It’s an underrated talent, yet problem-solving know-how helps you make clear decisions during uncertain times and in many cases becomes the key tool to help recover post-COVID business. To become a rock star at solving problems, use this easy to follow guide. 1. Ask yourself, why should I care about this problem? Write down a problem…
Details
Opening a hair salon? 9 questions you must ask before opening a hair salon. Listen below as Alan Forrest Smith shares the secrets to opening a successful hairdressing salon.
Details
Don’t Open a Hair Salon Until You Watch THIS! When I opened my first hair salon I did this. I had an idea. I spoke to the landlord. I signed the lease. I sold my car to fit it out and bang … I had my first salon. Very quickly after that, the whole thing…
Details
How to generate £2k in your salon business in 7 days. A short video explains the simple steps you need to take to hit your new challenge. Summary
Details
For as far as I remember I’ve been buying health magazines, it was around 2004 I saw a free sample offer to try one of then Holmes Clubs in London, now Virgin Active. I was a student so free was great. After the trial weekend I did not sign up for the gym membership, because…
Details
Counterintuitive as it may sound your own salon business success can ruin your business. Now that you are more successful you might be dealing with bigger teams, or perhaps you have a new partner that does not always share your vision of what the next 5-10 or 20 years might look like. For example, when…
Details
We all make mistakes, anything from being late to the meeting to entrusting a person to do the job they are not suitable for. Usually, no mistake can be such that can not be solved, often a simple conversation or a carefully worded email can undo the damage, yet if you have ever felt you…
Details
We hear so many times how staff can create serious problems for the salon owners like you. The question is, is it the team or the way you might be approaching your team building that could be creating problems? I’ve asked Alan to summarize some ideas that will make your team building easier. Here they…
Details
Do you have a hidden team within your team? Could your salon stylists, receptionists, managers and juniors all work together in harmony to build the salon where not only you enjoy but where all your employees thrive and become part of your salon success? The most-engaged employees work together in ways companies don’t even realize.…
Details
In 1979 I did my first marketing. It was a couple of fly posters and tickets I design for my punk band, Clone Youth. It was easy. Get big posters made up and stick them where the people you wanted to come to the gig were hanging out. Marketing doesn’t get any more basic than…
Details
When my favorite Italian cafe, Carluccios, closed down I was disappointed, but not surprised. Carluccio’s had the best location in our very wealthy village, but while other casual dining places in thrived, they had to close their doors. Is your salon also located in the best street in the busy town, or city, but struggle…
Details
What happened when one Extreme Stylist decided to break the rules of the hairdressing. A case study podcast every salon owner and stylist should listen to. Also available via Apple iTunes, follow here Salon Punk
Details
On Friday’s make sure to do this and you’ll have full cash register this weekend even if you were quiet on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Listen to the episode below and don’t forget to follow us on IGTV stories on Instagram for more stories like this. The Salon Punk
Details
How to increase your takings on Thursdays when you’ve had a quiet week? Listen to the short episode as Alan Forrest Smith explains what you can do today to make up for quiet days this week. Also, don’t miss your day by day to do list to grow your clients on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.…
Details
Did you create a list of things to be done? Did you get more clients through your door? Don’t worry I get it I understand that running a salon can be mental! So here is what you can do today – Wednesday – to get your takings up. Write another list (oh shit lol) and…
Details
How salon management will grow your salon business and create busy columns for any stylist. Listen to the short episode as Alan Forrest Smith shares the proven tips to managing your salon effectively. For more stories visit Salon Punk Podcast
Details
How do you fill columns on Tuesday? Yesterday we talked about creating a list or two on Monday’s (not my fav thing to do) but we did it. My own salon Tuesday was like this: So I would jump in my mini copper and drive over to my salon 5-miles away. The 5-mile drive could…
Details
Here’s a fact: A successful salon is a well-managed salon. But let me tell you this. A salon that has no management will struggle with things that should be easy. Let’s start with a story. First, I know I have written for a while myself but my excuse is we have been very busy trying…
Details
Sombody mentions “customer reviews” and you are probably thinking about the likes, comments and thumbs ups next to your salon’s social page profile. But if you look beyond the salon industry you will probably notice how some of the successful brands are actively bringing this social proof off the web and into the brick-and-mortar shops.…
