If you don’t know where you’re going any road will do. As a business owner – regardless of whether you are a freelancer or a salon owner, it’s really important you know where you are heading so you can take the right steps towards success. This means you need to define what success means to you, your team and your business, visualise it and communicate it.
A mission describes the purpose of your business. It paints a picture of what your business currently is and what it will be doing in the next one to three years. It’s usually a short statement that describes what you do, who for and the benefits. It should be what you and your team aspire to do on a daily basis.
A vision on the other hand is about where your business is going in the future if you carry out your mission. A vision provides guidance and inspiration and is a forward-looking statement for you to achieve over a period of five to ten years.
Both of these statements establish expected behaviour and give yourself and your team members a sense of cohesiveness. When these statements are developed well, your mission and vision will form the foundations of the culture within your salon business.
You may have had a vision for your business in the past but when was the last time you reviewed it and is it still right for the COVID-19 world in which we find ourselves?
Creating a vision statement is arguably the most important ‘big picture’ task you can carry out at the moment. This statement will keep your business moving forward in the right direction. It will help to motivate both you and your team and give you all the focus you need to get through the challenging months and years ahead. It might be hard for you to see what the future of your business will look like at the moment but remember people are willing to support those who try. Hair business owners who can offer a vision to suit their clients and their teams will be the ones who will ultimately survive.
HOW TO CREATE A VISION AND TURN IT INTO A REALITY
1 Schedule a time to brainstorm what your vision is for your business and what that future will look like. Depending on how you operate, you may want to discuss options with someone that you trust such as a business partner, senior member of the team, consultant or accountant.
2 Create a list of key words that sum up what your business stands for. This will help you create a vision that is true to yourself and help you make the right decisions. You are far more likely to succeed if you genuinely believe in what you are doing.
3 Do an analysis of your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from your salon management software compared to the previous year to see how your clients’ habits have changed.
4 Discuss with the team how they think client habits have changed and what clients now demand. Back this up with the data that you have.
5 Come up with a list of changes that need to be made to make your new vision a reality, while ensuring they are true to your key words.
6 Implement the changes and monitor the progress.
This article appears in the February 2021 Issue of Hairdressers Journal