Ten Tips For A Better Business – Hair Life with Nathan Plumridge

In this episode Nathan talks about the ten biggest business learnings he’s had over the last 24 years, but more specifically from the last ten years. KEY TAKEAWAYS Competitors can be your best source of revenue. I was terrified of the competition when I first started as a hairdresser and meant I worked 6 days a week doing 12 hours shifts. After I started meeting my competition, they all seemed to be doing the same as me. But after a while I realised there are plenty of guests to go around and some guests don’t suit on salon but will suit another. Fear is what kills us – tell it to take a running jump! The last three years have been my most fearful time in business because we scaled up which meant more pressure to impress the guests, I had to scale up my team, and I had a family within the last 10 years which added an extra fear factor I’d never felt before. Since listening to Tony Robbins and doing a few of his courses like ‘The Power Within’ which teaches you to notice internally what’s going on and utilising your strengths, I’ve become more fearless, it’s enabled me to snap out of fear and stop worrying about the things that used to keep my up at night. People buy people not services. Ultimately we’re a service industry, but there are team members who have an innate ability to build incredible relationships with their guests, who they often keep for life. The hairdressing industry is an incredibly personal service, it’s like wellness on a huge level. Build a really good consultation service (in the hair, beauty or fitness industries), this will enable your team to get on with doing what it does best. Retention is easy. There can be a very high rate of attrition within hairdressing, some people like to try out different salons. It’s so important to make a great first impression so guests come back two or three times. Once they’ve come back a few times, they’re now part of your family. Don’t only concentrate on finding new business, remember your loyal guests, don’t take them for granted. Give them the new client service every single time. Great people lead to great results. Hiring has been the hardest thing for me over the last 24 years. Without great employees you can’t have a great company. Ask if the person feels right, have they a skill set, does it look like they can talk to a client well, are they going to fit with the business? We’ve all made bad hires and they’ve all had significant impact on the business. Use technology – We’ve started using the Myers-Briggs 16 personality traits as a tool to look at the perfect energy stylist. Business is maths. Revenue + Expenses = Profit, therefore every single business decision that you make is a maths problem. If you don’t like maths and you don’t have plans to hire a bookkeeper you’re going to have a bad time. I learned fairly early on that having a decent accountant/bookkeeper and leaning your numbers to know where your business is is a huge benefit, especially now costs for everything have gone up. One too many is the only way to scale. We’ve grown over the last 24 years by employing more stylists than we’ve often needed sometimes. There’s a risk involved there, especially around cost, but you can only grow your business by employing or having more hours that you can sell otherwise you’ll plateau. Alternatively, do you want to grow? Scaling isn’t for everybody. Change does not have to be scary. Change happens every single day, particularly in a hair salon and particularly in the past couple of years. You navigate constant change on a daily basis, it comes with the territory, but your core business never changes. What changes are people’s expectations, services we offer, your team, the business landscape. Change is exciting, it keeps your business evolving and growing. Perfectionism is lethal. I want things to be perfect all the time, but there’s no such thing. You’re better off with a kick-ass half than a half-assed whole. Get started and get perfect later. I’m 24 years into a business and I’m only feeling now that I’m becoming the boss I always wanted to be. Love what you do. People say life is short, but I’m not sure it is. I’m 45 and I could potentially live to 110-130, I’m not sure if I want to, so let’s say I live to 90, that’s the whole of my life again. I lean new things all the time but one thing I’ll never lose is my love for the hairdressing industry. Everything I’ve talked about in this podcast is about people at every single level.   BEST MOMENTS ‘These valuable business lessons have played a crucial role in our ability to survive as a business and thrive as a company. But it’s also given me the ability to enjoy a flexible and incredibly rewarding lifestyle as a salon owner and entrepreneur.’ ‘Reassess your business every year.’ ‘Having children changes everything. Your responsibility suddenly increases.’ ‘Don’t let fear destroy your dreams.’ ABOUT THE HOST Welcome and thank you for reading this, I’m Nathan Plumridge salon owner and Hair Stylist. I’ve been in the industry for nearly 30 years and have been a salon owner for 23 of them. I have been fortunate enough to work and learn with some of the biggest names in the industry and this has given me the experience and drive to now be here with you sharing my experiences. CONTACT DETAILS  www.hairlifeshow.com Instagram is @nathan.hairlife  Email me at [email protected] show was brought to you by Progressive Media