Preparing, Reducing, and Responding to Slow Periods in Your Business

Hello, my friends. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist podcast. So, I am about to give you a really juicy two-part series, and this two-part series has to do with dealing with both sides of the spectrum of your busyness and the demand on your time. So first, today, we're gonna be talking about how to prepare your business and what to do when you are in a slower time of your business, when you're not as booked.

Then, on the opposite side, next week I'm going to be sharing with you how to prep your business and what to do when you are super booked and busy and it's overwhelming for you. And now here's the thing. I wanna make sure that no matter where, where you're at in your career, in your journey, whether you are super slow right now, kind of in the middle, or you are super booked and busy, that you take notes from both of these episodes, okay? Because your business, any business is not linear, okay?

Either of these circumstances are going to happen in your future. It's just inevitable, it is what it is. I went on a massive rant with my community recently, and I think I even put it on the podcast. Went on a big rant about stop trying to look for predictability and safety in your business, because it's not gonna come.

It's not happening, right? We can do a-a lot of amazing things, we can implement a lot of strategies, including the ones I'm gonna be speaking about today and next week. Uh, we can implement a lot of things that can create a little bit more safety, a little bit more predictability for sure, right? However, the world changes, circumstances change, things happen by chance.

And if you look at massive conglomerate businesses ov- that, that are absolutely, like, massively well known and super successful, if you look at their trajectory over their c- the course of them existing, you will see a really huge roller coaster of their profit margin going up and down, of their revenue going up and down, and then those aren't just the only metrics that you should be looking at when you're looking at a success of a business. There's so many other factors to consider. So, I want you to just make sure that you understand that your success and where you're at right now, it's not that it's temporary per se, but it can change, either for the better or for the worse, and that is okay. All right?

That is okay. And it's unreasonable to expect or hold yourself to a standard of your business only going on the up all the time. Like, people will say, some people will say, "Oh, if your business isn't growing by X percent every year, or if your profit margin isn't this, then you're failing and then your business sucks and you're not doing something right." And it is completely not true.

We all have such specific circumstances, and if you're building a business for the long term, then that is not the way that we should be measuring our success. Because measuring our success such, i-in that way is looking to build success in the short term. It's just a short-term, quick gratification situation. But when you're focusing on building a business that lasts a long freaking time, when you take a step back and you're looking at the overall vision and the trajectory of where you want your business to go, then you will understand that you're gonna have a roller coaster of good times, bad times, and that is completely okay.

So stop beating yourself up, stop panicking, and also understand that when we talk about how to prep your busine- business for slow times or busier times, that both of these things are absolutely relevant to you and you should be taking notes during this episode and next week's episode. All right? But we're gonna kick it off first with how to prep your business for slow times. So, if you're ready to get into it, let's go.

What's the tea, friend? My name's Hunter Donia, industry business educator for hairstylists, but my friends just call me Hunty. Whether it be growing your clientele, making more money, or automating and streamlining your systems, in the next 20 minutes or so you'll be hearing realistic, actionable strategies to create a beautiful career for yourself behind the chair. So if you're ready to get into it, welcome to the Modern Hairstylist podcast.

Okay, we're gonna be talking about four main ways that you can boost that bottom line and prepare for slower times in your business, if you're in those slower times. Okay? There are four main areas we are going to focus on today. Okay, so we're gonna be talking about four main ways that you can prepare and then also act when you're in slower times.

All right? So even if you're booked and fricking busy right now, I want you to listen up, 'cause this is very important for you, because this is not just gonna show you how to prepare for when this happens, it's also gonna teach you how to prevent this from happening the best that you possibly can. Number one is consistently be marketing for new clients. It's wild to me how I will see people looking for help and they'll be like, "Oh my gosh, I'm f- I'm so much slower than I used to be.

I don't know what the hell is going on," and then they'll be asked, like, "Okay, what have you done differently? Um, what is going on? Like, what do you think it's attributed to?" And they'll be like, "Well, I have been lazy on my social media.

