As a salon owner, you are accustomed to being the one responsible for steering the ship that is your salon or barbershop business. With this in mind, if you’re thinking about moving on, retiring or distributing some of your responsibilities to a manager, it can be tough to hand over the reins to someone else when you’re used to being in control.
Naturally, you want to ensure that you’re doing what’s best for everyone involved, but it can be difficult to know where to start. In today’s article, we’re aiming to help give you a starting point on what to consider and research if handing over the reins to your salon business sounds like something you’d like to look in to.
How to effectively hand over the reins of your salon business…
Are you looking at hiring a manager to run your salon day to day?
For whatever reason, it may be that you are thinking of hiring a manager to take over the daily running of your salon business. This is ultimately a very important decision as this person needs to be:
- Experienced
- Trustworthy
- Organised
- Personable
- Reliable
We always recommend taking your time when looking for the right person. You don’t want to rush into a hire and then realise you won’t be able to leave them to look after the salon after all and feeling like you will be forever checking up on them. Perhaps you already have someone in mind who already works for you? But remember, as much as this individual may be a fantastic beauty therapist, hair colourist, barber or stylist, they absolutely require the necessary business acumen to be a salon manager. Managing the salon day to day will require someone who can deal with all staff, clients and predicaments including the good and the bad.
Discover our previous article on when is the right time to promote your salon staff?
Whichever route you choose to go down, it is important that you plan your interview process very carefully, making it as fair as possible but also firm. It is a really good idea to allow other members your team meet the candidates (unless recruiting from within). After all, someone may look fantastic on paper, but if they don’t fit your current team and culture they aren’t going to last in an industry as people orientated as the salon industry.
Are you thinking about retiring or selling up?
If you want to sell your salon business it is very important to seek an expert valuation which will ensure that your salon business will sell for the very best price as per the market at that particular point in time. Be prepared, this is unlikely to be a quick process. Business sales, as with house sales can take months to process. There a few factors to consider when determining the real value of a salon business – These include assets such as salon furniture, client roster and reputation, as well as a full picture of revenue and key areas of profit.
It is also very, very important that you keep the sale of your salon under strict discretion as clients may panic and go elsewhere. People losing faith in your business will reduce its value and sale information getting into the wrong hand can be extremely negative for business.
Related: How to ensure your staff continue to be motivated by your salon business
Make sure you have a sound exit strategy in place
As part of your business plan, it’s important that you have some idea of how the salon would move forward should you decide to leave. Of course, with all matters of this kind, we highly recommend that you seek professional legal advice when putting together a document like this, or selling your salon business. As your salon business grows, or your personal circumstances change, your salon is bound to weather dramatic changes in circumstances – the key is in being prepared for it. And as we always say here at Salons Direct, make a plan, do your research and always seek professional advice.
Shop online at Salons Direct today for all your salon supplies!
Looking for more salon management information?
Tips for saving energy (and money) in your salon | The law on serving alcohol in your salon or barbershop business
