The New Year is a great time for a fresh start, whether it’s telling yourself that this is the year you will join the gym (and keep at it) or whether you are looking at what opportunities could be in store for your business this year, January is the ideal time to create New Year’s resolutions for your salon or spa.
The biggest challenge when it comes to making resolutions is more often than not trying to make sure that you stick to them. The first couple of weeks is usually a breeze, but once February starts drawing in and we say hello to Valentine’s Day, it can be tough to keep focused on what was set at the beginning of the year. But being focused is critical to business success. So how do you go about staying focused on those New Year’s resolutions for your salon or spa when there are many amazing ideas floating around your head?
Write every single resolution, goal or wacky idea that you’d like to action this year with your business down on to a piece of paper – don’t be frightened if your list is now two double sides of A4! Now with each item on your list, ask yourself the following:
- How would you feel if you accomplished it?
- What difference will it make to your business?
- What will you lose if you don’t do it?
Whilst these questions might seem quite in-depth for a list of resolutions, the aim is to cut your list down to just 3 resolutions. These should be the most important to you and ones that will have the biggest impact from the questions above. Once you have your list of three, discard the rest. These 3 should be the ones you’d love to accomplish and ones that will no doubt make a real difference to the success of your business.
To ensure that you are focusing on the right resolutions for your business, create a marketing plan. Having a step-by-step plan of your business will allow you to see the areas your business needs to improve and the areas that you want to improve. If you don’t know what’s happening within your business, then you won’t know which resolutions will be achievable. Whilst it’s good to dream, if some goals are just too unrealistic – or still a little way off – you don’t want to be wasting time on things that aren’t yet in your reach!
Once you have your final 3 resolutions, think about how you will be able to achieve these goals in an easy-to-digest manner. If you are hoping to increase your client base over the coming year, then think about how you are going to do that. Whether it’s setting time aside to focus on marketing your salon or spa, or contacting current clients to ask them for testimonials that you can populate your website with, creating an ‘action plan’ will make your goal much more manageable.