The Two Phases Of Struggle In A Hairstylist's Journey To Success

So, like I said, we're gonna start off this class with learning about the two phases of struggle on a hairstylist path to success. All right? So, the very first thing that I want to cover as far as this goes, is adopting automations and systems is crucial to stay in tune with the rapid shifts of the industry, and to meet the evolving standards and duties required for sustained success. All right?

There are two phases of struggle on a hairstylist journey to true work/life balance and wealth. All right? The phase number one is growing the clientele. Okay?

Phase one in your journey to true work/life balance and wealth is growing the clientele, right? We all have to go through this phase one as beauty professionals, right? Phase two is actually scaling the success once you have actually grown the clientele, which brings on its whole set of unique, sophisticated issues. Everybody thinks growing the clientele and being booked and busy is all there is to it, when in reality, you have your own set of problems and stress in phase one, and you have your own set of problems of stress in phase two.

They're just different problems. However, they can be solved in the very similar ways. Okay? So, let's break down these phases a little bit more, so that way you can maybe identify which phase you're in right now.

So, phase one, here is what those of you in phase one are normally up against right now. So, specific to right now in today's day and age, y'all in phase one are up against, number one, clients have more options now, more than they ever had before. With this digital era, it's very easy for clients to go on Instagram and Google and Yelp, and find and shop around for tons of options, right? There are tons of Instagram hairstylists who are posting beautiful hair on their feed, right, and have great portfolios, and are out there in a digital presence.

And your client can be very discerning, because they have so many ways to shop around for hairstylists, right? So, you're up against the fact that your client can be very picky and choosy and, and especially in a saturated market, even if you are in a small town, right? Then we have stylists who are more educated and competitive now more than ever. So, for example, you're in this class with me right now, right?

So, business education is so much more prevalent now, and these people who are coming right out of beauty school can start to build up their books really quickly and sufficiently with some basic marketing acumen, right? People are getting smarter, and us as stylists are getting more skilled and more savvy. And so therefore, your competition and standing out from the crowd has become a little bit more difficult for us, right? So therefore, it's gonna make growing a clientele very hard because of the over-saturation and the, uh, the intense competition.

And then companies compete with your clients for do-it-yourself hair care, right? So, we have Madeleine Reed, who is literally marketing with, with online advertisements and EMA marketing and, and commercials, saying, "Hey, you don't need to go to the salon anymore. We're going to create you a custom formula just for you, and you can get on a call with one of our team members, and they're gonna show you exactly how to apply this yourself for a lot cheaper than you get it done at the salon." Right?

So, your clients are getting marketed to in that way, and then being d- been being pulled to want to do that. And then you also have these YouTube and TikTok influencers teaching your clients how to do their own hair at home, right? So, because of what is happening right now, like these are very specific to today's day and age, this phase of growing the clientele has become very, very, very hard, and it feels like an impossible uphill battle, right? Phase two, for those of you who are in phase two, this is what you are up against right now.

Client expectations around communication are extremely heightened. Clients are expecting responses immediately, very quickly. Actually, studies and analytics show that poor customer service, 68% of customers will leave a business because they feel that the company is indifferent to them. And their definition, the current- current consumer behavior today, their definition of a fast response time is within 10 minutes.

So, if they're not getting an immediate response, then they are viewing that as a poor customer service experience, which is increasing the likelihood of that person m- discontinuing doing business with you. And so for you, in phase two, where you are booked and busy, you're getting a lot of inquiries and you have to deal with a lot of communication, there's a lot of a higher pressure and a higher standard for you to getting, be getting back to everybody in a quick amount of time, right? Then you have post-pandemic. So, post-pandemic, people are heading back to offices now more than ever.

I mean, the, the back to office pushes are getting just more and more and more intense as we move along. Um, and people are enrolling their kids in after-school activities, making schedules more demanding throughout the week. So therefore, you know, you and I, most of the time, most of us don't wanna work, um, afternoons, evenings, and weekends. Right?

We wanna work mornings, and we wanna have off on the weekends, right? But because of our s- uh, of our client's standards and their availability becoming less and less and less, um, accommodating to those hours, we feel the pressure to have to work schedules that are really not great for our work/life balance, and our passion, and our lifestyle, et cetera, et cetera. Then we have ... And then also, you have the inability to fit in your existing clients because you have so many that you have to manage and have to be, uh, fulfilling on and booking as well, which then will also bring you to the inability to fit in new clients, although essential to inevitable- because of inevitable churn.

