Build Your Salon with Phil Jackson

Are you wasting hours on social media for zero new salon clients? Discover how to redirect your marketing efforts to proven strategies that actually fill your appointment book. **Redefine Social Media's Role** Social media is no longer for finding new clients; its primary job is social proof and deepening existing relationships. Use it as a digital portfolio to show your work and personality, posting a couple of quality updates a week instead of daily. **Implement a Structured Referral Programme** Word-of-mouth is the most powerful marketing. Stop just telling clients "tell your friends" and create a proper system with real incentives, like a discount for the referred friend and a reward for the referring client, run as a targeted promotion. **Re-engage Lapsed Clients Effectively** Look at your client list for those who haven't visited in your average return period (e.g., 90 days for hair). Send a "we've missed you" text or email with an incentive. For even better results, make a brave phone call to gather feedback and invite them back. **Optimise Your Google Business Profile** Google Business Profile is your new digital front door. Fill out every section, upload fresh photos, and reply to all reviews. Getting into the top three search results for local queries is like having a free, high-visibility billboard. **Become a Local Community Expert** Engage with local Facebook groups not as an advertiser, but as a helpful expert. Sponsor local events or connect with other boutique owners. These local connections will organically lead to powerful word-of-mouth and new client referrals. Stop the social media content treadmill and start implementing marketing strategies that genuinely attract new clients. Phil Jackson’s Build Your Salon provides the practical steps you need for a consistently full diary.

Is your salon membership programme failing within three months? You're not alone. Most crash and burn, not because memberships don't work, but because of critical execution errors that sabotage success and leave you with a cashflow rollercoaster.In this episode, Phil Jackson, your Queen of Memberships, reveals the silent killers of salon memberships and a simple structure to build a thriving, predictable income stream.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 RESOURCES:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━💬 WORK WITH ME:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎧 LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS:0:00 - Why Most Salon Memberships Fail0:50 - The Hidden Power of Predictable Salon Income2:20 - How Memberships Transform Your Cashflow4:05 - Avoid Overcomplicating Your Membership Structure5:10 - Choose Your Core Membership Service Profitably6:25 - Boost Member Value with Simple, Low-Cost Perks7:45 - Attract the Right Salon Clients for Your Membership9:05 - Why Inconsistent Engagement Kills Memberships10:35 - Proactively Prevent Member Drift and Cancellations12:00 - How to Retain Members for Years (95%+ Retention)13:10 - Next Steps for Your Salon Membership Programme#SalonMemberships #SalonBusiness #PredictableIncome #SalonOwner #PhilJackson━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

Most salon owners think they know if their business is profitable. They check the bank balance on a Friday and if there's money there, things must be okay. But a feeling isn't a profit plan, and a hunch isn't a strategy.In this episode, Phil Jackson interviews Braden Weinstock, founder of Pretty Data and owner of a profitable Los Angeles salon for 15+ years. Braden reveals why more than 50% of solo pros and independent salons aren't consistently making a profit, and shows exactly how to fix it.WHY CHECKING YOUR BANK BALANCE ISN'T A PROFIT PLANThe problem with running your salon from the bank account: you make decisions and spend money without knowing if you actually have profit. Then tax season arrives and you realize you didn't make money last year. If you're not making money on every client, you're just working to go out of business faster.THE DATA PROBLEM (AND HOW PRETTY DATA SOLVES IT)Salon financial data is scattered: booking systems have revenue but not expenses. Accounting software is out of date and confusing. Most salon owners end up building spreadsheets to try to make sense of it all.Pretty Data connects your booking system and accounting software (Xero or QuickBooks) to show three critical numbers in real time and help with data-driven decision making:Revenue (from booking data)Expenses (from accounting)Profit per visit (what's left)When you open the app, you instantly see how much money you made per visit, how much each visit costs, and what's left as profit. If you make £20 per client and want £20,000, you know exactly what you need to do.BUILDING A REAL PROFIT PLAN (10 MINUTES AT THE START OF THE YEAR)Set your annual profit target, estimated expenses, and visit goals. Pretty Data uses last year's numbers to calculate realistic targets, then tracks progress monthly. You're planning to make a specific profit, not just chasing revenue.PRICING STRATEGY: THE "WHAT IF" GAMEModel pricing changes before implementing them. What if you raised prices 6%? What would last year's revenue have been? Pretty Data runs the calculation across your historical data and shows the exact impact. You can even track competitor pricing to position yourself strategically.Instead of blindly adding 5% because that's what everyone does, you're making data-driven pricing decisions aligned with your profit plan - the key to a profitable business.IN THIS EPISODE:Why more than 50% of salons aren't consistently profitableThe bank balance trap (and why it fails every time)How Pretty Data connects booking and accounting systemsBuilding a 10-minute profit plan at the start of the yearPricing strategy modelling (before you change anything)Competitor pricing tracking in your local areaHow to make £20 per client (and know it)━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 RESOURCES:Pretty Data: https://prettydata.co━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━💬 WORK WITH ME:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎧 LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS:0:00 - Why Most Salons Don't Know If They're Profitable1:44 - The Bank Balance Trap (And Why It Fails)3:34 - Where Salon Financial Data Lives (And Why That's the Problem)31:46 - Pretty Data Demo: The Health Dashboard34:15 - How Pretty Data Connects Booking and Accounting Systems36:01 - Pricing Strategy: Running the "What If" Scenarios40:51 - Wrap Up and Next Steps#salonprofit #profitplanning #salonbusiness #prettydata #salonpricing━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

