Real Salon Advice From a Billionaire…

You may have never heard of a billionaire named Elon Musk.  If you haven’t… you will pretty soon.  Because he’s the closest thing to Steve Jobs that we still have on planet earth.  And unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last 5 years, you know that Steve Jobs (Mr. Apple himself) changed the world and then passed away…way too early in life. 

Well, Elon Musk is the new Steve Jobs.  He’s just the younger version. 

Elon started out by creating Paypal.  You know…the universal way that people pay “online” when they buy something on the Internet.  He knew that people were afraid to put in their credit card information over the Internet and he created a safer way to make it happen.  It revolutionized e-commerce on the Internet…and Elon became a billionaire because of it.

But he didn’t stop there.  He did the same thing with Space Travel and eventually NASA went on to partner with him because they knew he was doing things that were thought as impossible before. 

Now, he’s taking on the auto industry with his new company Tesla.  Tesla makes an electric car that has won every major award possible.  It is the “safest car ever made” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  It is the highest rated car ever by Consumer Reports.  And the cars are flying off the shelves faster than they can build them in California.

And it’s not because the car is a tank…actually it’s just the opposite.  It’s a cool looking sports car that people absolutely love to drive.  So, I think it’s safe to say that Elon Musk is a real authority on how to do things well.

So, I read something recently that Elon said that should be a wake-up call to all of us.  He said this…

“In all of the companies I’ve been involved with, there’s always been a very difficult time.  It’s usually shortly after the beginning.  Things seem optimistic, rosy, and exciting for the first 6 months to a year, then things start to go wrong.  You encounter issues you didn’t expect, step on landmines.  It’s bad.”

And he thinks that 80% of the people give up at this point and he’s convinced that’s why so many businesses fail.  The ones that persevere, however, through the tough times are the ones who become successful.  Fighting to survive is critical.

I agree with Elon.  It’s all about persevering.  We eventually figure things out.  And the solutions rarely come in a flash of light.  They come by improving the process (the business) a little bit every day.  That takes dedication and discipline.  Winners do that…losers give up.

At the end of the day, the salon business is all about people…staff working in it and clients getting services from it.  As the owner, you have two jobs.  The first one is to manage the personalities of the staff to keep them motivated and performing to a certain standard.  The second is to bring in new clients through marketing and to do your best at retaining the clients.

Most salon owners fail at one of these.  That’s the difference between success and failure in many cases.  Job one is tough…job two can even be tougher.  Both take a ton of persistence because in many cases you think that progress is not being made.  Remember…solutions rarely come in a flash of light.

Marketing is tough.  That’s why most salon owners ignore it.  Don’t!  It will bite you in the butt later on if you do.

The next time you hear the name Elon Musk…think of persistence.  The next time that you think that things are really bad…realize that it’s probably temporary.  Just keep improving the process (the business) a little bit every day and you’ll get thru it.  Winners always do!

P.S.  I found a great series on CNBC that all salon owners can get a ton of advice (ideas) from.  It’s called “The Profit”.  Watch a few episodes this weekend.  You will love it.

As always, aim high…and dream even higher…

Steve Sampson