Caitlyn Menzel’s Tips For Salon Success

Tell us a little about yourself

I’m 27 years old, I’m a dog mum and a business coach. I teach and empower young women to grow their businesses and start turning a profit. I help them to change their lives —  it’s pretty incredible.

Why did you decide to become a coach?

I was running my salon for 8 years, and I worked VERY hard. The business is now able to run self-sufficiently, and my incredible staff don’t need me there. There’s certainly a feeling in the industry that you should, and have to, be at your salon. I wanted to challenge that, and now I want to help other people achieve the same thing.

People were reaching out to me asking how I did it. I found myself giving out so much information and guidance that I thought, I’m going to turn this into a business.

I launched on the 4th February this year. I’ve already got close to 40 hair and beauty salon owners from all over Australia and New Zealand, so it is really exciting.

Who is your perfect client?

I have lots of perfect clients! People who want more, are hungry, want to grow, change, and learn. They’re the sponges. I like people who are ready to learn. People who take the advice and start making changes see lots of success.

What are the most common issues for salons trying to grow?

The biggest issues are lack of direction, lack of cash flow, and staffing. We’ve all hit that plateau where we are happy, everything is ticking along fine but it’s not where we want it to be. You just want more.

A lot of people don’t understand how to read their numbers. They don’t know their average client spend. I firstly teach clients to understand their figures. Cashflow issues are also common, as are staff issues.

What strategies can salon owners use to manage staff?

We have a really strong culture of health and wellbeing in our salon. Wellbeing isn’t just about the physical elements, but it’s about one’s inner self as well. I want staff to feel empowered, so I work with staff on setting and achieving their goals. I think that is something that is really forgotten about. Yeah, you’re the business owner and you have goals, but so do your staff. We revisit it twice a year on their 6 month anniversary. My manager Lauren for example, wants extra time to spend with her family. So, we worked out she gets time bonuses instead of cash bonuses. This keeps her working harder, and is a way to stop her from wanting to leave. Everyone is completely different — we must remember this.

You must make sure staff feel cared for. Make sure they have breaks! I also buy my staff all lunch on Saturdays. It is the little things. Everyone just wants to feel loved.

What are your tips for busy salon owners trying to save time and feel less stressed?

I’ve got the luxury of two personal assistants. The main thing is, delegate the things you don’t like to do. I have someone who does my washing, cleans my house, walks my dog and cooks my food. That’s because they are three things that take up a lot of my time, and I don’t enjoy them. I am now able to focus solely on things that make me money or make me happy, which is being in my business or spending time with my husband and my dog. If you hate doing social media, delegate it to a staff member. If you hate doing inventory, delegate it to someone else. No-one’s staff operate at 100% capacity all the time. Make a list of things that stress you out or you don’t like doing and find someone else to help you with them. Handball the stuff you don’t like.

What are your proudest achievements?

Seeing my apprentices doing their first cuts and colours, seeing my coaching clients grow from turning over $2k to turning over $15K per week. Moving into an office and having two staff in my coaching business has been a huge achievement. With my salon, I bought it turning over 130K a year and now we are cracking over 1M a year. Generally speaking, I really thrive off other people doing well and knowing I had a part in that. Seeing my staff climb the ladder. It is the most rewarding job in the entire world, helping businesses go from feeling lost and like they need some guidance, into strong companies with amazing leaders and great teams behind them kicking their goals.

What do you love most about the industry?

I fell into the industry. I had my first basin job when I was 13 years old. I was an assistant at a salon. At 15 I left school and became an apprentice. I got qualified at 17 and had my first salon at 19. Here we are 8.5 years later. The industry is having a great turnaround.

When I did my apprenticeship I worked for two guys in their 50s with very classic beliefs. Everyone worked 50 hours a week, no-one left until they were finished. There wasn’t any love at the end of the day. No thank-you. They thought every other salon in the area was their competitor.

Nowadays, everyone is more supportive of one other. It might have something to do with social media bringing people together. The attitude is changing — hair stylists and beauty therapists now love and support each other. Recently we did training with two other salons and it was so great to mix up the teams. It is ever-changing, ever-growing, and there are always new things happening. It’s nice to be a part of something like that.

How is well-being becoming integrated into the hair and beauty industries?

A lot of people think the hair and beauty industries are very vain. I believe that having great hair or great skin, or having your makeup done, changes the way you think about yourself. So many people come to us and they haven’t had 2 hours to sit down for so many reasons like they have kids or busy jobs. I think it is nice that people get to feel amazing when they look amazing. It’s about looking good and feeling good. They go hand in hand.

What advice do you have for young salon owners trying to grow their business?

Don’t be stubborn. Ask for help. Find somebody who is miles ahead of you and learn how they think. That is a huge part of what I do. Find an idol and ask them for help. Don’t be afraid to reach out.

Don’t forget why you do what you do. Don’t lose sight of that. We do this because we love hair and beauty, we love making people feel good. For me, I love providing jobs for people. Don’t lose sight of your why!