The minimum wage went up on 6th April, and your team is watching. But with thin margins, how do you handle pay rise conversations without it costing you your entire business? Many salon owners kick it into the long grass and lose good people.This episode gives you a simple plan to manage salon pay rises confidently, fairly, and profitably.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 KNOW WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD FIRST* Calculate your total wages (including employer's NI, pensions) as a percentage of your total turnover.* Phil's rule of thumb: for salons with a team and premises, this should sit *below 40%*.* If it's above 40%, a pay rise isn't possible until you fix underlying pricing and profit issues.* Solo operators: Work backwards from what you need to take home to live, not just survive.* *Mistake:* Waiting for someone to ask before doing this calculation. Numbers first, always.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 HANDLE THE CONVERSATION LIKE A PRO* Never answer on the spot. When asked, listen, thank them, and schedule a proper meeting for next week.* Use that time to check your wage percentage and assess their contribution (client retention, average bill, retail).* If 'yes': State you've reviewed everything and their contribution justifies an increase. Offer a specific number.* If 'not yet': Explain the business can't support a permanent increase *now*, but offer a clear pathway (e.g., "If we can hit X over the next quarter, I can make a concrete offer.").* Separate pay conversations from performance reviews.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 GET AHEAD WITH A CAREER STRUCTURE* Don't just react to requests; be proactive. Set a fixed annual point for pay reviews across the board.* Build a simple career structure: Junior to Senior, with clear criteria for moving up each rung of the ladder.* Each level should have a specific pay rate attached. Pay increases are linked to performance and promotion, not just time served.* Help your team understand there's a finite pot of money. If wages and training are high, other things (like Christmas parties or staff room decor) will naturally be more modest.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 LINK PAY RISES TO PRICING* You cannot separate a pay rise from your pricing strategy.* If your wage bill is at capacity and a team member deserves more money, it will hit your profits unless you also increase your prices.* Costs are rising; revenue cannot stay flat.* Give clients notice (30 days maximum), keep communication simple and confident. Clients who value your services won't leave over a reasonable increase.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 RESOURCES:Get Paid Properly: getpaidproperly.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━💬 WORK WITH ME:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎧 LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS:0:00 - Navigating Salon Pay Rises and the Minimum Wage1:10 - Calculate Your Salon's Wage Percentage (The 40% Rule)3:30 - How to Handle a Pay Rise Request (Don't Answer on the Spot)4:50 - Delivering a Yes or Not Yet with Clear Conditions5:50 - Separate Pay Talks from Performance Reviews6:10 - Get Ahead: Proactive Pay Reviews and Career Paths6:40 - Build a Transparent, Performance-Based Promotion Structure7:40 - The 'Finite Pot' of Team Spend and Its Implications8:40 - Link Pay Rises Directly to Your Salon Pricing9:20 - Confident Communication for Salon Price Increases━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━#SalonPayRise #MinimumWage #SalonProfitability #SalonTeam #SalonPricing━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

Are you running your salon as a sole trader but feel like your business is outgrowing the structure? Many salon owners reach a point where unlimited liability and higher tax rates start to pinch, making you wonder if there’s a better way.This episode outlines the three clear signs that it’s time to switch your salon to a limited company.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━💰 IS YOUR SALON PAYING TOO MUCH TAX?* **The Sole Trader Tax Trap:** As a sole trader, every pound of profit is taxed as your personal income. After your personal allowance (around £12,500), you pay 20% income tax plus 6% National Insurance, escalating to 40% income tax on profits above £50,270.* **Limited Company Tax Advantage:** A limited company pays corporation tax at 19% on profits up to £50k. You then take a small salary (tax-deductible for the company) and the rest as dividends, which are taxed at a lower rate with no National Insurance. This could save you around £100 per month on £60k profit.* **Phil's Rule of Thumb:** If your salon's profits are consistently £40,000 or more, you're almost certainly paying more tax than needed as a sole trader. It’s time to consult your accountant.🛡️ IS YOUR PERSONAL WEALTH AT RISK?* **Unlimited Liability Exposed:** As a sole trader, there’s no legal separation between you and your business. Business debts, failed payments, or client lawsuits can put your personal assets – savings, car, even your home – on the line.* **Limited Company Protection:** A limited company acts as a separate legal entity, creating a protective wall between your personal and business assets. If the company incurs debt or faces a claim, only company assets are at risk.* **The Personal Guarantee Caveat:** In early years, banks or landlords may require personal guarantees for loans or leases. This means that for that specific debt, the protective wall is temporarily breached, but it's a normal part of building a business track record.🚀 IS YOUR BUSINESS GROWTH BEING HELD BACK?* **Enhanced Credibility:** Limited companies are often taken more seriously by banks, investors, and high-end clients. Publicly filed accounts demonstrate financial discipline and professionalism.* **Business Name Protection:** Registering as a limited company prevents other businesses from using your exact name, offering a layer of brand protection.* **Simplified Selling & Expansion:** Selling a limited company is straightforward – you sell the shares. For sole traders, it’s a messy process of selling individual assets. A limited company also simplifies bringing in partners or opening new locations.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 RESOURCES:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━💬 WORK WITH ME:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎧 LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS:0:00 - Why Sole Trader Status Becomes a Liability1:20 - Sign 1: You're Paying Too Much Tax2:30 - How Sole Trader Tax Works3:20 - The Limited Company Tax Advantage4:20 - £40k Profit: Time to Chat with Your Accountant4:40 - Sign 2: Your Personal Assets Are at Risk5:50 - The Protection of a Limited Company6:40 - The Personal Guarantee Reality8:10 - Sign 3: Your Structure is Stopping Growth9:20 - Selling a Limited Company vs. Sole Trader10:20 - When to Make the Switch10:50 - The Simple Process of Switching#salontax #limitedcompany #soletax #salonbusiness #salonowner━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

