Effective Salon Time Management.

Learning to master salon time management is the key to improving productivity and increasing profits.

If you don’t have enough hours in the day to complete all your salon tasks, then this article is for you.

What is Salon Time Management?

Salon time management is organising and planning how you will divide your time between specific salon tasks.  

Effective salon time management means using your time with a more considered approach which enables you to achieve more in less time.

Time management is especially important in the spa, salon and barbershop industry as salon owners today have so many different hats to wear. 

Your daily tasks may include anything from implementing marketing campaigns, keeping abreast of bills and maintenance, ordering stock, plus managing staff and clients.  

If you have not adequately planned your day, you may end up juggling so much that you become overwhelmed and frazzled.

 

Benefits of Effective Salon Time Management.

Utilising your time better can have a significant positive impact on your salon’s growth and productivity.

Cultivating a salon workplace culture that values time management has many benefits, such as;

• Increased productivity
• Better service outcomes
• Less procrastination
• Reduced stress
• Improved revenue/profits
• Happier workplace 

 

How Much is Your Time Worth?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“The key to time management is to see the value in every minute.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Most salon owners don’t want to waste money, right? But how many salon owners are aware that wasting time is the same as wasting money? Time is money!

If you look at every time-consuming task with a monetary value, you will soon make a conscious effort to spend your time more wisely.

Let’s break your hours down to a monetary value. If you earn, say $100,000 per year (Go you!), then your hourly rate would be $48.00 per hour for a 40 hour week.  

If you break this down further, then 15 minutes of your time is worth $12.00. Reframing you’re time as a monetary value gives you more motivation to save time.

Knowing this may make you less likely to waste your time scrolling on your phone when you know how much it costs you? 

“Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves”

To automatically calculate your hourly rate according to your salary, use this free wage calculator. 

Once you know how much your time is worth, I bet you will want to spend your time much more wisely. But how do you go about it?

 

Effective Salon Time Management.

Plan ahead.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Planning is vital to your success in reducing wasted time (+money)

At the start of each day, allocate yourself 15 minutes to make a list of everything you need to accomplish on that day.  

This list will help you avoid wasting time by procrastinating or mindlessly using your time when you have spare time.

Think about those 20-minute gaps between clients. By having a list that you can refer to, keeps you on track and prompts you to complete a task during these lull periods. 

Not only should you be scheduling your day, but also your week, month and year.  

 

Once a week and month take time to consider the tasks that need to be completed and put them into your calendar. Consider adding things like the due dates of bills, ordering requirements, working towards a specific goal or even your marketing campaigns.

Add any events to your yearly calendar ahead of time such as; expos, staff training events, holidays and special occasions like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s day. 

Now you can prepare your yearly schedule and marketing campaigns around these events to keep your weeks running smoothly. To read more about salon marketing, click here.

Schedule Your Most Important Tasks (MIT’s).

Once you have planned your days, weeks, months and year, you can rank your tasks from most to least important.  

Attend to your most important tasks immediately or at least schedule some time in your calendar for completion.

Each time you mark off a task, you will feel satisfaction in your achievements, and you can go on to address the next chore.

 

Task Batching.

What is task batching? Task batching is blocking out some time in your schedule for similar tasks. 

We all know how important it is to be visible on social media, but unfortunately, this takes time and consistency.  

Set aside a few hours per month to make up your social media posts and schedule them in advance. Facebook allows you to schedule your posts ahead of time, or you can use a social media scheduling program like Hootsuite or others.

Batching your administrative tasks is also a great way to keep on top of your finances and business management. For example, set aside an hour when you know you will not be disturbed and get those necessary tasks completed. Your business will flourish when you have your finger on the pulse.

Setting time limits for batched tasks encourages you to focus on one specific task at a time while not getting carried away and losing track of time.

 

Decrease Distractions.

Distractions can take up more time than you realise. Of course, there will be some distractions that are unavoidable, such as; accidents, client complaints or other unseen events, but there are many avoidable distractions.

Awareness of what is distracting you and your staff is the first step in eliminating time slipping through your fingers.

A huge distraction these days is phones. Implement some boundaries for yourself and your staff around phone usage in the salon.  

Losing concentration and focus is a real problem when we are a slave to our phone. If you or your staff are constantly checking phones for texts or social media notifications, your salon clients will suffer, and so will your business. 

The easiest way to avoid phone distraction is to ban phone usage during work hours, other than breaks. It is too easy just to check your phone and end up falling down the social media rabbit hole and wasting precious money-draining time.

 

We all think we are great at multitasking, but the reality is, after a distraction, it takes a whopping 23 minutes to refocus completely. Break that down to a monetary value, and you can see how detrimental distractions can be to your salon business. 

