5 Ways to Save Time in the Salon

What would you do with a few more hours back in your day?Spend more time with your family? Squeezeina few more appointments? Relax?No matteryour answer,thebeautyofbeing the boss is thatyour time and schedule is completely in your hands.We’rejusthere to help youspend less time doing busy work and more time doing what you love.

Followthese 5 tipstosave yourself time and give yourselfthe peace of mind youneedand deserveas ago-gettingsalon owner.

1. Keep itClean

It’s easy to let things pile up, especially after a busy day in the salon. Keepingyour suppliesorganized throughout the day and tidying upin small doseson a regular basis will eliminatemassive,time-consuming cleaningoverhauls. Preventing clutter is done best by organizing products by purpose or how frequently you use them.

(@makingwaves_hairstudio)

Best practices also include keeping your cleaning supplies handy, as well as sweeping up excess hair after each client. Wipe down your chair(s), too. At the end of each day, mop the floor and wipe all the countertops - that way you (and your clients) are walking in to a nice and tidy salon tomorrow.Remember, a clean salon is a happy salon!

2. StreamlineStockingYour Backbar

How many times a month are you making trips to the beauty supply store? How many times have you had to wake up early because you realized you were out of color you needed for a clientthat day or get home late because you had to stop at the store on your way home after a long day?Saygoodbye to trips to your distributor!We recommend using an online distributor to make the process more simple, streamlined and less stressful.

3. Usean Online Booking System

Havingonline bookingin placeusing a platformcan turn your time-consuming, manual appointment bookingintoautopilot. No more back and forthtext conversations or returning voicemails late at night.

Withan online booking platform/app,your clientscan see youropen appointmentsin real-time and bookan appointmentthat works for them without your involvement (unless you choose to turn on appointment approvals and then it’s a simple tap of the “Approve” button).Rather than have clients “Call or Text for an Appointment,” you can direct them to your booking websiteandsay goodbye to wasted hours of scheduling stress for good.

4. Schedule Your Social

Eleanor Roosevelt said,“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”

So,don’tjustwish for more time, makeit happen.Whenyou’reintentional about your time, youcanliterally addmore hours into yourday. Think about your social media. If you spendan hourevery day postingon Instagram,includingfinding an image to post andracking your braintrying to figure out what to say in your caption,that’sseven hours a week!Instead of taking a small chunk of time each day to do that, save yourselfhours each weekbybulk content creating andscheduling out all your posts ahead of time.Platforms likeLater,Planoly,HootsuiteandCombinmakeiteasyto get ahead.

5. Stick to aSchedule

As aSolapreneuer, you have the power to control you schedule.Even if your schedule varies week-to-week,sticking to a consistentschedulefor some of yourreoccurringtasks(like ordering your backbar or planning out your social media) will save youmany hoursin the long run.At the beginning of every month,blocktimefor yourdaily,weeklyand monthlytasks.You can even do this once and set itreoccurringin yourcalendarso you never have to worry about forgetting to make time for what matters again.Getting yourself on a consistent schedule – even down to daily walks and when you eat lunch – willgive you peace of mindand hours back into your day.

(@erin_obsidianhairstudio)