Up to 20% of the population is neurodivergent — and a huge number of them are running salons. But nobody's talking about what that actually means: the chaos, the superpowers, and the systems that make it work. Amy Vince is a salon owner, educator, and self-described neuro spicy business builder. In this conversation she shares her journey from redundancy to salon ownership, her ADHD diagnosis at 29, and why her neurodivergence has become one of her greatest business advantages. ABOUT AMY Amy Vince is the owner of The Hidden Beauty Rooms and founder of The Hidden Beauty Academy. Nearly nine years in the industry, she trains students not just in treatment skills but in the fundamentals of running a beauty business. FROM DIAGNOSIS TO DIRECTION THE CHALLENGES THE ADVANTAGES TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES THAT ACTUALLY WORK ON RUNNING AN ACADEMY WITH AN ADHD BRAIN GUEST LINKS The Hidden Beauty Rooms (salon): @thehiddenbeautyrooms The Hidden Beauty Academy: @thehiddenbeautyacademy WORK WITH PHIL Book a strategy call: https://meet.philjackson.me/strategy-call LISTEN YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalon Spotify: https://go.philjackson.me/Spotify Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP CHAPTERS 0:00 - Introduction: Amy's Neuro Spicy Journey 1:07 - From Redundancy to Salon Owner 2:20 - The ADHD Diagnosis at 29 and Why It Was a Relief 4:15 - Being Open With Clients and Team 5:51 - Misconceptions About ADHD 6:30 - What a Bad Day Actually Looks Like 7:30 - Why She Started Her Own Business 9:12 - The Train Track Brain: Jumping Between Ideas 10:17 - Client Relationships and the Personal Touch 11:33 - ADHD as a Superpower in Business 12:32 - Running a Training Academy Differently 14:56 - Goal Setting, Money Management and Learning the Hard Way 17:15 - AI, ChatGPT and the Two-Minute Timer Method 21:27 - The Best Advice She's Ever Been Given 22:30 - Advice for Anyone Who Wants to Follow Her Path 22:50 - The Best Thing About the Salon Industry Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

Hitting £90,000 in turnover should be a huge celebration for your salon. For Phil Jackson, it nearly destroyed his business. He missed the VAT threshold for nine months, leading to a massive backdated bill for money he'd already spent. Don't let this happen to you. In this episode, Phil shares his costly mistake and gives you the exact steps to proactively manage your salon's VAT, avoid a surprise bill, and ensure your business grows profitably. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📊 MAIN CONTENT: THE ROLLING 12-MONTH VAT THRESHOLD • The £90,000 VAT threshold is NOT based on your tax year or company year end. • It's a rolling 12-month period: you must check your turnover for the previous 12 months *every single month*. • Once you cross £90,000, you have 30 days to notify HMRC. Registration kicks in from the first day of the second month after crossing. PHIL'S £10,000+ MISTAKE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES • Phil delegated, then abdicated, trusting his accountant to track the threshold. • He crossed the threshold but didn't know for nine whole months. • HMRC backdated his liability, demanding 20% of all revenue taken during those nine months. • The money came straight from his business reserves, cleaning out his emergency fund. WHAT TO DO IF YOU'VE ALREADY MISSED THE THRESHOLD • *Act fast:* Go back through records to pinpoint when you crossed £90,000. • *Call your accountant immediately:* Make a voluntary disclosure to HMRC to show you're fixing the problem, which can prevent penalties. • *Reduce your bill:* Work with your accountant to reclaim VAT on purchases (equipment, stock, coaching) made during the period you should have been registered. • *Talk to HMRC:* If you need a payment plan, engage with HMRC directly. They prefer to find a solution than push you into bankruptcy. PREPARING FOR VAT REGISTRATION AND GROWTH • *Gradual price increases:* Don't wait for a 20% cliff edge. Implement small, regular increases (e.g., 3-4% every six months) to absorb the VAT impact gradually. • *Keep growing:* Between £90k and £110k, profits can be squeezed. Aim to quickly push past £110k towards £120k+ turnover to ensure strong profitability after VAT registration. • *Explore the Flat Rate Scheme:* Discuss with your accountant. For beauty businesses, it can be 13% of turnover (12% in the first year), simplifying budgeting but meaning you can't reclaim VAT on purchases. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📊 RESOURCES: Get Paid Properly: getpaidproperly.com ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 WORK WITH ME: 1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎧 LISTEN: YouTube:  / @buildyoursalon Spotify: https://go.philjackson.me/Spotify Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ CHAPTERS: 0:00 - My VAT Mistake That Nearly Ended My Business 0:50 - The Truth About the Rolling VAT Threshold 2:00 - Why HMRC Backdates Your Salon's VAT Bill 3:10 - The Cost of Missing Your VAT Registration Date 4:00 - The One Habit to Avoid a Huge VAT Bill 4:50 - What to Do If You've Already Missed It 6:00 - How to Reduce Your Backdated VAT Bill 6:50 - Talking to HMRC About Payment Plans 7:30 - How to Manage Salon Price Increases for VAT 8:40 - The Flat Rate VAT Scheme for Salons 10:10 - Your 3 Immediate Actions for Salon VAT ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ #SalonVAT #SalonPricing #SalonBusiness #BuildYourSalon ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