So, you should always be able to get a new client into your chair, because on average, you are going to lose, inevitably, because of, uh, just natural causes, you are gonna inevitably lose, on average, about 20% of your clientele every single year. So, if you're in a space where taking one new client feels like you would bust by the seams, and you shut off your flow for new clients, then you are slowly killing yourself. Not right now, but in the future. And for you to be able to raise your revenue and your income overall, you need to be able to have significant price increases, and you need to be able to have a flow of new clients who are fresh and new to you, who are willing to pay those higher prices to replace the people that you lose with those price increases.

So, it's massively important that you can fit in new clients, but I get it. When you're in phase two, it feels absolutely impossible. I've been there, done that, trust the leaf. And clients aren't willing to wait as long for an appointment nowadays.

So-People will just go to the stylist down the road who is, who seems to have the, uh, uh, availability tomorrow, who seems to have the great skill set that you have, and post the same work that you do, 'cause everybody can post a pretty picture of hair nowadays. Everybody can take a balayage class really quickly and easily online for free now, right? So, that is what you're up against if you're in phase two. Is everybody here with me?

So, say yes if you're here with me still, um, in the comments, and if this all makes sense so far. And I wanna visualize this for you. So, to review, the two phases of struggle on a hairstylist path to success is, number one, you're in the phase of growing the clientele where you feel a little bit unstable in your business and your income, and there's a lack of growth. Then you get a little bit of momentum, so maybe you've invested in some marketing acumen.

You understand how to strategically, um, uh, uh, market yourself and focus on the right pain points and messaging and marketing to be able to get ideal clients and services to request you. So then, you finally get some momentum, but then you get booked and busy to where you can't fit in any new clients, and then you feel like you have this glass ceiling that you can't break through, and there's a lot of friction and stress in your business, because you are communicating nonstop, and it's coming from all angles, and you feel like you're on this never-ending hamster wheel. And you may be making great money, but you're not really that happy. So, that is what the two phases of struggle when it comes to a hairstylist journey of success actually looks like.

So, I want you to tell me, so which one do you think that you relate to more? So in phase one, if you're in phase one, growing the clientele, growing an ideal clientele with services that you love feels overwhelming and like a never-ending uphill battle. You feel like the hamster wheel of content creation feels endless and impossible, and even when you're showing up consistently, you don't get the results that you're looking for or that you hoped for. If you're in phase two, if you're trying to scale the success, or if you're stuck in scaling the success, then you're overwhelmed by client communication, oftentimes stressed about getting back to them after work hours.

You've hit a glass ceiling that you're not sure how to break through, and you're making okay money but working overtime, both doing the hair and working on the business to make it happen. So tell me, what phase do you relate to the most? There can be some overlap here. People in phase two still sometimes deal with phase one, because you still have to always market yourself, right?

Which adds to the overwhelm that you already have. Right? So, a lot of you guys are in phase one. Some of you guys are in phase two.

Some of you are in both, it feels like. Um, I totally get where you guys are coming from. I have been in both of these phases. I moved to a completely new area where I had to build my clientele completely from scratch, and then I blew my clientele up to three and a half months book solid with five new client requests a week, and then I got to phase two, and I was completely overwhelmed with all the responsibilities that I had to sustain that success.

And so it wasn't until I implemented automations and systems to actually break through both of these phases to finally get to a point of sustainable work/life balance, making great money, but not working my ass off to make it happen Now, the common denominator between both of these phases is time. The common denominator between both of these phases is your lack of time. You don't have enough time to focus on activities that promote growth and retention, or even to simply enjoy a better quality of life without sacrificing or burning out. Right?

And so, how do we get back that time? The solution to your lack of time to make this stuff happen is creating systems that help you get back your time while giving your clients a great experience that stands out and meets what customers expect today. So I'm a big firm believer that you can have the best of both worlds, and you can, you can, uh, simultaneously create systems that create boundaries, that automate things, and takes that, of that pressure off of your plate, but still gives your clients an excellent, amazing experience that stands out from the crowd, that is staying a- uh, ahead of the curve, if that makes sense. All right?

So, we are not alone in this. I'm not alone in this. The way that I understand and study these types of solutions and how I bring it back to you, my entire education is based on real data and feedback and studying what Fortune 500 companies outside of our industry are actually doing. And companies outside of our industry, they are focused on systematizing and automating and streamlining as much as possible.

So, 90% of organizations believe that business process automation is crucial for digital transformation and keeping up with the pace of change in customers' needs and wants. And 80% of business leaders reported accelerating their work process automation in the recent years as well, because they understand how important this is. So as per usual, Fortune 500 companies are lightyears ahead of our industry, because a lot of us don't take our businesses seriously I know that's not you, my friends. And the good news is, though, is that while the standard has changed and the world is ever-changing, we are now empowered with the tools, resources, and education to keep up with it, too.

You are here with me.

End of transcript. © 2024 Hunter Donia LLC.