Here at Sweet Squared our ethos is always to serve you the PRO with love and respect and during these uncertain times we recognise that for some business guidance, mentoring and support is absolutely paramount. We are here to support you all every step of the way.

Introducing ‘Lockdown your Profits’ which kicks off this Thursday 12th November 5-6pm on the Sweet Squared Facebook page. Presented by Liza Smith, award winning Salon Owner and Educator. Liza is immersed in coaching salon professionals to build successful and sustainable businesses. This special three-week series covers an array of business topics to support the Salon Professional in building a clear and simple business plan. Supplemented with an easy to use business plan template which will be available to download and complete, this is a series not to be missed!

The topics Liza will be including each week on her live are current business strategies, effective planning and marketing and crucial guidance on how to stay focused, engaged and energised.

Session 1) Knowing your business

- who is your ideal client?

- top clients focus group (whatsapp)

- are you comfortable with owning your expertise?

- people don't buy things, they buy solutions to their problems

Session 2) Strategise for success!

- planning (next 7 days) detailed plan

- strategy (long term-next 3-6 months) simple outcome

- find the right frequency (ignore the noise)

- you are the sum total of the 5 people you listen to most

Session 3) Business planning made simple

- do things in bite sized chunks

- what is the ONE thing that can impact everything?

- have a clear success path

- be incredibly laser focused on what makes you money

We had the absolute pleasure of catching up with Liza recently and asked her for her top ten tips of how to survive and plan for 2021 in these unprecedented times.

Liza’s Top Ten Tactical Tips

1) know who you are and what your unique selling point is. It doesn't have to be anything massively different, but knowing what you are good at and how your personality blends with that is a good starting point to what your "brand" should look like.

2) Know who your ideal client is. Maybe the client who spends the most with you, maybe has given you the best review, has recommended you to her friends and family. Model her into a client avatar, and "speak" directly to her in all of your marketing.

3) Review the systems in your business. eg Write a road map for your customer journey, from their enquiry to them rebooking. Examine every step on the journey, can it be improved, writing it down in detail will make it happen more consistently. Is your stock documented regularly, do you know who much you have and what it is worth? Is your health and safety documents up to date and where you can find them easily? eg, risk assessments and CoSHH documents.

4) Know your numbers- do a monthly profit and loss so that you know at all times where your money is being spent, and how you can budget for seasonal highs and lows. Do not leave your figure work till the end of the year for your self assessment!

5) Work out your average customer spend. If you divide your monthly takings by the amount of clients, you will have your average customer spend. This information will help you to plan any up selling and cross selling. It is especially helpful if you have a team.

6) In today's fast moving world, clients are more and more knowledgeable and it is essential for you to keep your education up to date. Both practical skill building and business knowledge will keep you secure in building your confidence and your business.

7) Achieving a good work/life balance is easier if you plan your time well. Write a list of high value (money making) and low value (you can pay someone less than you can earn in the same time to do) jobs. Is there any of the low value tasks that can be outsourced? Also, use tech to help, like Planoly for scheduling your posts. Spend half a day batching your social media. Decide on the subjects for the month, design all the posts and schedule them.

8) Set goals, but remember, a goal without a plan is just a wish! Write down where you want your business to be in one, three and five years time. Then decide on a road map to achieve each of those.

9) All types of businesses are looking at tying clients into regular income. Memberships are a great example, gyms, netflix, amazon prime are good examples. Working out a clients yearly spend and spreading it over 12 monthly payments helps to spread the load for the client and gives you a more regular income. Add in a few incentives like a quick easy treatment for free when they sign up. Make them feel like they are in your inner circle by becoming members with you.

10) Having an online presence is crucial in business today. Websites can be made quickly and for a small cost, and using it to sell vouchers and eventually products online, means you make sales even when you are closed. Also offer online booking to make sure they can book when it suits them. Give incentives to your clients to leave google reviews. These give you so much more authenticity online and they can be copied and reproduced in your social media. People check reviews before they check your prices!

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