Draft

Picture this: it's your only day off, but your phone is buzzing with DMs about bookings and prices, and that promo email still isn't written. You're physically out of the salon, but mentally chained to admin that doesn't make you a penny. What if a digital twin could handle all this 24/7, freeing you to do what you love?This episode reveals how to build your own AI-powered digital twin to automate soul-draining salon admin, giving you back your time, sanity, and passion for the industry.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 MAIN CONTENT:⭐ BUILD A 24/7 SOCIAL MEDIA ASSISTANT* AI can generate 30 Instagram post ideas in minutes, specific to your niche (e.g., anti-aging for professional women).* It writes engaging captions for client transformations (e.g., lash lifts) with calls to action, preventing photos from sitting unused.* AI-powered chatbots can instantly answer frequently asked DMs (e.g., opening hours, Sunday availability), freeing your personal time.⭐ REPUTATION MANAGER THAT NEVER SLEEPS* Train AI to draft personalised, on-brand responses to all reviews (Google, Facebook) in seconds.* For positive reviews, AI can reinforce the client's great experience and mention SEO-friendly keywords.* For negative reviews, AI drafts professional, empathetic apologies and can even suggest loyalty-building offers within set boundaries.⭐ YOUR AI MARKETING PRO* Email marketing returns around £36 for every £1 spent, but often gets neglected.* Tell your AI twin to draft 150-word emails for spring availability or promotions in your specific tone (e.g., warm and direct).* AI is excellent at generating multiple subject line options, helping you select the most effective ones for your audience.⭐ AI FOR FINANCIAL CLARITY AND SMART BUDGETING* Describe your financial situation to AI in plain English; it will ask good questions and explain complex accounts without jargon.* Use AI to flag slow-moving products by analysing speed of sale, helping you create targeted promotions to shift stock.* AI tools can monitor stock, payroll, and expenses, providing real-time financial health snapshots and predicting future cash flow issues.* Run simulations (e.g., new hires, booking dips) to understand their impact on profits and make confident business decisions.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 RESOURCES:AI by Your side: philjackson.coach━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━💬 WORK WITH ME:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎧 LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS:0:00 - Stop Drowning in Salon Admin1:25 - My Own Admin Nightmare2:55 - How AI Becomes Your Perfect Digital Twin3:35 - Build Your 24/7 Social Media Assistant7:05 - Your Reputation Manager That Never Sleeps10:25 - An AI Marketing Pro Who Knows Your Clients12:25 - AI for Financial Clarity and Smart Budgeting16:55 - How AI Makes You More Human, Not Less18:05 - Your Next Step into Salon AI#salonaiautomation #salonadmin #salonmarketing #salonsocialmedia #salonfinance━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

Are you endlessly busy in your salon, working all hours, but still feel like you're just surviving? Many salon owners pour their heart and soul into their business only to find it dictates their life, rather than supporting it.Phil Jackson challenges you to assess if your salon business is genuinely working for you, or if you've simply created a job you happen to own. This episode delivers a crucial framework to evaluate your salon's health and start building a business that serves your lifestyle.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎯 THE 5 SIGNS OF A WORKING SALON* **You Get Paid Properly:** Beyond minimum wage or 'what's left'. A deliberate, planned salary reflecting your value and risk.* **It Functions Without You:** Your business doesn't collapse if you take a holiday or a day off. It can operate, serve clients, and make money independently.* **It Grows Predictably:** Growth isn't accidental. You have a defendable plan for turnover, marketing, pricing, and team capacity for Q2 and beyond.* **Your Team Performs Without Micromanagement:** They take initiative, maintain standards when you're not watching, and you're leading, not firefighting every day.* **It Gives You a Life:** Your business supports your desired lifestyle, offering time off, financial security, and the ability to make choices, rather than demanding your every hour.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 RESOURCES:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━💬 WORK WITH ME:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎧 LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS:0:00 - Is Your Salon Business Truly Working?0:40 - The 5 Things a Working Salon Delivers2:40 - Question 1: Are You Paying Yourself Properly?4:20 - Question 2: Can Your Salon Function Without You?6:20 - Question 3: Do You Have a Predictable Growth Plan?7:50 - Question 4: Does Your Team Perform Independently?9:40 - Question 5: Is Your Business Supporting Your Life?11:20 - What Your Answers Mean for Your Salon12:10 - When Your Business is Surviving, Not Thriving13:00 - Build a Business That Works For You━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━#salonsuccess #salonowner #salonbusiness #profitablebusiness #lifestylebusiness━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.comPhil Jackson, your Queen of Salons, offers essential business tips for a business that just WORKS! Following a month of discussions on pricing, planning, team, tax, and profit, this episode helps you determine if your salon business is operating effectively. Discover key strategies for business management and financial analysis to ensure your salon is a profitable business.

