If you are a salon owner who spends more time working in your business than on it you may find the business growth is slow, or alternatively has reached a ceiling point that you are finding difficult to burst through. Getting out from behind the chair, i.e. decreasing the amount of clients you do, is easy if you do it right.

Step one: establish the minimum amount of income you currently need to bring into the salon yourself to keep it viable.

Step two: Do not take on any new clients. Go through your client list and highlight the most regular, big dollar clients you have and from now on take only these clients into your booking column, your VIP’s. Your column should be only as many hours as you need to do in order to reach your minimum income requirement.

Step three: See if there are any clients that you can palm off some of their appointment. e.g. start giving color to your apprentice, split the stylists up that your client experiences to get them used to the other members of your team. This is a good way to subtly pass over the clients who aren’t on your VIP list. Color and finishing, or cutting if your specialty is color, can all be done by different stylists with efficient use of the appointment system.

Step four: Book aside your other column hours for working on the business which entails activities such as marketing, team training, policy and procedures development, salon maintenance etc.

Step five: As you spend more time on training and marketing you will find that your average dollar spend increases and your team will be busier. If you feel you have the client numbers hire another team member. (note before hiring another member all stylists should be operating at 80% capacity most of the week.) Constantly adjust the amount of income you need to be earning to make the business viable.

Step six: Decrease your presence in the salon by working from home on your ‘management duties’ days. Put systems in place to ensure accountability for staff, a good policy and procedures manual will come with these.

Step seven: Hire or promote a manager once the salon is no longer dependent on your income and can afford the extra wage. A good salon manager will make your salon money by converting more appointments, managing appointment flow, retail sales and stock management.