Another common distraction in the salon is idle chit chat and gossip. Whether you are chatting to co-workers or clients, try to be time aware. Learn to wrap up conversations in a polite manner to enable yourself to get back to spending your time more wisely. 

Learn the Art of Delegation.

You may be the boss, manager or even a solo operator, but that doesn’t mean you have to do absolutely everything yourself.

To ensure your focus is where it needs to be, you and your business may benefit from outsourcing or delegating tasks.

Delegating tasks to your staff can be difficult for some owners, as you have to trust your employee’s capability to take on the allocated job. However, giving your team more responsibility can empower and motivate them to rise to the task.  

Think back to how much your time is worth. Consider this when looking at jobs you can outsource.

Is it worth your time and money to curate your website and social media channels? Depending on your hourly rate, it may end up cheaper to outsource jobs like this, so you have more time to focus on other essential tasks.

Learn to Say “NO”.

Do you find yourself saying yes to things you don’t want to do or don’t have the time to complete? You may be a people pleaser.

Learning to be more assertive in the workplace is vital. When co-workers, friends, family or clients know you will always agree to do favours, they may take advantage of your kind nature.

Permit yourself to say “no” when it is not convenient for you. Taking on extra work or doing favours can suck up your valuable time.

Stick to your schedule and set strict boundaries for yourself, or you may find yourself becoming overwhelmed. 

 

Late Cancellations or No-Shows.

Late cancellations or no-shows are just a part of salon life. However, you can use this time to your advantage. By having a contingency plan in place for yourself and staff, you can use this free-time more wisely.

Check your list of uncompleted tasks and start working through them. Always make sure your staff is aware of what you expect them to do in the event of a no-show. Allocate tasks such as general cleaning, washing towels, dusting shelves, cleaning mirrors, or ordering stock.  

By squeezing the most out of every minute of the working day, your business will stay on track and productivity levels will remain high.  Want more information on how to eliminate no-shows in your salon, click here.

 

Eliminate Gaps in your Schedule.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” Jim Rohn.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you have those pesky gaps in your schedule? A spare 15 minutes here, 20 minutes there. Well, just take a second and add up how much these gaps are costing you.  

Use the hourly salary calculator and work out how much time these gaps amount to over a week. These gaps may be costing you hundreds of dollars a week, not to mention the annual loss.  

Yes, you can use those gaps to do quick tasks, but why not try to eliminate them. Check your salon bookings regularly, and if you see these gaps, don’t be afraid to contact your client and ask them to come in 15 minutes earlier. Worst case scenario, they say no. Best case scenario, they come that little bit earlier, and you don’t waste time/money on such a large scale.

Automate Your Salon with Salon Software.

Effective salon time management is a must in today’s busy salon industry. Automating your salon business with an all-in-one management system like Konnect Spa and Salon Software enables you to streamline your business with easy to use scheduling tools.  

Set and forget automatic SMS reminders that sync to your calendar are great time savers and studies show they reduce no-shows significantly.

Salon Software takes the hard work out of doing paperwork. All your financial, sales or performance reports can be accessed quickly and all without the chance of human error.  

Spend less time on the phone by taking online salon bookings. These online bookings are then automatically synced to your booking calendar. Every little bit of this time-saving technology saves you money and time plus, your business will run more professionally.

Image how much time you will save by automating your business with Konnect Spa and Salon Software. Check out all the great features Konnect has to offer or request a free demonstration with one of our friendly consultants.

 

 

Conclusion.

Mastering effective salon time management is imperative to keep your business productive and stress-free.

Giving your time a monetary value is a great way to deter you from wasting your time encourages you to see the value in every minute.

Taking the time to forward plan and prioritising your most important tasks can make a massive difference in how your business runs.

Task batching and decreasing distractions can go along way to ensure you complete all your jobs in advance, thus keeping your focus on your clients.  

Delegating, outsourcing and learning to say no are excellent skills to learn and implement to give your business the best chance to grow.

And finally, automating your salon with an exceptional salon management system like Konnect Spa and Salon Software is the key to creating a well-run business that you can work on, rather than in.

Effective salon time management is a great skill to acquire to propel your business into future growth and increase profits.

Konnect has all the tools you need to help you master effective salon time management.

Konnect provides you with the simple, easy-to-use tools to successfully run day-to-day operations in your salon.

Not using Konnect Spa and Salon Software?  Sign up for a free demonstration today.

Jump on board and let us help you take your business to new heights.
Konnect Spa and Salon Software – the simple, affordable key to making your business brilliant.