Details
Beauty salon flyers Social media posts updated, clicked and liked Salon Ad is in the newspaper Refer A friend cards done and printed Salon website swipes in all the right directions Salon software systems – invested in the best in the market…. Do you have all kind of salon flyers and hair promotions printed, ordered…
Details
In today’s highly commercialized digital world you’d be forgiven to assume that your clients don’t care about getting another email from your salon, but, based on the official stats your clients still love receiving emails and you should use it as part of your salon promotions on a regular basis. From your point of view,…
Details
Next time you hand over a recommend a Friend voucher ask yourself, is this exploding my salon business? And if it is not, ask yourself why? After all, some 84% of consumers say they trust referrals. Sometimes all you need to turn the OK salon promotional tool, RAF in this case, into a cash-generating tool…
Details
How is it possible to increase salon income by £88,400 from one stylist? One graduate stylist did just that. Listen to the podcast episode to discover how this was possible. Tamara from Salon Punk
Details
How do you create hair salon promotions that actually work in your shop? How do you turn your salon into a proper business? Listen to this short episode as Alan Forrest Smith shares his decades of salon building and advertising experience. Yours Salon Punk
Details
How To Push Your Salon Into The Next Level .. Read if You’re Stuck Seriously – If results in your salon are the same week in, week out, year after year. No change in profits, clients, staff or anything … You’re heading for trouble. One of my favourite clients to work with are salons that…
Details
Why is my salon marketing not working is probably the biggest question most salon owners ask me? “ Alan, we do everything in our salon business but nothing works – NOTHING!” This year I saw the reasons becoming more obvious than ever before. Research reveals some shocking facts that most salon owners and marketers are…
Details
From salon management to solving staff problems; From pricing up to successful salon marketing; From running a hair salon during a bad economy to figuring out different ways to take your salon to the market, and more, during this 28minute salon group call, salon owners like you ask questions that every salon owner or manager has on their mind. Enjoy…
Details
SALON MENTOR EXTREME can transform your salon – proof below. Let’s be honest … £10,000 is a huge amount to invest in the advice and opinion of another person you hardly know. Yet that is exactly what James and Izaak decided to do at MOD SALONS LEEDS. What happened? Was it worth it? Did they…
Details
How can you make your salon shop more mobile friendly and get better results from your salon marketing? In the previous article, I have shared the excitement of how the future of brick-and-mortar shops like your salons are bright. After all with the 92% of clients wanting to continue to visit the “real” shop, it’s always a…
Details
I FIRED THEIR MANAGER … What Happened Next Unbelievable! When I started working with this salon they told me about their manager and how great she was. So, as usual, I got all the info I needed via reports and more and then got back to my salon mentor client. They asked what do I…
Details
At Salon Punk we’ve been testing what works, what does not work and everything in between for your salon, here’s what we discovered: 1. Discounting – a blunt tool of salon promotions More than any other times brands are vowing to refocus on value and service as opposed to promotions (including salon promotions), after the increasing…
Details
Emily is a 21-year old hairdresser. The problem was when I started working with her and her team was this. She was just a hairdresser. She acted like a hairdresser, worked like a hairdresser and did things like a hairdresser. Now she has completely become extreme. Here’s how. Her column was poor, average and massively…
Details
From £5,500 to £9,000 Easter time is traditionally slower for most salons. It was traditionally slow even for this salon. We changed everything. The result has been amazing. So … How do you go from £5,500 to pulling in £9,000 (both number rounded up) the weekly amount in a space of just 10-weeks? This was a case…
Details
From no clients to 63 new clients a week; From no upsells to every stylist forming a new habit of upselling, while keeping clients happy; From poor management to extremely effective salon management; We catch up with Alan over a cup of coffee (excuse the cafe noise) and ask to share some of the salon…
Details
How do you know it is time to rebuild your salon team? From stylists to salon receptionists what does perfect team mean? How do you hire, fire and promote your stylists? How do you define stylists performance and how do you keep the team spirit high regardless of circumstances? These an more questions related to…
Details
It’s Monday, I’m sleepy and recovering a small storm we had here at the weekend… my mother! I really need another week to recover from her arrival and departure! But it isn’t all bad but there is still a ton of drama that I thought you’d like to hear. Rich is a client of mine.…
