Ivan Zoot knows a thing or two about running a business in the beauty industry.
He's opened, built, and sold profitable barbershops; he's founded his own line of professional products and tools; and as a business coach and educator, Zoot is committed to helping other entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
In his latest book, Ivan Says … Practical Advice for Barbers and Cosmetologists in Bite-Sized Bullets, the author compiled more than 500 quickie tips he's built up over decades of practical experience. Here are 30 of them.
1. Hire slow. Fire fast.
2. Reach back on the product shelf to hand the client a bottle. Do not create an empty space for them to put it back.
3. If you are opening a salon or barbershop, it's better to take over an existing location. Save a fortune on plumbing and electrical when they are already in place.
4. The cost of materials for a chemical service should be less than 10 percent of the service price for profitability.
5. 100 percent of your clients have hair-care products in their bathrooms. Too many of them did not buy them from you. Those were your dollars to take (or lose).
6. Dig into the back-end data accumulated by your booking app. There are valuable insights in there.
7. Hire right out of cosmetology and barber school. It avoids hiring bad habits. You can build good habits from scratch.
8. Windows are marketing opportunities. Hang posters and pictures. Leave space for window shoppers.
9. Ask your clients. An occasional client survey can reveal powerful information about your business through their eyes.
10. If you raise your service prices 10 percent and you lose 10 percent of your clients, that is winning. Same money, more freedom, more sanity.
11. Invite clients to experience the fragrance of a product by offering them the cap as if it were a wine cork.
12. Wash your windows regularly and more often than you think you need.
13. If you're too busy, you're too cheap.
14. Know your retail sales rate (clients who purchase take-home, divided by total appointments per week).
15. Hire for people skills; train for haircutting.
16. Do not give walk-ins to the rookies. Give them to the person most likely to retain the client.
17. Stay open late one night (or early one morning) per week and capture a whole new demographic.
18. Go to a hair show. Make this an annual must-do.
19. An employee handbook and operations manual will make your life a whole lot easier.
20. To know your numbers is to grow your numbers. Awareness of daily stats will help you reach your goals.
21. Once someone picks up a product, they are more likely to buy it. Put prices on the bottom.
22. Disposable in-sink drain screens are a lot cheaper than plumbers.
23. Sit in your waiting room. See your business as a client sees it.
24. Do not use the prices of another business to set the price of your services.
25. Consider demand-based pricing. Charge more on busier days and at busier times.
26. 80 percent of your clients should be rebooking before they leave.
27. Offer product swaps or credits. Trade better professional products for low-quality store brands.
28. When reading your online reviews, focus on the three-star reviews. These are the really valuable insights.
29. Offer to help out on the clinic floor of cosmetology and barber schools to observe and vet potential new hires.
30. Block out spots in your book at times when walk-ins are popular. Put fresh blood in your chair.
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