Are you thinking of investing in a machine for your salon? Are you worried about taking the plunge? Perhaps you’re on the edge or success and failure and don’t know what to do next?
I’ve heard this hundreds of times from salon owners who just don’t know what to do next. So I’m going to give you some straight talking advice which might help you turn your salon into a success story.
Where are you now?
The big question is where are you now? If you have an established business with regular clients coming through your door then you’re probably in a better place than you realise.
That’s because it’s so much easier to generate extra income from your regular clients than it is to attract more clients. So how do you generate the extra income? You can either…
- Increase your prices
- Get your clients to come more regularly
- Get your clients to spend more money when they come.
Assuming that your prices are correct, then it’s number 3 where the success lies.
How do you get your clients to spend more money?
One of the most successful ways to get your clients to spend more money with you is by offering them more advanced, higher priced treatments. This means using equipment to take your salon from a regular beauty or hair salon to something more specialised.
So instead of clients spending £20-£40 per visit, they spend double or triple that. It’s not about tricking your clients or trying to extract money from them unethically – I’m talking about giving them something they really want which they’re willing to pay a fair price for!
I’ve been offering these types of treatments for 17 years now, and I know that clients of all ages and backgrounds want to look good, and want to solve their problems. I don’t mean solve their relationship problems, I mean help with the things that you can fix. That might be getting rid of unwanted hair, improving their skin, getting rid of a tattoo, a blemish etc.
Solving a problem
Really focus on what you can solve for your clients. What are their pain points? Don’t focus on the machines which are on offer and which you think would be nice in your salon. You need to work out how you can make your clients’ lives better.
Do you do a lot of waxing? If so then your clients want to get rid of hair. Laser hair removal is a potential next step.
Do you carry out skin treatments? What do your clients tell you they want to fix over and over again? Is it acne scarring? Red veins? Sagging skin? If so then you need to offer equipment which will help you solve those problems.
If you have a large client database – then send them an email and ask them if they had a magic wand and could fix anything, what would it be? You might want to give them some examples.
The Equipment
Once you’ve built up a picture of the problem the you can get to work on the solution… this is where the machine comes in.
This is also where many salon owners start to get distracted. And that’s why it’s important to have already worked out what problem you’re solving. You can soon get baffled by all the machines on the market, the special offers and the promise of riches!
The Finances
It’s very important at this stage to work out the finances;
- How much will the machine cost you every month. Break it down to a monthly amount for example over 3 years. (You may need to get finance, if so you will pay a monthly amount)
- How much money will you generate per month.
- WARNING The profit chart the companies show you with ‘potential earnings’ are just examples, and do not mean you’ll generate that amount. In fact you may never generate what they show on the charts.
- Work out the worst case scenario – how much will you earn if you carry out just 2-3 treatments per week.
- Now work out if the equipment is affordable – and whether you’ll be making a profit. The amount of money you’ll generate MINUS the cost of the repayments = the money you’ll make.
- You might want to factor in some consumable costs (such as replacement heads / needles / tips / gels etc that you’ll need to carry out the treatment)
Now ask yourself, will you be making money even with a minimal number of treatments per week? If so then the risk is actually very small. This means you should be able to generate extra money for your salon very quickly.
The £30-£40 clients will soon turn into £60-£80 clients. This is the model I’ve used to build up 3 successful salons. Investing in equipment should not be risky. It is a calculated investment that does not need to feel scary.
Should you invest in a machine for your salon? The answer is probably YES!
If you need any help then feel free to get in touch, and I’ll be happy to help you before you embark on any big purchase. Email me here: rachael@comeandcopyme.co.uk