Nothing Matters to Your Success More Than This.

Remember when you started your salon?  Remember the excitement, the enthusiasm, the “I can conquer the world” mentality that permeated your whole being?

You were out there spreading the word.  You were the new kid on the block.  You were, what I call “hyper-focused on outcomes”.  You wanted to be the best and would except nothing less.

And who knows, maybe you’re still like that. But if you’re not…this is your wake-up call.

Look, its nothing to be ashamed of.  Lots of entrepreneurs unconsciously get what I call amnesia.  They forget why they got into business; the forget the excitement and the enthusiasm and passion that they had and they start to go thru the motions.

Heck, it happened to me about 9 years ago.  I had no energy.  I had gotten bored in my work.  Everything bothered me.  I kept focusing on things like “I hate certain tasks” or “The economy is not where I want it to be” or “My employees are too challenging”.  So much so…that I almost got out of the business entirely.

But here is the important thing that I learned…

I was focusing on things that I didn’t want.  And what you focus on always expands…its a self-fulfilling prophecy.

When we focus on of things we don’t want…we get more of those things.

And until I realized that, and changed around my thinking, I was heading in the wrong direction.  I had lost my passion.  I was not using my talents.  And I had stopped setting clear goals or planting any seeds for the future.

That’s a tell-tale sign of boredom.  If you aren’t fired up for the start of 2013 and you haven’t set any great goals for your salon this year…you’re bored.

Well, my epiphany came when I read a blog post just like this…

That’s when I finally realized that I was not really in the salon software business.  I was in the marketing business.  I was in the solutions business.

You see, if I just focused entirely on making a great salon software package where people could book appointments in lightening speed and ring out clients and keep great inventory records and print out fabulous reports…I would be bored.

There’s no challenge there.  Because after the software is completed and updated here and there, it’s basically “been there – done that”.

Instead, I focus on the problems that nobody has found a solution for…yet.

For instance:

How can salon owners get more new clients every week without going broke?

How can salon owners improve new client retention consistently?

How can salons become more profitable every year?

How can salon owners protect themselves against a staff exodus?

And how can we create products that can help them with any of these problems?

These are the things that get me passionate about my business.  What about you and your business?  What gets you passionate these days?

Anyway, I want to leave you with this little nugget of advice.

Next month, take a day…go to a place…like a local library and spend 6 hours just thinking about your business.  Maybe, you bought a course or business training that you never got around to.  Take the time and really focus on your business.  Leave the cell phone in the car.

Adjust your focus…and set some new goals.  Then go back to that library every 60 days like clockwork.  You will become more focused.  You will get more enthusiastic.

Try it out…you will be amazed at the results.

P.S. Make sure you do it in a place that is not your home or salon.  It doesn’t work nearly as well.  Too many distractions.

As always, aim high…and dream even higher…

Steve Sampson