Don’t Sweat It.
Business
Guest Blogger: Brynn Scarborough
Director of Business Development & Marketing
for JK North America
Don’t Sweat It.
You’ve heard the term “don’t sweat the small stuff.” During the busiest of seasons, and when demand for your time is at its highest, tasks and priorities should be accomplished in order of impact.
It seems that this time of year, there is war going on for the time of salon owners and managers; but now is the time to rely on foundational operational processes that make daily business run with ease.
If you are lacking foundational processes for operations, personnel, customer service and reporting or other areas, then it is time to make those projects a priority. You may be an individual operator who handles all of these areas, or you might be an owner who can check in with management to quickly assess the applicability, efficiency, and necessity of policies and procedures.
The warmer months of summer are a great time to focus on core processes in each area of management for your business, and over the next few months, we will address each one individually, from operations, personnel, and customer service.
Core systems might not sound like the most exciting topic, but efficiency at the core leaves a business or salon poised for growth and will lead to achieving calm during the storm of the busy season. It’s important to realize that the middle of the season might not be the ideal time to implement new business systems or take the time to train your employees, but it is the perfect time to look for areas that can use improvement. Where is customer flow slowing down? Is your equipment running efficiently? What areas of the salon are in disarray after a busy day and what areas remain clean?
Good systems begin with observation and a focus on the customer, regardless of what you are doing; whether it’s preventative maintenance, product order schedules or cancellation policies. If you are a customer-facing business, the priority should always be the customer. Before we explore core areas of management within the salon, spend some time, not just on the daily grind, but observing in your business. What areas are opportunities for improvement and where do you excel?
When underlying processes are running smoothly during busy season, your focus will be where it should be: your customers. If your business isn’t there yet and there’s a new fire to put out every day, then we will explore opportunities for growth, so you don’t have to be concerned with every minute annoyance.
You might think you don’t have time to codify customer processes, continue training your team, or complete preventative maintenance or inspections; but, these systems are the reason that businesses grow from one level to the next.
