Every day, more and more customers look for services that promote safe, clean, and green businesses. Grocery stores, offer wipes for shopping carts. Tissue dispensers are starting to be placed near bathroom exits and door knobs. And Yogini clean mats in between yoga sessions.

Whenever you have a service where one client leaves and another takes their place in a chair or work station, you owe it to the new client to make sure that the area has been refreshed and sanitized. That is especially true for beauty shops.

You would not believe, the germs and illness that visit your salon each day by way of customers, suppliers, and co-workers. With so many people, from so many different micro environments, it is almost impossible to remain immune from potential micro organisms that are anxious to spread their wickedness.

There are two major reasons for taking the issue of cleanliness seriously.

First, from a practical standpoint, you want to stay healthy so that your income remains steady. Stylists understand that if they are sick at home, cash flow comes to a screeching halt.

Second, there is the importance of customer perception. If your client senses that your salon is a germ factory, they’ll find another stylist. Most modern consumers have been taught that “cleanliness in next to godliness”.

Here are some ideas for you to consider.

Before a client sits down, wipe the chair down in their presence or before they reach your workstation, as long as they can see you doing it from the reception area. The key here is not only cleaning the chair surface but making sure they see you do it. If you have to, make them stand by the chair until the work is completed.

Pay particular attention to the arms of the chair and the area that your client places their hands. Another sensitive area of the chair is where your client will be resting their neck and head. That should be thoroughly sanitized from the previous customer.

Regularly clean your combs and brushes in a dishwasher but remember that some dish washers get so hot that they could melt the products. Also consider storing or spraying them in alcohol prior to use.

Wash you hands before starting a hair extension application. And if you leave the work area for any reason, particularly to handle money, be sure to wash your hands again when you return.

Mirrors reflect your image and dirty mirrors turn people off. Keep a spray bottle of cleaner on hand to touch up wall mirrors and hand mirrors. If you offer someone a hand mirror, clean off the handle with a sanitized wipe.

Make sure that the floor does not have hair clippings, extension packaging, beads, or hair extensions from the last client. Floors tell the story of cleanliness in a salon, especially if your station is near a corner wall.

It is the little things in business that are noticed. Customers may not mention anything to you about cleanliness but believe me, good or bad, it’s going through their minds, even when they are sitting in another stylist’s chair. Pick up a few new clients by being extra clean.

Logan is founder of Donna Bella Milan hair extensions and lashes and author of the Donna Bella weblog.

Logan Woolley

Stylists have soft hearts and helping hands. It’s part of what makes the beauty business so enjoyable. But when it comes to business budgeting you have to use tough love to make sure that you reach your financial goals. With a well thought out budget, your business will thrive and heal from the bumps and bruises of economic downturns.

Every stylist should have two working documents; a business plan and a budget. A business plan is like a road map. It explains where you want to go and how you are going to get there. A budget is more like the vehicle that will take you to your destination. Without a stable, working, budget everything starts to fall apart.

Budgets ought to be somewhat flexible to begin with because you are designing a model that will be used in the future. Once tested, budgets should be strictly followed through disciplined spending and planned growth.

Here are a couple of things to think about as you plan a new budget.

Determine How Much You Want Your Income to Grow And How You’ll Meet Your Yearly Goals.

If your total income is $60,000 and your expenses $20,000, you made $40,000. If you want your net income to be $50,000 next year, how much should your total income be and how much should you plan for expenses? When you figure that out, that’s your new budget. Now all you need is a strategy to add more customers, increase your fees, or focus on the services that generate the most money.

Experiment With Your First Budget For Three Months And Find The Best Formula For Making Money.

Tip #1 – Budgeting takes practice. A budget is a lot like a good recipe, you have to make some adjustments to the ingredients until you find the perfect combination. Keep your expenses in check and be disciplined about how much you spend. If you don’t really need something, don’t buy it.

Test your advertising ideas and keep promoting your business with ideas that get immediate results. Once you see that a specific idea works, you can take more money from your budget to expand what is working.

Tip #2 – Don’t make emotional decisions, make sensible business decisions. Buy equipment that will save you time and cut your costs. Poor equipment purchases can eat up your budget very quickly. Get advice from other stylists or online websites prior to spending your hard-earned money.

Logan is founder of Donna Bella Milan hair extensions and lashes and author of the Donna Bella weblog.

Logan Woolley

DONNA BELLA BUSINESS TIP FOR
January 11, 2011

Question:

My hair extension customer list is starting to grow. What can I do to show-off my work so that new customers will consider getting hair extensions themselves? Unless a customer is in the salon when I apply extensions, it is hard for them to imagine the amazing results that we get?

Sanya, S. – London, ONT, Canada

Answer:

You are right. Most people are not around to see the final results of a hair extension makeover. Here is an idea that Donna Bella uses on its own website, www.donnabellahair.com. Before and After photos.

On the day of the appointment, take a “before” photo of the client. Have her face angled a bit so that you can see the length of her hair. Make sure that it’s a pleasant photo. Try taking one that is without a smile.