Does the UK tax year end on 5th April fill you with dread? Many salon owners feel anxious, unsure what they owe or what they should have done differently. You've got 9 days to fix it.Phil Jackson shares 5 practical, immediate steps to get your salon's finances in order and sail through the tax year end with confidence.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 RESOURCES:Get Paid Properly: getpaidproperly.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━💬 WORK WITH ME:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎧 LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS:0:00 - Introduction: Why Tax Year End Causes Stress0:50 - The Crucial Window: Why Act Before April 5th1:40 - Step 1: Update Your Income and Expenses4:10 - Step 2: Utilise Your Pension Contributions5:20 - Step 3: Check Your VAT Threshold Position6:40 - Step 4: Ensure You Are Paying Yourself Properly8:10 - Step 5: Talk to Your Accountant This Week9:20 - Setting Up for a Successful New Tax Year10:40 - How to Gain Ultimate Financial Clarity━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━#SalonTax #TaxYearEnd #SalonFinances #BusinessAccounting #UKTax━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.comThe tax year end often brings anxiety for salon owners due to procrastination or uncertainty about their tax obligations. This episode provides timely advice and guidance to help fix these issues, emphasising that nine days can be enough time to get organised with proper tax planning. We'll cover crucial financial management strategies to ensure your small business achieves business success.

Dread that difficult conversation with a team member? You've rehearsed it, avoided it, and now resentment is building and standards are slipping. Putting it off is doing more harm than good, affecting your salon's culture and bottom line.This episode gives you a simple, four-part framework to approach these vital discussions with confidence and achieve clear outcomes.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━WHY WE AVOID DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS* **Fear of conflict:** As salon owners, we are people-pleasers, good at building relationships with clients and team members. We dread damaging those bonds.* **Guilt:** You haven't always been clear on expectations, so calling someone out now can feel very unfair.* **The damage of avoidance:** Resentment builds, standards drift, communication breaks down, and team members can become toxic to your workplace culture.PHIL'S FOUR-PART FRAMEWORK FOR EFFECTIVE REVIEWS* **1. Prepare with Focus:** * Know exactly the points you'll cover; you can even script key sentences. * Acknowledge what they're doing well genuinely. * Identify *one* specific thing to change or improve (not 47!). * Know what you want to agree on as the outcome. * Book a calm, non-threatening 20-minute meeting: "I want us to sit down for 20 minutes on Wednesday for a proper catch-up."* **2. Conduct the Meeting Directly:** * Start with specific, genuine recognition – not a hollow "compliment sandwich." * Address the *one specific behaviour* or performance area observed and its impact. E.g., "Your retail performance is declining, and it's impacting your take-home pay." * Give the other person space to respond and provide context. * Reach agreement on a concrete next step and a specific follow-up. E.g., "I want to see your retail numbers back on the incline in two weeks."* **3. Handle Pay Conversations Separately (If Applicable):** * If pay comes up, book a separate time to talk about money proactively. * Justify pay increases financially and to retain valued team members. * Tie pay conversations to specific performance expectations. * Remember: the cost of losing a good team member (recruitment, training, lost client retention) is always far more than paying them properly in the first place.* **4. Follow Up Consistently:** * Make brief notes (ideally something you'd be happy to share). * *Crucially*, revisit what you agreed. If you said you'd follow up, do it. * Acknowledge specific progress: "I notice you've been doing what you said you would, and it's making a huge difference." * Authenticity in your actions builds trust and makes future reviews much easier.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 RESOURCES:Salon Spark: https://salon-spark.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━💬 WORK WITH ME:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎧 LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS:0:00 - The Difficult Conversation You've Been Avoiding0:40 - Why Salon Owners Avoid These Chats2:10 - How Avoiding Conflict Damages Your Salon3:40 - Part 1: Prepare for a Focused Discussion5:40 - Part 2: Structure the Meeting Effectively7:00 - Address Specific Behaviour (Not General Attitude)8:50 - Part 3: Handling Pay Conversations Separately10:50 - Part 4: The Power of Consistent Follow-Up12:40 - Make Difficult Conversations Easier Over Time#SalonTeam #SalonManagement #PerformanceReview #DifficultConversations #SalonBusiness━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

Are you staring at empty slots in your appointment book this spring, hoping social media likes will magically turn into bookings? Stop wishing and start doing. This episode gives you a no-nonsense, three-point spring marketing plan that delivers real clients through your salon door. Phil Jackson, your Queen of Salons, reveals the direct, actionable strategies to fill your books NOW, without relying on Instagram. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📊 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: 1. REACTIVATE YOUR LAPSED CLIENTS * Your cheapest client to rebook is one who's already been in. * Pull a list of clients not seen since before Christmas. * Send a simple, direct, personalised message via text, WhatsApp, or even a phone call. Mention their name and usual treatment. * Example: 50 lapsed clients, 20% respond = 10 bookings. At £50-£100 average bill, that's £500-£1000 revenue for an afternoon's work. 2. MAXIMISE THE PRE-EASTER PUSH * Easter is a key gifting and treating moment, even if clients aren't religious. * Use the two weeks before Easter to promote "get Easter ready" or "get set for spring" services. * Push gift vouchers as Easter gifts for mums, partners, or friends. * Use point of sale (POS) prompts in your salon; clients often book or buy vouchers if prompted on the spot. 3. MASTER YOUR REBOOKING STRATEGY * This is the most powerful retention tool, but most salons use it inconsistently. * Every client leaving in April should have a May appointment confirmed before they leave. * Use reasons like "it's getting busy for summer" or "secure your preferred slot." * Script it for your team: "Can I do this for you?" rather than "Do you want to book?" * A 70% rebooking rate from 30 weekly clients means 21 confirmed appointments for the next month, generating easy, loyal revenue. SOCIAL MEDIA IS A SUPPORT, NOT A DRIVER: * Don't spend two weeks posting on Instagram hoping it fills your books. * Liking a post isn't the same as a booking. * Direct contact with existing and lapsed clients outperforms social media for short-term bookings every time. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📊 RESOURCES: Salon Spark: https://salon-spark.com ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 WORK WITH ME: 1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎧 LISTEN: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalon Spotify: https://go.philjackson.me/Spotify Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Introduction to Spring Marketing 1:05 - The Cost of Waiting Too Long 2:00 - Strategy 1: Reactivate Lapsed Clients 3:30 - How to Personalise Your Outreach 4:40 - The Power of a Phone Call 5:30 - Strategy 2: The Pre-Easter Push 7:00 - Leveraging Point of Sale Prompts 7:45 - Strategy 3: Master Your Rebooking Strategy 9:10 - What to Say for Effective Rebooking 10:35 - Why Social Media Isn't a Booking Driver #springmarketing #salonmarketing #salonbookings #clientretention #salongrowth ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

