Nadine Dilong If you haven’t already done it, it’s prime time to put a fresh business plan into gear that champions the growth of your business and expansion of your brand. ABIA Hall of Fame inductee and professional beauty business coach Caroline Nelson shares her ultimate tips on going for business gold in 2018:
1. Master time management
Hopping from task to task without direction and leaving tasks unfinished is a recipe for time management disaster. Instead, create a schedule, plan or to-do list. If you’re an active therapist, then it’s important to block out time that you can dedicate to working on your business. Squeezing a few minutes here and there between appointments will ultimately fail — so allocate specific time to business management to set a strong foundation and direction for you and your staff to follow. And try not to take work home — with a good time management plan, your work can (and should) be completed during business hours.
2. Create an A-team
Transform your staff into a team of experts — not just employees who perform services. A strong beauty business is built upon experts who can solve client skin concerns. Equip your staff with the latest treatment technologies, a quality skin analyser, high-performance cosmeceuticals, and most of all — training, to effectively deliver on the “Brand Promise” you proudly promote. As the business owner, you are responsible for the training and development of your team, so invest time and money thoughtfully. Be an inspirational figure to your team: educate, praise, celebrate and always reward!
3. Develop client profit pathways
It’s important to know your audience and clearly define your ‘target customer’. Your business exists primarily to make money and profit, but this will only occur if your customers needs are truly met. Identify and understand your customers needs, concerns, purchase behaviour and product usage.
For example, do you have a LED Light Therapy Machine? Technologies like LED allow you to seamlessly upgrade and upsell during a client visit to not only transition them on to new services but enhance their results and achieve their skin goals!
Possessing versatile and results-driven equipment whilst having a good grasp of these customer elements will allow you to strategically market specific services and products to those more likely to buy.
4. Reach your Personal Best
Developing yourself is a crucial investment into your bottom-line profitability. Every successful entrepreneur I’ve ever known is on top of their industry by subscribing to magazines, journals, reports, newsletters and industry publications. They attend seminars and symposiums to sharpen their skills, stay up to date with the latest in treatment trends and beauty equipment and they understand that they can always learn more.
But what really sets an entrepreneur apart is that they seek expert help and support for reaching their goals, and they are able to quickly adapt and implement improved methods that are suggested. All successful business people, like athletes, have a coach to help them improve their skills to reach their personal best. This is a fundamental part of competitive business — if you truly wish to achieve your highest profit potential.
Take your business to the next level in 2018 by calling Caroline on (07) 5528 9440 to learn more about her award-winning coaching services.
