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While being out of your salon can feel scary and uncertain, we are making it our goal to provide you with actionable tips, tricks and steps to take during this time. Try to embrace this chapter as your new normal—together, we can fill your time with purposeful tasks that will keep your salon business afloat and make you more prepared than ever to step back into the salon when the time comes.
Getting started tends to be the hardest part. What are the first steps you need to take, now? Check out our week one webinar below and keep reading for key takeaways.
5 things to remember and your downloadable resources below!
1. Before you lock up...
If / when you decide to or are forced to close, you might initially feel overwhelmed by the process. Keep this list handy so that you remember what to do before locking up:
- Reroute your salon business phone to your cell.
- Change your signage out front to CLOSED.
- Take all garbage out.
- Collect all the dirty towels to bring with you to wash—coming back to a smelly salon will not be ideal!
- Turn your water off.
- Grab any mail in the mailbox and remember to re-route any mail that comes to the business to your home for the time being.
- Make sure you have access to all of your online platforms such as the salon email, social media and any other apps your salon business uses. Do you need to grab the business laptop or ipad to take? Is there a password doc or sheet that you can take a picture of or send to yourself?
2. To take with you when you close.
You want to be able to work on your business while you are not actively in the salon, so it’s important to collect certain information and supplies before running out of the door. You might not be able to come back to the salon for a bit. Some of the key things to think about grabbing are:
- License
- Tools
- Clean any that are dirty. Tools to think about bringing are: bactericide, shears, mannequin heads.
- Client lists
- Print, take a picture, send to yourself—whatever works best for you. Make sure to grab any books with their contact info and formulas.
- Staff contact info
- Inventory
- If you don’t have it already recorded and don’t have time, just snap a picture of it! Trust us.
Make sure to download our full Salon Prep Checklist below. Print it out and keep it on hand so you can check items off as you go and keep organized.
3. Take control of your business.
Now that you’re not in the salon, you have more time to really sit down and assess your salon business. It is spring after all and now you can take time to do some spring cleaning of your assets.
Assess your income and revenue. What does your cash flow look like? What are your revenue streams and which are the most lucrative? Really analyze your salon business and see if you can find places to spend more of your energy, places that might not be serving you anymore and anything you can add or change. Now you have time so come up with a plan!
Also take a look at your expenses. There might be some small items that you can put on hold. Is there a streaming service you forgot you had? Maybe you’re subscribing to magazines that you have no interest in anymore. Be open to considering cutting out things that don’t bring you joy or serve you anymore.
Check out our Monthly Budget Worksheet. It’ll help guide you through the process and keep you organized in looking at your expenses and income.
4. Use social media to your advantage.
It’s time to work that social media muscle now more than ever! Social media will allow you and your salon business to keep an open dialogue with people. This helps increase loyalty, plus you might get some new traffic that will pull potential clients into the salon in the future.
Video Calls
Video chatting is also another media platform to consider taking advantage of. Skype is so simple and easy to use. What about doing some Skype consultations from home? Keeping it digital will maintain everyone’s distance and safety. When you re-open, you’ll still feel connected to clients. You can address any concerns during this time. Maybe there’s a scalp treatment you didn’t get to do or a look you didn’t get the chance to create for them before closing. Is there product they need to keep up with? The possibilities are endless!
Holistic Hair Tribe
If there’s product they need, make sure to give them your Holistic Hair Tribe Partner Code. If you aren’t already set up with our Partner Program, this is an amazing way to keep your retail revenue flowing while out of the salon. You simply have your own referral link and code that your clients will use to purchase holistic hair care. Every time your code or link is used, you get commission! We take care of everything from marketing to shipping. The products will appear at your clients front door and they can maintain all your hard work while still in quarantine! No money out of your pocket or overhead on overstocked shelves.
Sign up for the Partner Program here.
Make sure your clients follow @holistichairtribe to keep up with sales, promotions and hair care tips and tricks using our brands.
5. Take care of yourself and your staff.
The intensity and emotion surrounding this time in our lives can be overwhelming. First and foremost, you want to make sure that you are taking care of yourself and your staff’s mental health. Going from 10-12 hours in salon everyday to nothing is a huge adjustment for everyone.
Group Message
So stay connected! Set up a group message (iMessage, WhatsApp or GroupMe) to keep the line of communication open. As a leader, you can hold a phone call or even just shoot a message to them every morning to check in and stay connected.
As time goes on, consider hosting a virtual party! Set up the laptop and have a group FaceTime for wine and a movie. Now is the time to take advantage of the technology we have at our fingertips.
Education
It’s important your team keeps learning and growing during this time. This is the perfect opportunity to have them take that classes or brush up on those skills that you haven’t had time to address in the salon. You can assess your staffs strengths, set goals for them and come up with an incentive plan for each individual member.
We have some great online education classes you can look into that will propel their careers to the next level and make them that much more of a knowledgeable employee. Remember those dolly heads you grabbed before leaving the salon? Send a stylist home with one and tools so that they can work on their balayage skills or painting techniques in their spare time. You can even video conference in with them to have some special one-on-one training.
Self-care
Possibly most important, you need to look after yourself. Especially because you need to be healthy, rested and energized when it’s time to jump back into your salon business in person. Remember to stay hydrated. Drink a lot of water and herbal tea (Aroma, anyone?!) to help soothe and relax.
Remember to keep your skin hydrated. Germs love dry skin and with all the hand washing and anti-bacterial applying, it’s important to moisturize afterwards. We suggest Oway Soothing Remedy Spot Treatment for the driest of the dry, or for already irritated and red skin. Oway Remedy Hand Balm is a lifesaver to have on hand at all times. And Hscreen is like a liquid glove to help shield and protect your skin.
Another great idea is to plant seeds—nurturing and watching something grow is so nourishing to the soul and purposeful for the mind. Make sure to keep up the self-love practices you already have in place. If you don’t have any in place as of yet, now is the perfect time to make them! Tune into online workout classes—a lot of studios are even hosting Facebook Lives to foster connection in real-time.
Remember that when you are full, inspired and healthy, you are able to show up bigger and brighter for others. Keep up with how you are feeling and manage all of your emotions with our Fight the Fear Worksheet, downloadable below.
A note if you're still open or when you re-open:
If you’re still in-salon or for when you re-open, this section is equally as important. Extra-precautions are necessary now to keep everyone safe, but it will be equally as important when your salon re-opens. It is likely that hygiene and cleanliness will still be at the forefront of clients minds. Some things to consider:
- Keep appointments one-on-one.
- Disinfect tools, chair, booth, etc. between clients.
- Use disposable cups and capes. Oway Sanitary Biodegradable Capes are life-savers at times like these.
- For other services, consider Biodegradable Salon Gloves and Oway Disposable Eye Mask.
- Throw out magazines! There should be no items passed around or shared between clients.
There are plenty of sanitary measures you can take for a clean and safe salon, both now and when you re-open. For top tips and recommendations, see our Salon Sanitation Tips blog.
Remember, we are all in this together. We are here for you and your salon business every step of the way. Please stay tuned for more education in our Safeguarding Your Salon Business Series, as we continue to help you grow and thrive throughout this period. Visit this link to see the content we have planned for you coming up.