I haven't been getting Google My Business reviews like I used to," um, et cetera, et cetera. And I'm like, "Okay, well no wonder you're not as busy as you used to be." Right? Like, you stopped, like, feeding the, the beast, you stopped feeding the bloodline of your business.

You stopped feeding the thing that literally brings you new people into your chair, right? So no wonder you're now in this slower time, you know? I mean, it's just, it's literally, it's- it- it's quite simple, really. Like, if you just stop your marketing efforts, then you're not going to breed any results.

And what people all too often do is one of the two things, okay? Number one, they'll be in a space where they feel really busy and they feel really cool and everything's great, so then they'll stop and they'll take a break, and they will be like, "I can't..." Or, or they'll be so overwhelmed that they're like, "I just have to stop and not, not market at all, because I can't take on another freaking client." And we'll talk about that in next week's episode.

But what ends up happening is, is if you take a break then you're going to clog the hose, and then when you... A- and then you're not going to be able to fill that gap in really easily because you stopped in your progress, right? The thing is, is that when you're marketing in your business, you have to remember that you're not just marketing to get a client this week or next week or this month, or even sometimes this year. You're marketing to set up the fun- foundation and the fundamentals of nurturing a lead for a long time.

Sometimes people will follow you on a social media platform or be eyeing up your website for ye- literally years before they actually decide that they want and trust doing business with you. So, you're not just marketing for now, you're marketing for a long time and you will screw yourself over in the long term if you take a break right now. So just make sure that you try your best to stay as consistent as possible. The second thing that I forgot to mention is maybe we'll get burnt out.

Maybe, uh, we are just fricking over it, maybe we just can't handle another thing, an emergency will happen in our life, whatever it looks like, right? And that's why you should have systems in place that makes you showing up really easy. You should have a system that's really easy for you to follow that doesn't take you as lot- a lot of time, or is as streamlined as possible so that way it's like second nature, or you can just sit down and you can just get 'er done really easily. You wanna create systems in your business that are there to support you in those types of times so that way this can be consistent because it has to be consistent.

In order for you to create some sort of predictability in your business and to avoid these lower times, it's important that you show up consistently. So don't stop marketing to new clients, ever. All right? Ever.

Um, and make sure that you have systems in place in which you can show up consistently, like the systems that I teach within my program. My next point is also consistently marketing to your existing clients. This is so... This is just becoming so much more increasingly important and it's such a massively missed opportunity.

There are so many books, there are so many studies and surveys and all the things that are out there written about how the majority of businesses, they all too often are incentivizing and highly focused on new customer acquisition and not nearly focused enough on retaining their current customer base. And we will all too often take our existing clients for granted, especially if we've had them for a long time. Especially if you have a really strong base clientele, eh, right now. But here's the thing.

Number one, increasing customer retention by 5% can increase your profits from 25 to 95%, which is insane. Acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer, and I want you to think about that not just in money but also in your time, right? So, it's a lot easier as well to retain a- an existing client versus the efforts that it takes to get a new client into the door. If you can just make a little bit of effort to increase that retention with marketing, then it can really set you up for a little bit more sustainability in the long run, and it can prepare you for when maybe things are a little bit slower.

A great example of this is using email marketing in your pre-visit and post-visit experience, and the reason why I say that this is becoming so increasingly important is because we live in this digital connected era where the majority of businesses that are savvy and smart, which are the majority of businesses that we're up against nowadays, what they're doing is they are connecting with your clients every freaking day. And where are they doing that? They're doing it on the commercials on their TV, they're doing it in ads, on the computer, online, on Facebook, on Instagram, and guess where else they're doing it? In the email inbox of your client.

Right? They're making a... Or on billboards, right? You know why people do billboards?

Because even though it's ve- it might be a very simple message, right, if that company can just instill their br- their- their brand and some sort of mission in their brain, in that customer's brain, then it will increase their success and the possibility of that client either coming to them for the first time when they need that service or coming back to them by so much exponentially I mean, for example, I mean, we have Madison Reed, we have Amazon Salon, we have influencers now. Dude, these influencers are actually, like, a really big deal, like, I think that we- we aren't realizing, um, how- how much these influencers are actually affecting our industry and I hate... I... You know, here's the thing, I also want to disclaim this by saying I'm not saying any of this to scare you.