Are you working flat out in your salon, always busy, but still struggling to pay yourself properly? It's a common trap: busyness doesn't automatically mean profitability. This episode reveals the four critical numbers every salon owner MUST track to turn their hard work into real profit.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:BUSY VS. PROFITABLE:* Busyness measures inputs (hours worked, number of appointments, clients through the door).* Profitability measures outputs (what's left after all the busyness and activity).* It's possible to be 100% booked and losing money if your pricing, costs, or service mix are incorrect.* The real question: "Am I busy doing the right things at the right price to generate profit?"FOUR CRITICAL NUMBERS YOU MUST KNOW:* **1. AVERAGE CLIENT SPEND (Average Bill):** * Calculate: Total revenue divided by the number of guests or appointments in a month. * Problem: If your average bill is too low, more busyness won't fix your profit problem; it just means more work for less return. * Action: Monitor monthly, know what it needs to be to hit targets.* **2. COLUMN UTILISATION:** * Calculate: (Amount of time booked / Amount of time available) x 100. * Sweet spot: 80-85% for most salon businesses. * Why 100% is not ideal: No elasticity, leads to frantic work, no buffer for running late or sick team members. * Below 70%: Indicates a demand problem or a client retention problem.* **3. WAGE-TO-REVENUE RATIO:** * Calculate: (Total wage bill, including yourself / Total revenue) x 100. * Target: Should typically not run above 40% of revenue for premises-based salons (includes PAYE, NI, pensions). * Above 40%: Profit will be squeezed. Above 50%: Profit is severely compromised. * Exposes problems of underpricing relative to wage costs.* **4. PROFIT PER TREATMENT:** * Problem: Your most popular treatments are not always your most profitable ones (e.g., a long nail service versus a quick brow treatment). * Action: Knowing this number changes what you promote, what you can afford to discount, and what services you might even phase out.WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR NUMBERS AREN'T GREAT:* **Average Bill Too Low:** Look at your service mix (promote profitable ones), review pricing, improve upselling or cross-selling.* **Low Utilisation:** Address marketing or retention issues. Start by rebooking lapsed clients.* **High Wage Ratio:** Focus on 1. Increasing takings, 2. Reducing hours, or 3. Repricing services. Often a combination of all three.* **Low Profit Per Treatment:** Don't lean into low-margin services heavily; reconsider their role in your offering.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 RESOURCES:Get Paid Properly: getpaidproperly.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━💬 WORK WITH ME:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎧 LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS:0:00 - The Difference Between Busy and Profitable1:05 - The Salon "Busyness Trap"2:05 - Why You Need to Make Friends with Numbers2:45 - Number 1: Your Average Client Spend4:10 - Number 2: Your Column Utilisation Sweet Spot6:45 - Number 3: Your Wage-to-Revenue Ratio9:45 - Number 4: Profit Per Treatment11:50 - What to Do When Numbers Are Low14:20 - Your Next Steps to Salon Profitability15:00 - Work with Phil on Your Salon Strategy#salonprofitability #salonpricing #salonbusiness #salonowner #buildyoursalon━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

Phil Jackson, your Queen of Salons, discusses the importance of effective quarterly strategic planning for salon owners. He guides viewers on how to properly map out actions beyond just setting revenue goals, emphasising that good planning is crucial for business growth. This video encourages salon owners to develop a clear strategy and focus on goal setting for a thriving business.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📊 RESOURCES:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━💬 WORK WITH ME:1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🎧 LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS:0:00 - Introduction to Q2 Planning1:00 - Why Q2 is a Big Opportunity2:00 - The Problem with Reactive Planning2:50 - How to Set Your Q2 Revenue Target4:10 - Breaking Down Monthly Revenue Targets5:20 - Identifying Your Marketing Gap6:20 - Key Q2 Marketing Moments to Plan7:40 - Checking Team Capacity and Finances9:00 - How to Create Your Simple Q2 Plan9:40 - Next Steps: 1:1 Coaching with Phil#SalonBusiness #SalonStrategy #SalonPlanning #Q2Planning #BuildYourSalon━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

