We’re heading into December, are you ready for it? Have you set your goals? Got all your ducks in a row ready to create an amazing year for you, your team and your clients?
If you’re not feeling organised and ready to take control of the new year from day one, you’re setting yourself up to fail.
Did you ever make a new years resolution and give up before January ended? You are certainly not the only one! If you’re not planning for next year now, then you’re effectively surrendering before the year even begins.
So, let’s do this – create a cracker of a plan to ensure your new year goes off with a bang. This time next year, when December comes crawling around, you’ll already be way ahead of the game and have less to worry about and more time to party.
Cash in on the potential BOOM
For most of us, the Christmas season is incredibly busy, filled with family dinners, work parties, New Year’s Eve celebrations and summer BBQs. People want to look their best for these big occasions so hair and beauty businesses typically enjoy a boom in bookings. Take advantage of this!
Look back to look forward
Do this:
- Run a Business Summary Report from 1st December to the 31st of January for the current financial year.
- Divide the figure by 8.6 (the number of weeks in that period). This will give you the last Christmas seasons average.
Now if it’s lower than an average week in your salon, spa or clinic you are in trouble! Looks like you are taking a pay decrease. You better hustle!
If your average is bang on, guess what, you came out the other side unscathed!! Take that Santa!
If you are above, look at you go, you overachiever!! But seriously well done, you deserve a pay increase for all your planning and hard work.
Remember, planning and strategy are KEY!
Look after yourself first
Like they say in the safety briefing on an aircraft, “place your own oxygen mask on first before you assist others”. The same theory is relevant in the ‘pressure cooker’ that is Christmas in a busy salon, spa or clinic.
You cannot look after your team and clients if you are not kind to your health, body and mind. This December make sure you are feeding your body with nourishing foods, not just binging on coffee and the Lindt chocolate balls that clients gift you.
Keep up your exercise routine and make sure you are allowing yourself some space to switch your brain off, even if that means getting out of the salon for a quick 15-minute lunch break.
The world is not ending!
We tend to run around like headless chickens in the lead up to Christmas, and one of the most common mistakes that we make is putting all business-related activities on hold until the new year.
I want you to treat December as you would any other month of the year. And by that I mean that you are to continue working on your business, doing your morning huddles and continuing with your team meetings. If you think about it, this is the most important time of year to keep on top of your business operations.
Christmas is only once a year. Don’t make the mistake of getting to January without having made Christmas success for your business. The opportunities are huge and it’s time for you to reap the rewards.
Read next:
- How to leverage your software during the busy Christmas season
- How to create a Christmas season of success in your salon
- How to create a Christmas season of success in your salon
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on 14 November 2019 and has been completely updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