Next, do your extension magic. After you are finished, take an “after” photo that features the new extensions and a happy, smiling customer.

Depending upon your available wall space, create some reasonably sized prints (4″ x 6″) that can be placed side-by-side inside a single picture frame. Check out the price of frames and choose a size that is priced right if you purchase quite a few. Then use one of your salon walls, ideally in the reception area, to build a “Wall Of Fame” of before and after customers.

Oh, be sure to get your customers permission to display the before and after shots.

Most clients are pleased to be spotlighted and the Wall Of Fame will create a lot of buzz with potential customers. It also gives a new customer a taste of what her own extensions might look like.

Have A Question? Submit Your Question (less than 200 words) to
info@donnabellahair.com

Logan Woolley

Salon customers buy what they see.  So why not fill your shop with over sized photos of beautiful girls with natural hair extensions.

For years, successful merchandisers have used photo images of people to capture customers attention.  Think of the variety of chains that provide shoppers with a unique experience because of how they decorate their stores.  Companies from Old Navy to Victoria’s Secret have built their image around photo displays scattered throughout their stores.

You may want to consider what in-store photos might do to boost the perception that you specialize in hair extensions.  Super sized posters are an inexpensive way to tell the world that you are an extension pro.

Here is what you can do.  Start by thumbing through some magazines to locate some models or celebrities who have long hair.  We have to assume that many of their hairstyles are the result of great hair extensions.  Clip out a variety of photos and be sure to use pictures that have no text or words printed over the top of the model.

Next, choose four or five photos that look like they fit together from the standpoint of design.  Consider using a variety of pictures that reflect different personalities, ages, and ethnic backgrounds.

Survey the wall space in your salon as if you were displaying pieces of art.  Consider painting the wall behind where the images are to be hung to match something that blends with the photo.  For example, if the model has a large gold necklace, a coat of gold paint would blend the wall and the photo together.  Various colored paint panels could be used throughout the salon.  If the photo is dark, use light wall color or vice versa.

Now, decide how large the photo should be to maximize the wall space.  A larger photo with little wall space is usually the best formula.

It’s time to find someone who will enlarge the photos you have chosen.  Check with your local print shops, office supply stores, or copy specialists.  My favorite posters come from postersize-it.com.  Everything can be ordered online or over the telephone.  You can even mail your photo images directly to Postersize-it.

Postersize-it has great prices.  A 20” x 28 “ paper poster is only $26.28.  Now that is cheap art.  And the same size canvas poster sells for $46.20.

Remember that depending upon your budget, you can create posters made from paper, canvas, cloth, or vinyl.

Consider two issues.  The smaller the photo the harder it is to reproduce a good large print.  And the larger the print the grainier or fuzzier the photo will be.

So turn your salon into a hair extension art exhibit.  People buy and try what they see.  If they don’t see it, they may never buy it.

Logan is founder of Donna Bella Milan hair extensions and lashes and author of the Donna Bella weblog.

Logan Woolley

It happens to every stylist.  You think that your appointment book is completely filled for the day and at the last minute, someone doesn’t show up.  Now, you have a forty-five minute block that is empty, wasted, and you are upset that the client didn’t give you any notice.

So what?  Make the best of it!

With a no-show lots of stylists, slow down, stop working and join in the conversations circulating throughout the salon.  Some will tidy up their stations or flip through recent beauty magazines and call it work.  When you do that, you loose some of the most precious marketing time that you will ever have.

Power stylists, those who are serious about building a huge business, make every minute count.  Put your forty-five minute windfall to good use by creating some future appointments from old customers or marketing yourself to new prospects.

Here are four ways to turn your cancellations into cash.

Keep Your Client List Handy

Browse through your customer list to see who hasn’t been in for a while.  Make a short telephone call to a few people to say hi and tell them that you have missed seeing them.  This thoughtfulness will result in a high percentage of appointments and turn down-time into ultra productive time.

Send Some Thank You Cards

Seventy percent of your income comes from about one quarter of your clients.  Identify which clients spend the most money and treat them special by mailing them a personal thank you note.  It’s one of the best ways to guarantee that their business keeps coming your way.  Just keep a box of cards at the salon so that you use you time wisely, until your next customer arrives.

Congratulate Successful Leaders

Collect a box of clippings from the local newspaper that showcases a person’s recent accomplishments.  Use your additional time to call their office or home and congratulate them on their specific achievements.  Somewhere in that conversation, they will ask about your profession and before you know it, you have a new customer.

Start A Facebook Page Just For Business

Sure you have a Facebook page for your friends and family but why not create a second account to promote hair fashion and extensions.  When someone misses their appointment, you have a few extra minutes to reach out to your satisfied customers through Facebook.  Invite them to tell their own fashion story online (in pictures) so people see the magic you worked on their hair extensions.

Logan is founder of Donna Bella Milan hair extensions and lashes and author of the Donna Bella weblog.

Logan Woolley