changer so you NEED to build an online presence that is mobile-friendly… you may even choose to utilise e-commerce technology
• AI is already here, so why not use it? Chatbots and virtual assistants help to enhance the customer experience 

The key to a successful sales strategy is to review it. Sales strategies are not set and forget, and if something’s not working… change it!

You may even choose to think about your own spending habits. How have your spending habits changed? What tools or processes help you to make a purchase? 

Just remember, that clients are still spending money in 2024, it just looks a little different to what we’re used to. 

 

Diversify your offering!

With all the changes we’ve been through, it can feel like we’ve hit a limit with our pricing. 

And sometimes, no matter what way you look at the numbers, it just doesn’t seem to work the way we want it to.

But we can diversify our services…

Look at new ways to bundle packages together (without stretching yourself or your team thin, of course) you may even choose to step into the remote world. I know that may seem crazy but many Salon Owners are offering remote services, whether it be consultations or training, remote services can be a low-cost way to diversify your services without hitting the limit on pricing. 

You may also choose to look at a Virtual Assistant to help with administrative work. This can be a low-cost way to take some of the workload of you and your team so that you can focus on more of the ‘fun stuff’.

 

Yes, the industry is changing, but it will continue to change so we just have to get on board. We need to focus on this we can control in 2024 to help us grow our Salon. 

Building a brand, client spending and your services need to be top of our minds if we want to smash our goals this year. I promise you, that although things are changing, it doesn’t make them challenging. 

We just need to take a breath and make a plan!  

 

Salon ownership can feel lonely, especially after the past three years. But you don’t need to push the boulder alone. I created The Salon Mastery Programme for Salon Owners, like you, can connect and share how they’re growing their business to achieve all of their freedom and profit dreams! 

If you want to join this community, please reach out, I’d love to chat. Let's find out if Salon Mastery is a good fit for you.