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TAKING A BREAK FROM YOUR SALON BUSINESS.

Posted September 30, 2019

Do you struggle to switch off while you’re away from work? Even while you’re on holidays? We understand how difficult it can be to step away from your salon; not only do you love what you do, but as a business owner, everything related to your business is deeply personal and has an impact on your personal finances. It’s pretty likely that even if you do take time off during the year, whether it’s a break at Christmas or a planned holiday, that you still want to keep an eye on your business without having to check your emails every day and let them impede on the time you need to relax. This is where it may be helpful to establish some guidelines before you take some time away from the business. Ensure you and your team are on the same page and we can guarantee you will enjoy your holidays a whole lot more!

 

Choose + delegate

Choose one person to act in your stead while you are away. As much as you cross your fingers and toes that nothing serious happens while you’re away from the salon, things can go wrong, and whether it’s as small as a staff not turning up for their shift or as large as an on-the-job injury, you need to know that you have a reliable right-hand person to take care of the situation and make executive decisions on their own. Ideally, in most salons, this should be your salon manager, most senior stylist or someone you have worked with for a long time as they will understand what you would want best. Discuss possible scenarios with them, and the best way to resolve them to ensure you’re on the same page. Make sure that you let all staff know who their temporary manager is (they need to hear it firsthand) to avoid any hierachy conflict or drama.

Have an in-depth staff meeting before you take off for your holiday, just to make sure your team is unified, motivated, and aware of their personal responsibilities. You don’t want to be bothered on holidays by emails like ‘where’s the spare key?’

 

Set work/life constraints

We know it would be unrealistic to recommend any salon owner completely switch off, but it’s a great idea to set up some boundaries for when you want to check email or social media. Either set a designated time each day (or every couple of days) for checking email or determine which times will be phone-free during the day. Maybe its over breakfast and dinner, maybe you only check your emails between 2 and 3pm. Whatever the boundaries you decide to create, stick to them and we are sure that you and your family or friends will appreciate it.

Request timed updates

If you feel like you absolutely can’t survive without knowing what’s going on, request timed updates from your manager – ie. daily or weekly emails sent at a certain time outlining what happened each day, and any specifics you might want to know like total takings, new bookings, retail sales etc.

These are three small and easy strategies to implement, but we guarantee it will make a big difference in terms of allowing you to truly relax on your next holiday or over the upcoming Christmas break. Being aware that you too need some time off and some time to relax is the most important step – the rest is truly up to you.

 

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