I'm not saying any of this to put you in a panic. I don't want that to happen here today. I do want to make you aware of what's going on in the world and I want you to be aware of what possibilities you have and how you can make the most successful circumstance for yourself as possible, so just know that that is my preface to all the things that I'm sharing with you today and your bi- you are not your business. Okay?

So you shouldn't be panicking or an- or getting anx- anxiety around any of this stuff, although I understand if you are, that's not my intention at all. I just want to share with you what's happening and what's possible and the opportunities that you may- may be missing right now. Right? These influencers, I literally...

I follow this, um, really large TikTok influencer and she's a makeup girl, she's not even a fricking hair girl, and she just did this absolutely massive collaboration with a box color brand. So it's encouraging and teaching our clients to do their hair at home. Right? And it's encouraging them to literally stop coming to usAnd some of these companies, like Madison Reed, they're using messaging that's literally saying, like, you don't have to spend all your money and spend all your time going to these salons anymore.

So, those are the people that are going into your clients' inboxes every day, right? Those are the people that are showing up for your clients every day. Those influencers are the ones that are showing up for your clients every day, right? So, why aren't we doing the same thing?

Because I guarantee you that your existing clients, and even the new clients who are begging for your solutions, they would so much rather be influenced by you than anybody else. They trust you more than anybody else, right? But if we're not taking the opportunity to show up in front of their faces in between the appointments, then we're losing a massive opportunity to do so, and losing the massive opportunity to serve them, right, and to make a bigger impact in their lives. So, email marketing, and also going back to contin- consistently marketing yourself just in general, on social media and in other places, right?

Email marketing in between the visits I think is so underutilized, and I teach people how to use a proper email marketing software, 'cause the one that your booking system has sucks, I guarantee it. Using a proper email marketing software can allow you to do so many advanced, personalized, and beautiful things, and it can make it really easy to stay in touch with your clients in between the appointments. And I teach a bunch of strategies and, like, a bunch of different types of emails that you can send out within my programs. We even had somebody within my program, she was able to even make an extra $4,000 in one month by just sending four emails to their existing client base.

So, this brings me into my next point, which is focusing on leveraging what is already existing in your business, like, what you already have right now, and maximizing your profit potential. When you have digital assets and when you have systems in place such as email marketing software, when you have an email list, when you know, when you have the knowledge and the tools to be able to leverage that, you can then maximize your profit potential. And then when you're in slower times, you can take the small amount of business that you have and make the absolute most out of it. You wanna be able to squeeze as much opportunity out of that as possible, especially if it's all you got and you don't have a lot to work with.

So, let's also focus on leveraging what we already have. That doesn't just look like in between the appointments and maybe selling with affiliate pr- uh, links and products, et cetera, et cetera. That also looks like when somebody is fucking sitting in our chair, let's- let's not lose the massive opportunity we have to boost our average ticket with retail sales and add-ons. Now, I'm a big...

I love me some all-inclusive packages, like, th- you guys know that that's my jam, that's my tea. I freaking love it. I don't think it's for everybody, but I do think it's freaking powerful and amazing. But that does not mean that we can't build an av- that ticket on top of that, 'cause we're adding on the extra-long scalp massages, honey.

We're adding on the deep conditioning treatments. We're adding on all of the shampoos and conditioners, okay? Because you don't have any other opportunity besides when that person is sitting in your chair. There's no more powerful opportunity for you to be able to sell something to somebody.

And yes, you are fucking selling it. It's okay. Sales is okay, all right? Embrace the fact that you are in sales.

If you don't sell something, you can't make an impact in somebody's life, and you can't serve yourself either, or your family. So, what's the tea? We just gotta get comfortable with the fact that we're salespeople, all right? When you have that opportunity, when you have somebody in your chair, looking at you face to face, completely focused on their hair, the problems that they're having with their hair, wanting to replicate the amazing results that you've given them, right?

