Profitable Ideas for your Salon
With a million and one things occupying you as a business owner, it can be hard to think of new profitable ideas for your salon.
To help relieve some of the stress, we’ve thought of some profitable ideas for your salon. Ideas that will not only leave you with plenty of new regulars, but also plenty of time to focus on other tasks!
1. Local business directories
Whenever someone looks for a salon in a new area, what do you think they do? Many people will ask someone they trust. For many people, that’s Google. Your potential clients are searching for “salons near me” and making the decision from there. It’s 2018, people aren’t just getting advice from their friends on where to go. They’re looking up reviews and researching the general sentiment towards your business.
This means that if your salon isn’t located in the major local business directories, then you are missing out on a LOT of new business.
If you’re feeling confused on where exactly you need to be listed, start with the top 3:
After you’ve listed your business on these three (or if you already had), search for ‘top business directories’ for your country, and start signing up. Most of the good ones should be free. The more visible your salon is in your area, the more likely you are to attract new customers.
2. SMS marketing
You’re most likely familiar with many types of marketing, but are you aware of the many benefits of SMS marketing? You probably already have your clients’ phone numbers, you might as well keep in touch with them. SMS messages are a great way to stay in touch with your clients and build that customer relationship.
You can use SMS marketing to let clients know about special deals, upcoming appointments, or send them important information after a treatment with follow-up messages. The easiest way to make profit is to make repeat customers.
If you need some help getting started, Timely makes setting up your SMS marketing campaign quick & easy. Start sending out automated rebooking reminders and follow-up messages. Your clients will thank you for it.
3. Get into local coupon books
Many community organisations and schools use coupon books as a fundraising method. Getting your business in these books is a great way to help the community, and find new regulars.
Do a little research to find out who makes & distributes the coupon books in your area, and get in touch to get your salon included.
4. Selfie stations
Everybody wants to take selfies after they’ve just got their hair done. Capitalize on this by offering a nice looking area with good lighting so your clients can show off their hair. Don’t be scared to give them a nudge to include your salon’s hashtag or location tag when posting online. It’s a great marketing opportunity for your business, and will help with word of mouth referrals as well.
If you’ve got the budget for it, selfie stations can be purchased as permanent fixtures as well. They can be set to automatically upload to your social media, and include any hashtags you might want. There’s many different options, and your clients will love playing around with them.
5. Website development
You’d think that by now everyone is offering online bookings. Unfortunately we can tell you this is not the case. We can’t stress enough how important it is that you give people the option to make a booking online. Some salons prefer to stick to Facebook, and that can be ok when you’re just starting out. Timely’s online booking does integrate with Facebook after all. If you want your salon to continue to grow, you’ll need a website…and a good one.
Many salons get their website built, chuck the online booking button on there, then leave it alone. This is not the way to find success online. Your website needs to be constantly tested, updated, and improved. Hiring someone to work on your website full-time might be costly, but if you dream of running a profitable salon, can you afford not to?
If any of these profitable ideas stand out to you, give them a go in your salon. Set some proper goals you’d like to accomplish as part of your business plan, and track the progress against them. Results don’t come by doing nothing, get stuck in!
