The Hidden Barrier to Salon Success – And How to Overcome It

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Posted June 4, 2025

At Hair & Beauty Australia (HABA), we know that pricing is a crucial piece of your business strategy. That’s why we’ve created comprehensive tools like our guide to raising your prices strategically, helping salon owners confidently take control of their profit margins.

But once you’ve addressed pricing, what’s next? The real driver of lasting salon success isn’t just financial, it’s your people. Your team is the lifeblood of your business, and without a high-performing, emotionally resilient team, even the sharpest pricing strategy won’t deliver sustainable results.

As part of our ongoing commitment to strengthening the foundations of hair and beauty businesses across Australia, HABA is proud to collaborate with leading voices in the industry. This month, we’ve partnered with Fiona Spence MBA, a life coach, hypnotherapist and award-winning trainer who specialises in building resilient teams within salon environments.

Why Team Culture is Your Business’s Backbone

Running a salon is demanding. Long hours, emotional labour, and the pressure to deliver excellent service, day in and day out, can wear down even the most passionate professionals. Many salon owners come to us feeling like they’re doing everything right. They’re investing in training, maintaining a high standard of work, and putting their clients first, yet they still struggle with staff turnover or low morale.

The reality is this: even the best pricing, branding, and marketing efforts can be undermined by poor team dynamics or burnout. According to Fiona, your salon’s success hinges not only on how well you lead your team but on how well you support and develop them.

Here are five key reasons salon professionals leave and what you can do to change that.

• They Don’t Feel Valued

While pay is important, feeling seen and appreciated goes far deeper. Stylists and therapists are often juggling full columns with limited breaks and ongoing performance expectations. In this environment, a lack of recognition, whether verbal, structural, or emotional, can lead to disengagement.

A culture of appreciation doesn’t mean constant praise or performance-based rewards. It’s about regular check-ins, clear communication, and ensuring every team member knows they matter.

• They Can’t See a Career Path

Your most skilled team members want to grow. If your business doesn’t offer clear opportunities for development or progression, they’ll look elsewhere.

From skill-building workshops to leadership pathways, creating a culture of growth signals to your team that there’s a future for them within your business.

• The Team Culture Is Emotionally Draining

Salons can be highly emotional spaces for clients and staff alike. Unresolved tension, cliques, or poor communication can quickly impact morale. A negative or inconsistent team culture won’t just lead to resignations; it can affect client experience too.

Creating a supportive workplace culture takes active leadership. Training in communication, conflict management, and emotional intelligence is essential, yet often overlooked in small business ownership.

• Burnout Is Taking Hold

Burnout isn’t always obvious. It can look like impatience, withdrawal, or a drop in energy from previously high-performing team members. If your staff, or you, are feeling physically or emotionally exhausted, it’s time to pause and take action.

A well-paced schedule, built-in breaks, realistic KPIs, and access to wellbeing resources can make a significant difference in team retention.

• They Don’t Know How to Manage Emotional Load

Hairdressers and beauty therapists often serve as informal counsellors to their clients. Without the right tools and boundaries, this emotional labour can quickly become overwhelming.

Teaching your team how to navigate emotional conversations, manage boundaries, and protect their own mental wellbeing is not just good practice, it’s essential to their long-term sustainability in the profession.

The Real Fix? A Culture of Support and Growth

As Fiona puts it: “The answer isn’t pushing harder or offering a pay rise in panic. It’s building a team culture where people feel heard, supported and valued, not just as employees, but as humans.”

When you invest in your team’s emotional wellbeing and professional growth, they’re more likely to stay, contribute, and elevate your client experience. And that’s where real business growth begins.

If you’re ready to create that kind of culture, one simple way to start is by building your own life coaching skills. This September, Fiona is running a brief Hypno-Coach Training Program designed to give you powerful tools, fast. You’ll learn how to spot and handle common patterns like perfectionism, people-pleasing and emotional dependency – the things that quietly drive staff burnout and conflict.

You’ll also learn how to manage emotional conversations without taking them home with you, and how to support others without draining yourself. HABA members receive an exclusive discount, and there’s also a limited-time early bird offer available.

Meet the Expert: Fiona Spence

Fiona Spence MBA is a highly sought after life coach, hypnotherapist, and award-winning trainer with a deep understanding of the salon industry. Through coaching and team development programs, she helps salon owners build emotionally intelligent teams that thrive without burnout.

Connect with Fiona:
Website
Life Coach Training
Instagram: @fionaspence_noexcuses
LinkedIn
Email: fiona@fionaspence.com.au
Mobile: 0422 357 827

At HABA, we’re committed to providing hair and beauty professionals with expert-driven insights that make a real impact. We engage with industry leaders, so you don’t have to second-guess the support you’re getting. Because when your business thrives, so does our industry.

Need help building a stronger salon team?

Reach out to the HABA team or explore our member-exclusive resources today. 02 9221 9911 or email info@askhaba.com.au