And trusting you as the expert, that is a massively beautiful time for you to raise your average annual income by so much. There is massive opportunity for you. I- I have people in my s- my program who are literally making an extra $50 to $100 per day by focusing on increasing that average ticket. And this is without more clients or without a price increase, okay?

So, start selling retail and start looking at add-ons. Look at your schedule ahead, especially if it's in a slower time right now. If you only have, like, two clients booked i- in this week ahead, fucking focus on making those appointments the most insanely profitable and also impactful services that you can possibly make them. Increase that retention, blow your client out of the water, and then also prepare them to replicate that style at home, because that will increase their retention, and you will get more money in your pocket from those retail sales.

Focus on people's pain points. Focus on the season. Um, diagnose people with whatever... Not actually, right?

Not medically. I'm saying diagnose people's issues and figure out what the source of it is, and then show them what your solutions are, and make the most out of the fact that you can make more money whenever you want. You just gotta be comfortable with selling. I have a whole other episode about that.

I think it's like, my, like, one of my first, like, 10 episodes, if you really wanna scroll down. Taking your current clientele, leveraging the shit out of it the most that you possibly can is absolutely powerful, okay? So, make sure that you are prepared to do so, you have the knowledge and skill set to do so, and you practice getting uncomfortable and doing it over and over and over. And don't- don't give up on it, okay?

Don't give up on it. Just take what you have now and make the most out of it. My last piece of advice is going through an exercise for yourself, and sitting down and literally, like, writing out, "If I had no clientele, like if I was starting from scratch tomorrow, today, whenever, and I had nobody coming into the door, what could I do to get a client into my chair," right? Sitting down and literally just asking yourself that question and just brain dumping all the ideas you have.

You know, it's insane what people can do when... What our brains can do when we're in survival mode. When our brains are in primal survival mode, we can come up with some really creative, insane ideas. So, I, I would recommend that you sit down and you literally just meditate for a second, white space, no distractions, and you challenge yourself to get creative and put yourself in the case scenario you literally have no business, so what are you gonna do?

Right? What can you do? And if that means fricking handing out your business cards at the fricking mall, then that's what it fucking means. So, go ahead and sit down and do that exercise for yourself, see if you can come up with any creative ideas, and what that'll also show you too is that you are a powerful human being with powerful ideas and powerful creativity, and you will always have your back.

So, if you're in a state of panic in slower times, you know, you'll, y- y- nobody can take away your knowledge. Nobody can take away your creativity. Nobody can take away the powerful skillset that you have. It'll just be a nice reminder of that, and also help your brain start to warm up and get, get running, and also motivates you to take some freaking action.

And then, you know, my other little advice too, eh, you know, and I, I don't, I don't love harping on this too much just 'cause I feel like it's, it's, number one, it's obvious, and number two, I just think there's so much more power in investing in your future versus staying super conservative and scarce and safe, right? I think there's so much more power in the opposite. However, having a little bit of extra cash, always, for slower times, and, uh, like a little cash reserve, a three-month, six-month cash reserve, can really be beneficial and powerful for you. I mean, especially if an emergency happens, right?

Or if just something unexpected happens in the world. I mean, we've seen that happen in the past couple years, right? Um, having a cash reserve and really getting serious about making sure that you're intentionally building one right now, even if you have to start small, I think can be really powerful. You know, the same advice that you've gotten from everybody, the thing that you know you should be doing but you're not doing it yet, make today the day that you fucking start it, okay?

Start some system. There's some booking systems, there's some bank, uh, automations and things that you can set up in which you can make it so that it automatically takes $5, $10, whatever, out of your deposit and it puts it somewhere else safe. Do that. Set that up and make sure that you have some sort of cash reserve, because it'll come in handy when you're in these slower times, right?

My last thing is, if you know that you normally typically have slower times in your business traditionally, right? Like mostly, for the majority of us, it's January, February, right? Um, and even sometimes summer times. Plan out, ahead of time, when you're in the busy times, like when you're in holiday and everything's cool, I want you to make sure that you have planned out how you're gonna plant the seeds for success in January and February, right?

