Talking with a new client the other day she asked me whether anyone else was saying their clinic was feeling a bit wintery, when she explained to me what that meant I identified it as in need of a freshen up, both decor wise and system wise.
It struck me that our bodies can be paralleled to our businesses, or if you like the other way around. When was the last time you detoxed your business? Have you ever thought to flush out the toxins naturally and safely from your Clinic? What about doing a detox of your management style and systems… could your Clinic spending go on a diet? Are you actually spending your profit on the right things for your business and you? Do you really need that new pair of shoes or boots, or could the money go to getting the outside of your clinic or salon water blasted and freshened up with a lick of paint?
We can all probably relate to our bodies being a bit sludgy, slow and downright tired – you know that feeling we as business owners know too well as the staleness of the same old day in day out and in need of a good long holiday to recharge the batteries and freshen up. We know there is a definite need to purge our system of the sapping toxins and bugs that plague us when we don’t look after ourselves as well as we should.
So here’s the point, I thought hell… if we need to do a detox of our bodies regularly (and we should!) then we really should do the same for our businesses.
I challenge you to ask yourself… does MY business need a detox? Could it do with a new diet and shape? Maybe it just needs a minor clean up or a major clean out?
I would argue that ALL businesses could benefit from a check-up and a detox of sorts… from being maybe a little stale, bloated and weary to the very unfit, sludgy and almost needing some form of hospitalisation to nurse it back to good health. A little dramatic I know, but think about your business… on a scale of one to ten where would you rate it for healthiness? One meaning get me to the hospital quick, and Ten being it could run two marathons in a row because it’s very healthy and at the top of its game?
If you’re having troubles establishing an accurate rating for your Clinic try measuring it against these four areas below…
1. Client Care Systems: Do you know the lifetime value of your client? This is where you calculate how much each client is worth to you over the time they are a client (average 3 yrs). Do you have a standardised bullet proof easy to use system for looking after these clients to keep the returning regularly and having them not even considering a change of salon or clinic? If you don’t have anything standardised for looking after your clients, a detox and/or refresher is in order.
2. Team: Are you happy with your team? Do they love coming to work each day? Are they always motivated to learn more and grow your business all the time? What about how they treat their clients? Are you happy with their client care standards? Could your team do with a detox too? It may surprise you to know that generally the way your team behaves and displays their attitude is a reflection of how you as the owner and leader behaves and displays your attitude. Many owners are waiting and hoping that their team will change… and many team members are hoping and waiting for the owner to change. Take a look at how you view and do things, do a detox and make the first move to change and watch your team transform into the people you really want to work with.
3. Financials: Are you in control of and managing your financials efficiently… or do you hope and pray that there is some money left at the end of the week… This area tends to be the most neglected and in definite need of a detox in many salons/clinics. A detox includes understanding the fundamentals of your P&L or as it is now known … your Statement of Financial Position. Also needing attention for many clinics is the area of KPI’s and measurements of results against targets set. Also knowing your most profitable services, managing your pricing structure, taking care of cash flow and your profitability are all important tasks for the modern day clinic owner. It just takes systems and a basic understanding of where you are financially in your business that enables you to project to where you want to be.
4. Marketing: Do you advertise? What about Newspaper, Radio, Yellow Pages? Possibly fliers, posters outside the clinic, Newsletters etc… If so do you measure the results of these? Many clinics think that marketing is about putting ads in the local paper or sending a photocopied newsletter to their client database… many owners spend good hard earned money on ads and advertising without measuring the success or failure of the promotion. Detox your Marketing, plan for results and test the market and measure everything so you know what works for you and what doesn’t.
There you have a good start on detoxing your clinic…. you decide what sort of detox you need, is it a quick simple clean out that tweaks your systems and improves your bottom line or do you need a full detox program where you analyse all aspects of your clinic with view to cleaning out, refreshing and improving all the functions to create a higher performing unit.
I bet if you take a long look at what you do as a whole, there will be areas that could and should be improved. Don’t just take it all on yourself, get the team involved and make it a fun day of brainstorming about where you could improve and how you are all going to contribute to the improvements. You’ll all have a new lease on your working life and your clients will love you for it and reward you with increased spending and loyalty. So what are you waiting for?