Details
I’m just back from spending a day over at www.modsalons.co.uk with James and Izaak and team. #LOVEDIT! Yesterday I had forgotten what it is like to drive somewhere. Yes, of course, I have a car but a couple of years ago I decided to reduce my car usage and increase my train and plane usage.…
Details
Hire fire and recruitment… whats the answer. With personnel the key to salon business success it becomes essential that ownership and management look at ways to maximize the recruiting process. One of the most useful concepts I have found in recruiting has been continuous recruitment. I first came across continuous recruitment while doing work for…
Details
Staff in a shortage? Here are 12 really helpful tips how to deal with the crises 1. Take good, hard look at your ‘draw’ potential. Why would someone that can work at many different hair salons want to work in your business? If you are offering the same as everyone else you will get the…
Details
If your stylist leaves and take all your clients with them and the same process happens all over again every few months how much will it cost you in lost sales? While we long talked about solving staff problems there has been an official research conducted only recently that proves that bad recruitment process costs brands in…
Details
Most hair salon advertising is destined for failure because expectations are too high, budgets are either non-existent or as low as it can be. Decisions on client attractions are based on assumptions rather than proven data and client understanding. Whether you are managing your salon’s DIY marketing or have a manager in charge, ask these…
Details
Could licking stamps be the ultimate salon promotion? We all love Internet and agree that Google and the online world is indeed very powerful, but in the world of I Want everything faster than the speed of light can you cheat your competition with an old school salon marketing? This is me in our previous…
Details
Salon marketing for Christmas? Dear Salon Owner You’ve been working your butt off for the whole year to get your salon packed with customers for the serious fever ahead. Christmas is approaching, and it’s time to really own this thing – which means getting serious about salon marketing promotions for every week and days that…
Details
How One Sad Faced Stylist Lost His Way To The Darker Side Of Hairdressing By Moving 50 Yards Across The Road … and How YOU CAN Learn From It! Hey Alan here. Darren is the stylist that’s a total numbskull! And with less brain than a rare humpback whale (their brain is the size of…
Details
Q: I have a stylist who generates good results. Problem is, he is confrontational and, in a word, pisses people off. You either love him or hate him. Oh, I might add, he has a history of hypertension, which has caused him to be hospitalized more than once. I have spoken to him on many occasions and…
Details
In Recent years, according to Probeauty.org Salon industry sales in the USA alone has exceeded 40 billion USDs, and at it’s peak the sector has been growing with a healthy rate of 116%! (figures are combined number of salon establishments with payroll employees and non-employer salon establishments). But as the world economy continues to deepen into the recession, can…
Details
If you were the vice-president of marketing for a bank, (or any organization for that matter), you would probably want to poll your customers from time to time to determine why they chose to do business with your bank. We can always assume why our customers do business with us but this can be risky…
Details
… of Fat-Arsed Deadbeat Stylists In As Little As 24 Hours With These 10 Peroxide Lifting Tips 10 Simple Tips To Motivate Stylists 1. Chase a ten dollar bill. The great retail incentive for next Saturday Whoever sells a retail product wins the tenner, however, the next person to sell gets the tenner from the previous winner…
Details
Even in times of rising unemployment, employers face a skills shortage—a mismatch between available employees and the skills needed to be employees and managers. In fact number one challenge for salon owners are how to stop stylists from leaving jobs. In an effort to head-off skills deficiencies, many business communities have formed partnerships with educational…
Details
… Because Most Of Them HATE YOU! This one really drives me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why do so many salon owners let let their stylists dictate their pay? Here’s you Mr/Mrs salon owner trying to be fair and nice. You have all the stress of running a salon, looking after budgets paying the rent. All your stylists…
Details
… Right Now! Some stylists need to be taken to the front of the salon. You should then get their tools. Throw the out on the street and then … kick their backside off the premises! Be honest you’d love to do that right … RIGHT! Why is it we all have stylists that are…
Details
Hard to believe that flyer has generated over £25,000! OK this might sound simple but I do know most don’t do it the proper way. Just a week or so ago a consulting client of mine had no customers into his new business. His business wasn’t a salon, it was a carpet shop. He was…
Details