The allure to rental is only growing. 

You have heard me share that I spend a lot of time in Facebook groups where hairdressers hang out. In the past six months, the number of conversations I’ve observed from hairdressers looking to return to employment is higher than ever before. This is exciting for salon owners who are eager to employ experienced talent. (the top preference right now & the fastest way to drive salon revenue) AND, there is a “but”.

BUT…

You have to look at the reason why they want to return right now. 

ANSWER: 

Stylists list their top reasons for returning as “I’m slow & not earning enough money.”

In the Beauty Workforce Survey, I ask the same question every single year and it’s one of the few questions whose answers have never varied in the six years of the survey. 

FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A STYLIST

Why do you want to work in a salon before you rent? The answer is always.

1. Because I need to learn more
2. Because I need to get clients 

Salons are better at driving clients into a stylist’s chair because the salon has a brand and that brand can attract people, often with minimal marketing efforts. (Imagine if you did do higher level marketing..) We have a lot of experienced talent working independently over the last few years and the majority of coaches have told them to “raise their prices and charge their worth.” Many did raise their prices and they didn’t consider the important balance of supply and demand or evaluate the competition and economic challenges their business might be facing. In short, they didn’t do any kind of SWOT analysis first. Now they are struggling. The struggle is not just the price increase. The struggle is that EVERY hairdresser has a natural attrition of about 20% of their clients year over year. An independent hairdresser who starts fully booked and doesn’t know how to market themselves will find more white space- even without the economic conditions of the last few years.

This can benefit you now, but it can hurt you long term.

You can go scoop up a few experienced hairdressers, spend money and time to refill their clientele list, and if nothing else changes in your business you will find in 1-3 years the same kind of heartache & financial hit you have experienced before. Because they will leave. And by then there will be even more tools & resources at their disposal to find clients so they won’t need you again. 

But here are the facts: You can attract & retain experienced talent who you evolve your business’s recruiting strategy AND work on how you lead people so that you keep the hires you make. 

They say the definition of insanity is to do what you’ve always done. Don’t ride that crazy cycle anymore.

I’m not here to sell you something. I’m here to help you. And there are three ways you can do it. 

• On your own take the time to get clear on who your brand is and why talent should want to work for you AND then start sharing it on social media! I talk about this endlessly in these newsletters and on my Instagram account. If you don’t follow me be sure to here.

• Work with me to help you do the above + take a next-level look at your leadership with me so you can retain the talent you hire. 

• Join me at the upcoming Salon Leadership Retreat and bring your other salon leaders. Fill YOUR cups, so you can lead better. 

I share free content in so many places because I want everyone to have the playbook for how to recruit, lead, and retain a team. It is the only way you will be successful as a salon leader. At Talent Match we have watched the analytics for our top salons and also noticed the pattern of their new client count increasing when they start their recruitment work. That’s the reason we hosted the Marketing Event shared above. We want salons to be able to step into more current marketing practices and scale talent + new client count! And we have proven you can do it! You can learn to recruit with us, find the program that is best for you here.