26-4-26

It’s almost 2026 so here’s my personal top 26 tips for a successful year.

1. Be Consistent: Irrespective of whether you are a salon owner, a hairdresser, an apprentice, a sales representative, a consultant… in fact any job you might have that is customer facing, always be consistent and maintain the highest level of standards in everything you do.
2. Be Unique: Don’t be ‘run of the mill’, make sure you create a lasting impression that clients recognise and acknowledge as this makes them understand (and accept) that you are their expert, and that generates a greater level of engagement and interaction.
3. Be Different: Make sure that you and your business ‘stand out from the crowd” create a business model that fits your own specific ethos, something that creates interest in its point of difference.
4. Be Adventurous: Don’t get stuck in a rut, if something isn’t working for you, try something new, be that a new retail collection, a new colour range, a new supplier or even just a new approach to doing the things you do daily. Change is good!
5. Be Communicative: The more dialogue you have with everyone you come into contact with, the better the relationship becomes. Talk is always the most powerful form of communication.
6. Be Social: Take a fresh look at your socials and analyse what works best for you, and then focus in on using each platform to market you and your business.
7. Be Generational: Understanding generations can help grow all aspects of a business. Having a basic knowledge of each different age group and how they engage with brands and products helps achieve greater sales.
8. Be Telling: When talking to clients about products and services, avoid the hard sell and deliver information with a soft tell that encourages dialogue and engagement.
9. Be Fun: This world we live in is a creative and exciting one, and having fun makes the interaction between everyone so much more enjoyable. (Always make sure the fun doesn’t overtake the important messages).
10. Be Inspiring: In a world where consumers are bombarded with information about products, it’s down to you to make sure your clients are inspired by what you have to offer, make sure you talk about products with your expert knowledge and build on the relationships you have with clients.
11. Be Experiential: Create an environment that affects as many of the senses as possible, from the retail areas to the backbar and all touch points in the salon, encourage your clients to feel confident about picking up products and asking questions about them.
12. Be Multi-Channel: In this day and age it’s critical for businesses to capture sales across all mediums, from shelves in the salon to web shops that are easy to navigate and order from.
13. Be Open to Change: Something new brings with it opportunities for business growth, clients get curious, team members get excited, and with that, sales will grow.
14. Be Challenging: Don’t shy away from asking client why they choose brands that you might have a better alternative of. Sometimes the switch from one product to another happens because the challenge created an awareness of what’s available as an alternative.
15. Be Creative: Use your creativity to deliver change, not only in day to day hairdressing but also in your clients mindset about home-care maintenance and why what you have to offer is the perfect choice for them.
16. Be Forward Thinking: Always have in mind the next visit and the one after that, and wherever possible create a positive feeling about ‘what’s coming’, be that a new product launch, a new colour trend or a new service that can help grow revenue.
17. Be Incremental: Don’t stick to the same old retail route, look at products and services that can add additional monies to the daily takings. Anything from invisi-bobbles to skin care, umbrellas to costume jewellery, anything that can additional revenue has to be explored.
18. Be Price Conscious: Remember everyone has a ‘limit’ to what they spend on products and services. Having a price structure helps capture potential sales from all generations, from entry level (inexpensive) to mid market and high end aspirational products gives every client the opportunity to purchase.
19. Be Aware: Always keep an eye on what’s happening that can potentially be added into your business model. Hair and scalp trends constantly evolve so you need to evolve with them.
20. Be Decisive: Sometimes it’s easy to wallow in the ‘same old same old’ even when it is to the detriment of growth for you and your business. If you think it is time to change, then make that change and don’t look back!
21. Be Curious: In the ever changing world of hairdressing and products, make sure you keep your mind open to the possibilities of something new and different, from an additional product range to a complete brand overhaul, if you are curious enough to do some research, who knows where it might lead.
22. Be Competitive: What makes you and your business stand out from the crowd? Competition is healthy as it ‘keeps you on your toes’ ….. make sure you know what your competitors are up to, and then make sure you do something different.
23. Be Aspirational: Set yourself goals to achieve throughout the year, things you aspire to for you, your team and your business, always have something to aspire to and a plan on how to achieve it.
24. Be Target Driven: No one knows your business like you know it, and no one can set the targets you want to achieve, so analyse 2025 performance and then set realistic but achievable targets for everyone to achieve throughout the year.
25. Be Seasonal: Don’t forget that there are spikes in business that see products and services surge ahead. Think Easter, Christmas, Mother’s and Father’s Days etc. Plan your seasonal activities well in advance to maximise productivity from everyone. Successful customer focused businesses will already be planning for next Christmas now; are you?
26. Be You: Sometimes we lose sight of just how unique each and every one of us is. Clients choose you because of who you are, never lose sight of the importance that plays in developing successful, long term business growth and loyalty from the people who choose you.