Don’t waste another second: Start planning out the profit-generating moves you can make for your skin care facility. There are always some certainties as you look into the future—you know your best competitors will work to become more advanced, your clients will demand more, and you’ll have to work smarter and harder every day to improve your bottom line. By putting a plan in place right now, you can seriously increase your chances for success.
1. Evaluate your leadership. If you don’t improve the skills of your leaders, there is little chance your business will grow. In order to have an effective team, your business first has to have effective leadership, and this starts at the top.
2. Do a top-to-bottom walk through of your systems and procedures. Examine which processes are working, which need to be improved and which are outdated, existing only because it’s the way it’s always been done. Your inventory has to change with the market, as do your pricing policies—treatments and products that sold well a year ago may have little demand today.
3. Kick off a cost-cutting, gross profit-building mission. Look for ways to increase gross profit and cut costs, because they have a dramatic positive effect on profits and cash flow. Ask yourself: What expensive mistakes have been made in the past, and how can they be avoided in the future?
4. Re-engage team members. You need a team who cares about your business as much as you do. Engaged team members handle problems on their own and actively look for ways to improve the business. Create engaged team members by showing them you care with a thank you—either verbally, with a handwritten note or with an afternoon off. Also, make sure your team has what they need to stay engaged, such as the latest equipment and up-to-date training.
5. Consistently set realistic, specific goals. Aim high, but if your goals aren’t measurable, you won’t be able to gauge your progress and, eventually, you’ll stop pursuing them. Setting realistic goals and planning, and routinely checking in to gauge progress is the best way to be successful.
6. Boost your product and service offerings. The products and services you offer are the core of your business. Always look to create new and better offerings for your clients.
7. Revamp your marketing campaigns. Are you marketing to your existing and potential clients in a way that makes sense? It takes marketing to bring clients in and keep them. Many companies see marketing as an expense, but it’s actually an investment and deserves your focused attention.
8. Find new ways to impress loyal clients. Few things are as important as your client base. It’s essential that you find ways to protect it by developing loyal clients. The first step is offering great products and services, and delivering those products and services via a helpful, engaged team. To go a step further, consider what keeps clients continually coming to your skin care facility. The more that clients come to your business, the stronger the relationship becomes and the more comfortable they feel.
9. Become knowledgeable about economic changes and how they’ll affect you. There is no doubting the importance of staying one step ahead when it comes to how the economy is going to affect your skin care facility. Be proactive and seek out a trusted financial advisor.
The future can absolutely hold great things for your business. However, you have to think about where you need to improve and what challenges might pop up to slow your progress along the way. By taking the time right now to plan ahead, you’re creating endless opportunities for your business.
Bill McBean is the author of The Facts of Business Life: What Every Successful Business Owner Knows That You Don’t (Wiley, 2012).