I own a hair salon. Typically, November is my busiest season. It has been SO quiet. A lot of my colleagues are also saying the same thing and have had to close up shop because of it - or get a second job.

People keep saying it will get better and the economy will bounce back but I don’t know. I am so close from just throwing in the towel, closing up shop and getting a corporate gig.

  • Itchy_Passion_8165@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    We have a couple of things going on here. You’re a small business owner like me, and it’s tough, so I do sympathize with the stress of having to meet your bills and pay yourself every month. It’s legitimately hard and deserves respect for making it for 10 years.

    Now,

    How well do you know your numbers? Your post says it’s been quiet, and you blame the economy. So what is your average monthly revenue for October for the last 10 years? What’s was your revenue the last 2 octobers? What percentage down was this year? What was your average spend per visit for the same time frames? What were product sales? What was your cancelation rate? Is your revenue flat but maybe expenses are up? Etc.

    You don’t have to actually tell me here unless you want help, but you sure need to know. You need to know where your gaps are in order to get better. Success doesn’t just happen, it takes attacking the problem with a plan.

    I’m literally making this up to illustrate a point, but as an example. Maybe your revenue fell $1000, but your clients didn’t change, you just discovered that the 10 people that used to buy a $100 bottle of Wella shampoo don’t buy it anymore cause it’s cheaper on Amazon. Then you need to offer better product prices, different product, or get more clients (again, it was round numbers to illustrate a point).

    So you need to know your stuff.

    Second, as a business owner you need to never again use “the economy” as an excuse. “The economy” as waxed poetic by talking heads on all channels doesn’t exist. It’s not some monolithic mega block where everyone experiences the same issues. To say “the economy is bad and im failing” implies that from border to border, coast to coast, commerce is just frozen up, and that’s not even remotely true. In 2020, 2008, 2000, the s and L crisis of the 89s, stagflation, hell even in 1929, business still happened. Not everywhere, not the same ways, but it still happened. Conversely, business can fail during good times too.

    Walmart is still packed (and they ain’t just buying groceries), target is still packed, amazon is still humming, ebay is still humming, pokemon cards are still selling out. So commerce is happening. You just need to figure out how to get it.

    If your numbers show a gap. Attack the gap. Find out how the 3 closest businesses are doing. Find out how the 3 leading businesses in your town are doing. Find out how some salons are doing in other towns, they aren’t your direct competitors so they may be willing to chat. Maybe it’s your area, maybe it’s your specific location. I don’t know, but you’ll be more likely to find out the moment you stop saying “it’s the economy”.

    Also, as someone who celebrated his 10th anniversary in business this year, ask yourself if you have the same fire, drive and passion you had 10 years ago when you started, because to succeed, you’ll need it. The moment you start phoning it in, your customers stop phoning in. No one wants to be taken for granted.

    I know this is long, but I hope it gets your wheels turning. God bless, and if I can somehow help I’d be glad to.

    • FlipFlopFarmer24@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      The issue with this is your 10 years of experience in business was in a decade of growth. It’s much different in a recession, and it’s not that simple.

      • Itchy_Passion_8165@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago
        1. Your assertion is that in a recession every business everywhere grinds to a halt. Which is both untrue and addressed by my post. So unless you believe that every American ceases getting their hair cut, dyed, curled, whatever for years at a time, then it’s a strawman. You just need to knownyour numbers and do a better job getting clients than your competitors.

        This sets aside obvious difficulty of your business being shut down by government order like in 2020, but that’s not what’s happening now.

        1. We’re literally not in a recession. The economy is still growing. Thats not a recession. Feel free to Google it.
        • FlipFlopFarmer24@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          1. You’re correct. Some businesses thrive and even grow. Our business grew 10 fold during the shutdown as we were a retail grocer.

          2. I agree we are not in a recession… yet. But many businesses are struggling. The fact that discretional spending is starting to tighten up is a ominous sign that tougher times are on the horizon. It may be as simple as a few months of not overzealous spending or it could lead into a full blown recession. Who knows.

          My assertion was simply their business is struggling, and if you haven’t been in a downturn in the economy with your business it’s hard to give the advice you gave. It’s just simply put, not that easy.