When we ask current professionals how being their own Boss has changed their careers, almost every answer carries themes of freedom, making more money, being happy, and spending more time with family.

Summer can bring a slow down for a stylist’s schedule. With holidays, vacation plans and kids out of school, you may find that your salon suite isn’t earning the income you want during June, July and August. Here are a few ideas to bring in clients and revenue if you see sales slow down for summer:

Most salon suite clients and potential customers likely live or work within a 10-mile radius of your business location, maybe a little further in less populated areas. Going local with your marketing gives you two advantages: 1. A specific target area for your marketing efforts makes them manageable and efficient 2. It’s likely an area that you know very well so you can be really smart about it.

The excitement of operating your own salon suite can be so exciting it is hard to think of anything else.  The idea of owning a salon, making your own schedule, offering the services you want, selling product you like to use, being the boss, and the best part, keeping the profits are all thoughts swirling around in your head and most likely keeping you awake at night. 

Groupon and Living Social type sites are a popular way for salon owners and other service providers to market their businesses and attract new customers. The idea is a good one – give people who are looking for your service a reason to try your business. They’ll love it and you’ll have a bunch of new customers. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Let’s run through the pros and cons to help you make a decision on whether or not a discount site is right for your salon suite business.

Most of our Suite Salon professionals tell us they dreamed of owning their own businesses for a long time before they acted. So, how do you know when it’s the right time to make the leap? Here are 6 signs that you’re ready to be your own boss:

Warm weather is here, and that means for many families a quick jaunt to the beach.  For estheticians, it means the season’s first sunburns. Here are a few packing tips that will help you keep your skin looking great until your next facial appointment:

 1. Get a new sunscreen.  If you’re pulling last year’s sunscreen out of the Ziploc, to take to the pool, it’s important to remember that Chemical Sunscreens degrade by up to 50% of its SPF in just six months of manufacture… Crazy right?  And who knows how long it sits in the warehouse or the shelf before you buy it too!!!  So make sure you have a new bottle, and it has a hefty dose of mineral sunscreen in it as well (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) because those are the long lasting UVA/UVB and UVC protectors.  The proper dosage is also a shot glass full per adult every 80 minutes or after sweating or being in the water.  So keep your family safe because nothing ruins a vacation like a bad sunburn.

Social media can be fun, but if you’re spending a lot of time and money on social media marketing – you need it to be successful. Is it helping you keep your current customers and attract new ones? Read on for tips to turn followers into clients:

Facebook Live is a way to stream live video through your Facebook Page. There is one very good reason to try Facebook Live - It’s a great way to get attention on social for free. Because while most of your social posts are never shown to your followers if you don’t turn them into ads, the Facebook algorithm favors Live Events. Video is also the most engaging content option and your fans will get a personal notification when you go live.

When you log on to Instagram now, the first thing you see is a row of profile photos of friends and businesses you follow with colorful circles around them, right there front and center. These are “Stories” and offer a great opportunity to connect with your followers on social. Stories are essentially a slideshow of photos, videos and graphics that auto-play when you click on them. You can add to them all day long with no limit, but they disappear after 24 hours. Making your social posts into Stories keeps your business in front of followers on social media and offers a better chance they’ll actually see your content. If Stories are new to you, here’s a quick how to:

Advertising your Suite business on social media can pay off big time when your ads attract new clients or encourage current clients to come in again and again for services. So how do you make sure your ads are a success? Here are the top 10 dos and don’ts for advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

Now that you have the steps to creating ads on Facebook and Instagram and ideas and best practices for creating content and images that capture attention and customers, the final step in social advertising is monitoring and managing your advertising to make sure your ads are a smart spend for your marketing budget. There are three keys to managing social ads: testing, engaging, and knowing the numbers.

In our last post, we guided you through the initial steps to get started with social media advertising for your suite salon business. Next up, we’ll discuss how to create copy + images for an ad that gets the attention of your clients and drives them to book a service or purchase a retail product.

The good news for small business owners is that advertising to potential customers is much easier and more affordable than it’s ever been - thanks to social media. Facebook and Instagram are probably platforms that you and your customers are very familiar with, so they’re a natural place to try advertising to promote your Suite business. Ads allow you to directly link customers to book an appointment, claim an offer or purchase a retail product. Even better, you can now use the same Facebook “Ads Manager” platform to set up, create and manage ads that will run on both Facebook and Instagram.

It always starts with a sudden flash of inspiration. Something you see, do, or hear, and the next thing you know you dive head first into the waters of business ownership. Sometimes the water is warm and you enjoy the fruits of your labor. Other times it can be a cold hard venture that either makes you stronger and ready to try again or seemingly scares you to the point of immobility. Either way it can be scary.

If you are like most small business owners, you know there is no shortage of reminders that tax season is just around the corner. While you are crunching numbers, we are here to help you keep as many dollars in your pocket as possible. We have complied a list of some of the most common tax-deductions for Salon Suite Owners.

As your business grows you will garner all the success that comes along with that growth.  And you will also gain some other important responsibilities, including dealing with the ever present business cycle of price increases of supplies and product.  At some point you will need to raise your prices, and that decision can be complex.  You will need to consider how, when and why to raise your prices to absorb your costs.  This issue is a part of all businesses and is integral to your continued success, so we have a few tips that will help you make these changes as smooth and stress free as possible.   

It’s true what they say that your eyes are the windows to your soul, but the skin around your eyes are also a window to your overall skin health. The skin around the eyes is the most vulnerable to damage and aging, and a common reason that people choose to come to see me for help.

The first thing that you should do is always wear sunglasses to protect yourself from UV Damage and wrinkling due to squinting. Secondly, make sure you are applying an eye cream twice daily. I recommend you always look for eye cream formulas containing your vitamins C and E, which are antioxidants that also protect from collagen breakdown. Beyond the basics, everyone has their burdens to bear when it comes to treating the skin around their eyes, and your choice of eye creams should reflect your unique set of circumstances. I have compiled a list of common eye care concerns and some of my favorite ingredients to help remedy them.

As salon suite owners, we often know what our clients like and why they continue to make appointment after appointment. You have been in the industry for years and are very good at what you do. However, unless you are booked solid for months in advance, it might be worth taking a quick refresher and hear from clients on reasons why they stay loyal and book that next appointment. 

There are two things all salon suite owners have in common, they all have an entrepreneurs spirit and are undoubtedly great at their craft. It is key to remember…. You’re in business for yourself, but not by yourself. Working in an environment where there are many other salon owners, it is key to soak up the wisdom of a salon mentor. Identify someone who is successful and inspiring to you. Ask outright if they’ll mentor you. Finding a mentor is one of the best investments you can make in yourself and your career. Along your entrepreneurial journey you will need advice from someone who has been where you are headed and can challenge and inspire you.