RESOURCES:Memberships Made Easy: the programme for building a salon membership that actually works. https://queenofmemberships.com Falling out of love with the work that built your business is not failure. It is evolution. And a membership might be the most elegant way to make that transition without abandoning the clients you actually want to keep. This week I am answering a brilliant question from Summer at Flourish Beauty and Academy in Devizes, who wants to use a nail membership to pivot toward skin treatments. The answer applies to any salon owner who wants to reshape their column without burning down what they have built. WHY THIS INSTINCT IS RIGHTMost salon owners who want to change direction either do nothing and stay stuck, or go cold turkey and lose the clients they built their business on. Summer has found a third path. A membership is the bridge that lets you honour those long-term relationships while reshaping your column on your terms. THREE THINGS A TREATMENT-SPECIFIC MEMBERSHIP MUST HAVE THE ONE RISK TO WATCHThe membership manages the exit. Something else has to manage the entrance.If you launch the nail membership but do not actively fill that freed-up space with skin consultations and new treatment offers, you will end up with white space and panic. Get the new menu ready at the same time. WORK WITH ME:1:1 Ultimate Clarity: https://tidycal.com/philjackson/1to1-enquiryFull details: https://buildyoursalon.com LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP CHAPTERS:0:00 - Evolving Away From the Work That Built Your Business0:24 - How March Is Going and the Listener Question1:12 - Introducing Summer's Question (Flourish Beauty, Devizes)2:51 - Why the Instinct Is Right3:39 - The Third Path: Memberships as a Transition Tool4:30 - Even Solopreneurs Can Use This Approach5:17 - Thing 1: Absolute Clarity on What Is Included6:06 - The One Sentence Test for Membership Clarity6:56 - Thing 2: Price That Reflects the Relationship (Not the Discount)7:38 - Thing 3: Transition Timeline and Holding the Line8:23 - The Risk: Make Sure You Fill the Space You Free Up9:13 - Memberships Made Easy at queenofmemberships.com #salonmembership #salonbusiness #beautysalon #salonowner #saloncoach Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

The clients you are most afraid of losing when you raise your prices are usually the ones you cannot afford to keep. Here is how to put your prices up properly, before the spring rebooking window closes. This episode gives you the maths, the method, and the exact three rules for communicating a price rise without losing the plot or the clients. WHY THE FEAR IS WRONG HOW MUCH TO RAISE BYIf you have not raised prices in 12 months, you are already behind. A 10% rise covers inflation, wage increases, and product cost rises, and is small enough that most clients accept it without question. The maths: if your average bill is 60 pounds and you do 30 clients a week, that is 18 pounds more per client. 540 pounds a week. 28,000 pounds a year. From a decision you are currently too scared to make. Do not do it in tiny increments. Two price increases a year, done properly, beats six small awkward ones every few months. THE THREE RULES FOR COMMUNICATING IT RULE 1: BE DIRECT, NOT APOLOGETICWrong: "We are so sorry, due to rising costs we have had to make the difficult decision..."Right: "From 1st April, our prices will increase by 10%. Check our price list online."If you apologise, you signal that you think the rise is wrong. You do not. So do not apologise. RULE 2: GIVE NOTICE, NOT AN ESSAYFour weeks is enough. Six weeks is generous. Any more and you are just giving people more time to object.You do not owe anyone a line-by-line breakdown of your overheads. RULE 3: TELL THEM PERSONALLY BEFORE YOU TELL THEM PUBLICLY WHAT TO DO IF A CLIENT PUSHES BACKMost will not. For the rare one who does: "Our prices have not increased for X months. This brings us in line with where we need to be to stay profitable." If they threaten to leave, let them. That chair will be filled by someone who values your work. RESOURCES:Get your pricing properly sorted with Get Paid Properly:getpaidproperly.com WORK WITH ME:1:1 Ultimate Clarity: https://tidycal.com/philjackson/1to1-enquiryFull details: https://buildyoursalon.com LISTEN:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalonSpotify: https://go.philjackson.me/SpotifyApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP CHAPTERS:0:00 - The Clients You Are Scared to Lose0:20 - How March Is Going and Why Pricing Still Matters1:08 - Why the Fear Is Real But the Logic Is Wrong2:06 - Breaking Through Price Barriers (and Who It Attracts)2:48 - You Are Not Being Greedy, You Are Being Sustainable3:36 - Why Now Is the Right Time (Even If March Feels Ropey)4:22 - How Much to Raise By (Do the Maths)5:57 - Do Not Do It in Tiny Increments6:44 - Rule 1: Be Direct, Not Apologetic7:30 - Rule 2: Give Notice, Not an Explanation8:16 - Rule 3: Tell Them Personally Before Publicly9:05 - What to Do If a Client Pushes Back #salonpricing #salonbusiness #salonowner #hairsalon #salongrowth Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