What promotions are you gonna do, what specials, what whatever are you gonna do to make it so you are taking advantage of the moment that you have now to set yourself up for the most success later on when you know you won't have as much? So, in October, November, December, maybe there's some incentive for booking at- at- with, uh, an appointment with a deposit in January and February, or something like that, right? I think that putting things in place such as that can make sure that you are literally prepped to not have a busy time, at all, you know? So, being proactive instead of reactive, which I think is a lot of what we sp- spoke about here, can be really, really helpful for you.

Okay? So, just to review, number one, I want you to make sure that you don't take a break on your marketing efforts. Getting new clients into your chair is always a consistent thing. Marketing is never gonna go away.

It is what it is. It's also gonna change, so also consistently making sure that you're always looking in ways that you can improve your marketing funnel. Um, learn, um, adjust, pivot with your marketing. That stuff never changes.

And then, you know, making sure that your systems that you have in place for marketing, your routines, whatever it may be, make sure that you have systems in place just in general that support you in being able to show up and make that as easy as possible, right? And maybe support an education that hol- that keeps you updated, right? Um, I know within my program, we're always focusing on ways that we can make it as easy as possible, and alternative ways to grow our clientele that does not have to do with social media, or leaning into what is working for you, maybe if that is social media, and maximizing the shit out of it. You can't take a break from that, okay?

Because if you take a break from it, you're screwing yourself over, not just in the short term but in the long term. Even if you think things are cool now, they may not be cool one day, and you wanna plant seeds for success today. Not later, 'cause it'll be too late later. Number two, consistently focusing on retaining your existing clients.

Sticking out from the crowd of all these other businesses that are taking away your client's attention, take back that damn attention. All right? You're the expert. You're the one that they trust, and you have a lot of power to make an impact in somebody's life and to create a beautiful business for yourself where clients trust the shit out of you and could not even imagine going somewhere else.

Focus on leveraging the people that you have now. Maximizing your average ticket. Leveraging possibly affiliate marketing, right, in between the appointments. Selling retail.

Selling those add-ons, um, and serving your clients. That's really what you're doing when you're selling to them like that. It's, you're serving them better. And then structuring yourself to set yourself up for success in the future, and also not just in a way where, you know, it's logical or tactical, where it's also emotionally supporting you as well.

Because slower times can often put us into panic mode, and we can start making really wild decisions. I have made a wild decision, multiple wild decisions, in my business when I was in panic mode, that definitely did not set me up for success in the future. Again, we are building a business that lasts for a long time. That means staying focused, that means staying calm, and that means focusing on the things that actually matter.

Not shiny object syndrome, not, uh, cr- making rash, like crazy rash decisions out of panic. So, take a breath. Know that you will be safe, know that you will be okay, and know that you have your own back. Trust yourself.

Trust yourself. You are so powerful and you have so much beautiful creativity in that brain that you don't even see. I promise you. So, maybe doing an exercise writing out what you would do if it was worst-case scenario.

To expose yourself to that, it can be really helpful t- for, uh, managing your emotions when you approach those times, 'cause I know that I need to do that for myself consistently. I need to re-regulate myself when it comes to that. And I also talked about making sure that you have a cash reserve, start building that right now, and then making sure that you're planning in advance, making sure that you're setting up yourself for success when you know you're gonna have a slower time traditionally. Okay, so next week we're gonna be talking about how to prepare yourself for busy times.

This brings a whole different set of issues, my friend. And even if you are slow, like I shared with you, I want you to make sure that you are preparing your business for its next level of success, because if you don't, you're going to make y- all of your hard work and efforts to make your business successful are gonna go to complete waste, and you're not gonna be able to maximize the potential that you have and the opportunities that are being given to you. Make sure to tune in to that episode. So much love to you.

I hope that this was helpful. If you enjoyed this episode of the Modern Hair Stylists podcast, go ahead and please leave me a five-star testimonial wherever you're listening to this. I would really, really appreciate it. It helps me reach more beauty professionals just like you, and make an impact in their lives.

I appreciate you helping me within that mission. So much love to you, my friend. Peace out, girl scout. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2023 Hunter Donia LLC.