A Partner in Business and in Life
At Janet St. Paul Studio for Hair and Beauty, Director of Operations Natasha McMillen helps bring her wife Janet St. Paul's vision to life, elevating every system from education to operations.
by Stacey Soble
Avoid Stagnation in 2015
Hooray and welcome to 2015! The dawn of a new year always turns thoughts to new growth and new opportunities. What do you have planned for the next 365 days? Have you thought about it? Or was 2014 a pretty good year in your salon so you’re ...
January 6, 2015
3 min to read
Hooray and welcome to 2015! The dawn of a new year always turns thoughts to new growth and new opportunities. What do you have planned for the next 365 days? Have you thought about it? Or was 2014 a pretty good year in your salon so you’re just planning to do it all over again?
If that’s the case, well, good luck. Here’s the good news: for all intents and purposes, the Great Recession is over. Jobs are being added and people are spending money again. But don’t get too excited just yet. Wages are not increasing and although consumers are spending money, they aren’t spending a whole lot, and they are very selective where they open their wallets. The economy is growing, just not fast enough. It’s still fragile, despite a decent holiday retail season. So where does that leave us.
Maybe it's no longer about the recession, it's about stagnation.
Stagnation exists when your Guests are still coming in, but it’s likely they make fewer visits and aren’t as likely to spend as freely as you would prefer. On top of that, today’s consumers are smarter than ever before. Thanks to mobile devices, they have unlimited access to information always at their fingertips. The on-demand economy is revolutionizing consumer behavior and if you don’t keep up, you will be left behind.
So what are you going to do? It’s time to sit down with your team and get creative because our slow and stagnant economic growth is not going away soon. Put your heads together and come up with three or four new ideas. Your guests are mobile, and you should be too. The beauty of trying a promotion digitally, whether on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook or via text message campaign, is 1) it’s a fast, low-cost way to get your message out, compared to newspaper or radio ads, and 2) you don’t have to worry about a long-term marketing failure. The digital age allows you to try everything and anything, measurement is instant, and if a campaign bombs, you know it right away. Tweak it on the fly, learn from any missteps and try a new idea next month.
Most importantly, make it CONVENIENT and EASY for your customers to do business with you. Note that we didn’t write, “affordable.” That’s great too, but more importantly, be in their space, at their fingertips. Do you have a mobile app? Do you allow online bookings or send out appointment reminders via text message? How quickly do you reward your best guests and your new guests for their patronage? Do you even reward them at all? It’s 2015 and if your marketing plans don’t include a mobile component, well, 1998 called and wants its promotions back.
In this stagnant economy, you will have to fight even harder for every dollar that comes from your existing clientele and the new customers you attract. Don’t wait to see how the New Year shakes out – get creative now and have some fun.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
More Salon Management
Back to Business with the Pinstripe Trend
Expand your color service menu with the Pinstripe technique. Brooks and Brooks' Marlon Hawkins walks you through the technique.
by Stacey Soble
5 Essential Hair & Beauty Industry KPIs And How to Master Them
The strongest salons, spas, and med spas know which numbers tell the real story of their business. In this practical guide, Phorest breaks down the five essential KPIs every business should track to improve retention, boost revenue, and make smarter decisions with confidence.
Sponsored by Phorest
Bella Style Salon's Ride or Die
At Bella Style Salon in Slidell, Louisiana, Director of Operations Angela Meyer tackles inventory, team management, and guest relations. Read all about her in our latest Meet the Manager.
by Stacey Soble
The Constant
Starting at Impressions front desk in 2006 when he was 19 years old, General Manager Paul Petrowsky is a seasoned professional who owner Sarah Taylor says is responsible for much of her own success.
by Stacey Soble
The Most Wonderful Time in Salons and Spas
Planning is in full swing for the most anticipated events and promotions for the 2026 holidays. As owners share their favorite ways to celebrate, they prove that a carefully planned event can also build culture, increase client loyalty, boost sales, and set a business up for a successful 2027.
by Stacey Soble
Leading with Empathy, Humility and a Mastery of Systems
When things run amok at Mane Attraction Salon, Owners Chris and Jenny Knudsen say General Manager Sami Hernandez is their go-to resource and ultimate sounding board. Meet Sami in this installment of Meet the Manager.
by Stacey Soble
Pagoda Brings AI-Powered Operations to Skinovatio Medical Spa Locations
Pagoda, a new AI-native operating system for scheduling, payments, patient records, marketing, and client communications, launches at Skinovatio Medical Spa in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
by Staff
How Women are Rewriting the Rules of Grey Hair
At a panel discussion hosted by L’Oréal Professionnel in Paris in early July, French Philosopher Sophie Galabru explored the cultural shift where women are increasingly choosing natural, personalized color results over traditional grey coverage. In an exclusive interview with SALON TODAY, Galabru and L’Oréal Professionnel Colorist Pierrick Beringer discuss this shift and how salons and colorists respond.
by Stacey Soble
Warm Leadership and Analytical Precision
At Salon Blonde, Director of Operations treats the staff as the salon's most important guests, while her wonderful 'nerdy' side, loves data, systems, and numbers. Find out how she makes Salon Blonde tick.
by Stacey Soble
Trotting the Globe, Forging Connections, Fostering Artistic Creativity
In an exclusive interview with SALON TODAY, Salon Owner Salvatore Minardi reflects on his past 18 months as Intercoiffure America Canada's World Talent Exchange Ambassador and how his experiences will help encourage cultural and artistic exchange and support greater engagement between ICA and the global organization Intercoiffure Mondial.
by Stacey Soble
Client Retention Guidebook
Everything you need to know about client retention as a salon owner.
Success Grown from Within
Owner Shelby Bills says her general manager, Sydney Osborne, reminds her of the power of leading with heart. Find out how Osborne became a great leader in our lastest installment of Meet the Manager.
by Stacey Soble
How Salon Leaders Can Process the Pain and Lead Forward When a Team Members Leaves Unethically
In her latest blog, Kati Whitledge identifies the five stages salon owners go through when a team member leaves the salon unethically, offering advice for each stage.
How AI Is Closing Revenue Gaps for Salons and Spas
The beauty and wellness businesses pulling ahead aren’t just working harder—they’re using AI to capture demand, personalize pricing, and convert more of every guest interaction into revenue. Here’s what the benchmark data reveals about the growing gap between AI adopters and everyone else.
Sponsored by Zenoti
The Premium Talent Magnet: The Modern Salon Playbook for Attracting Six-Figure Stylists
Stop chasing recruitment ghosts on generic job boards and start curating an elite team. Discover the framework that top-tier salons use to bypass phone tag, automate visual portfolio vetting, and attract high-earning, culture-first beauty professionals directly through real-time messaging. Turn your recruitment process into an exclusive brand invitation that keeps your highest-ticket chairs permanently filled.
Sponsored by Beautista
Five Revenue Leaks Hiding in Your Salon
Your calendar looks full, but is all of that demand actually converting to revenue? From phantom rebookings to underpriced peak hours, the 2026 Benchmark Report exposes five revenue leaks that most beauty and wellness businesses don’t even know they have.
Sponsored by Zenoti