I am so fortunate/thankful to be busy. Many people complain, whine, yet do nothing about their condition. So......... with so many people wondering how I stay busy, I thought I might add my 5 cents. Inflation being what it is 2 cents won't cover it!
1st cent. It will NOT go away if you ignore it. Pulling the sheets back over your head and sleeping in is not a strategy it is a white flag. Never give up, never surrender, as they say in Galaxy Quest! As defeated as you might feel at times, take action. That is the only thing that can change anything. Learn a new technique, read trade magazines, watch tutorials, research how others have become successful. Add some of these new things to your business to shake things up a bit.
2nd cent. Do not read/watch the news. My husband was home in the morning, back to 1st shift for a few days and had the news on in the morning. Oh Nooooooooo, I do not watch the news in the morning or at night. It is the worst thing to start and end your day with. So many of us can get our news feeds online during our FB/Yahoo/Aol/Google/Utube time. (which is a whole other blog post!) So with these updates why do I need to fill my head and my psyche with hour after hour of negativity. Not gonna do it, can't make me!
3rd cent. There still are people/businesses doing well. My 22 year old nephew just bought a house, just as nice as mine!!! How?? College education, worked hard, played, not as hard, put thought and effort into his career path, got a great job with a highly respected software co in town, was fortunate to have parents that helped him with college, no debt, saved living at home for the last 6 months and viola. A young adult that actually listens, priceless. I also have clients that are doing well in business and still need to look good doing it. If you don't have clients in businesses that are stable seek them out!
4th cent. Offer incentives. I know I get a lot of criticism on this one but........I have clients that have supported me through some pretty tough times, both professionally and personally and now is the time to pay back these loyal clients. Just the other day, instead of taking off a clients nails when she said she would have to cut back I offered to do her fills for the price of a manicure instead. She was so thrilled and I was thrilled to not loose a client. We will revisit in a few months to adjust, but in the meantime, 1/2 of something is always better than 100 percent of nothing! Go through your database and send out a "Beauty Stimulus" post card offering a discount, make it enough to matter, and get some of those clients back that you haven't seen in a while. Do whatever it takes to keep the ship afloat! The seas will calm, they always do.
5th cent. Work on low/no cost strategies. Partner with other businesses, create an exciting Spring promotion and send a press release to the local papers. If time is what you have more of than money right now, make that down time as productive as you can. Spend time on things that will MAKE you money. My to do list every day starts with the things that will generate income. If it doesn't generate $$, it's not in the top 5 on my list. If it's not in the top 5 on my list, it doesn't always get done. I learned many years ago to get your toughest, most dreaded task finished first, and the rest is easy!
It's not all rose petals and sunshine out there but being proactive in keeping your salon and yourself busy will pay off BIG!
No comments:
Post a Comment