January was all big plans. February was survival mode. And now March has turned up and most salon owners are drifting. Three weeks later it is April, the rush hits, and you are already behind. This episode is your wake-up call. March is the last calm window to make strategic decisions before spring takes over. Here is how to use it. WHY MARCH IS DIFFERENT January is about intention. February is about reality. March is about decision. By now you know what Q1 actually looks like, which staff are performing, and whether your January plan is working. And you still have time to respond. From April onwards you are in reactive mode. Do not make your biggest decisions under pressure. THE THREE DECISIONS TO MAKE THIS MONTH DECISION 1: ARE YOU PRICED RIGHT? DECISION 2: IS YOUR TEAM IN THE RIGHT SHAPE? DECISION 3: DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SELLING IN Q2? YOUR MARCH AUDIT Block out 20 minutes this week to work ON your business, not in it. Answer these three questions on paper: The answers you are avoiding writing down are almost always the most important ones. RESOURCES: 1:1 Ultimate Clarity: 90 days, three deliverables, no guesswork. Book a free 30-minute call: https://tidycal.com/philjackson/1to1-enquiry WORK WITH ME: 1:1 Coaching: https://buildyoursalon.com LISTEN: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildYourSalon Spotify: https://go.philjackson.me/Spotify Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3MZp6jP CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Why March Is the Month Most Salon Owners Waste 0:23 - January, February and the March Decision 1:18 - Why Q3 and Q4 Are the Worst Time to Make Big Calls 2:23 - Decision 1: Are You Priced Right for the Busy Season? 3:13 - Decision 2: Is Your Team in the Right Shape? 4:07 - Decision 3: Do You Know What You Are Selling in Q2? 4:54 - Your March Audit (20 Minutes, Three Questions) 5:45 - 1:1 Ultimate Clarity #salonbusiness #salonowner #hairsalon #saloncoach #salongrowth Questions? phil@buildyoursalon.com

Is your accountant actually LOSING you money?It's tax season, and your accountant should be more than just a scorekeeper. This video explains how to get more value from your accounting relationship, focusing on proactive financial planning rather than just reporting past figures. Learn essential questions to ask your accountant to boost your salon business growth and improve your financial health. Because your small business finance deserves more than just annual accounts.What You'll Learn:What most accountants actually do (compliance vs. strategy)Why you're paying for a historian, not a business advisorThe five questions to ask your accountant this weekWhen to change accountants (red flags to watch for)What accountants can't do (but you wish they would)The gap between accounting and strategy (and how to fill it)What Most Accountants Actually Do:Process your bookkeeping (or tell you off for not doing it)File your tax return, tell you what you oweGive you last year's numbers (when it's too late to change anything)Charge £1,500-3,000/yearThat's COMPLIANCE, not strategyYou're paying for a historian, not a business advisorWhat Your Accountant SHOULD Be Doing:1. Monthly Financial Reports (Not Annual)Monthly P&L (ideally) or quarterly minimumBreakdown by: service type, team member, cost categoriesSpot problems WHILE you can fix them (not 12 months later)HMRC making tax digital = quarterly reporting anywayForecasting: See expenses coming, anticipate shortfalls, plan promotionsGame changer: Stop flying in the dark, start steering strategically2. Profit Margin Analysis"Your margin dropped 3% this month - here's why""Product costs creeping up - time to renegotiate"Proactive advice, not reactive reporting3. Tax Planning (Not Just Tax Filing)"Based on current numbers, you'll owe £X in tax""Set aside X% monthly for tax""Here's legal strategies to reduce your bill"No surprises in January when tax bill landsHelp you AVOID the tax hole, not just get out of it4. Strategic Business Advice"Your wage costs are 45% - industry standard is 40%, here's how to adjust""You should be making £X profit on £Y revenue - you're not, here's why""That new treatment? Not profitable. Here's the math."Industry knowledge (don't need industry-specific accountant, but they need to understand your business size)5. Benchmarking"Here's how you compare to similar salons""Your rent is high/low relative to revenue""Your retail margin is better/worse than average"Context so you know if you're winning or losingAbout Phil Jackson:Phil Jackson is a salon business coach with 27 years of industry experience and a Creative Head Most Wanted Award. He helps salon owners in hair, beauty, and aesthetics build profitable businesses without the hustle BS.Work with Phil:If you need help beyond what accountant provides (understanding numbers AND what to do with them):Episode Timestamps:0:00 - Introduction: Tax Time Reality Check0:29 - Phil's New Website (Built with Claude Codex in 1.5 Days!)2:49 - What Most Accountants Actually Do (Historians, Not Advisors)4:35 - What They SHOULD Do: Monthly Reporting & Forecasting6:08 - Profit Margin Analysis & Tax Planning7:06 - Strategic Business Advice & Benchmarking8:53 - The Five Questions to Ask10:25 - Red Flags: When to Change Accountants11:14 - What Accountants Can't Do (The Gap)12:00 - Closing: Last Episode of February#salonbusiness #salonowner #accounting #bookkeeping #profitmargin #saloncoach #beautybusiness #hairdressingbusiness #businessfinance #buildyoursalon1:1 Ultimate Clarity Coaching: 90-day programme delivering your 5-year lifestyle-first business plan, 12-month profit & pricing strategy, and 12-month marketing planBook a free consultation: https://tidycal.com/philjackson/1to1-enquiryWebsite: https://buildyoursalon.comNew podcast site: https://queenofsalons.comEmail: phil@buildyoursalon.com

Your team's been cooped up together all winter. Three people not talking, one being a bitch, one being passive-aggressive. You're hiding in the office. Today: How to actually handle the drama. In this episode, Phil Jackson tackles the uncomfortable truth - staff drama doesn't resolve itself, it festers. Late February cabin fever is real. Here's how to handle it instead of hiding. What You'll Learn: The Two Types: Type 1: Legitimate Grievances Badly Expressed Type 2: Personality Conflicts & Drama-Seeking About Phil Jackson:Phil Jackson is a salon business coach with 27 years of industry experience and a Creative Head Most Wanted Award. He helps salon owners build profitable businesses without the hustle BS. Work with Phil:If drama is symptom of deeper problems (unclear expectations, poor systems, lack of leadership): https://tidycal.com/philjackson/1to1-enquiryphil@buildyoursalon.com