It’s challenging and exciting being a business coach.

I have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of salon owners and their staff and yet I have never yet found any two businesses to be remotely similar.

This is where the fun part comes in though!

Getting to find where the hidden profits are in any business is literally like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and it is often much easier to find than you might expect.

Finding your pot of gold might make all the difference in your business.

It is not unheard of for a salon to find up to $10,000 more in just one month of trading if they know where to look.

This process is something that you might be able to do on your own but often takes an ‘outside’ viewpoint to be highly successful.

Why is this the case? 

It’s because working day in and day out in the same environment often leads to what I call ‘business blindness’ which can often lead to missed opportunities.

Thinking creatively involves thinking outside the square, brainstorming, refining, goal setting and then most importantly, action planning.

This is often very difficult to do on your own.

To get you thinking about where the profit gaps may be in your business, here are 13 vital coaching questions I am going to ask to get you started:

1. When is the last time you introduced a highly desirable and profitable service into your salon and got rid of one that is not making you any money?

2. When is the last time you price checked your competitors to make sure you have not been left behind in your market?

3. When is the last time you had a full price increase for the services and products your business offers?

4. What profitable packages have you developed that will increase your client’s spend amount?

5. Are you using all your salon equipment to produce profits for your salon? (what about that expensive piece of equipment tucked away out the back?)

6. How are you measuring the productivity and return on investment of each member of your staff?

7.  When is the last time (if ever) you calculated how much real profit is in each service you offer after all expenses and cost of goods?

8. How do you measure which services or products in your business are your “heroes” and how are you maximising their impact on your bottom line?

9. What incentives (not just money) are you providing to your staff to ensure greater productivity?

10. How are you using your current database to market to your best customers – the ones who love you and have already spent money in your business?

11. When is the last time you looked at the expenses (including your wages) in your business to see where you are paying too much for what you are getting?

12. How are you encouraging your current customers to refer friends and family to you?

13. When is the last time you ran a team meeting where the team had at least 80% of the input?

If there are things on this list that you haven’t done for a while, or perhaps ever, then there will never be a better time than right now to review your business and look for the hidden profits that you are probably missing out on.

As a final thought, if you are spending more time working in your business rather than on your business, chances are you just have created a job and not built a business!

Today is a great day to start looking at your salon through the eyes of an ‘outsider’ to find your path to the pot of gold!