Is it time to Stop calling them Tough Times

If you have a business coach or mentor who's been coaching you through tough times for the last four years, my question to you is, how's that working out for you? Is it time for us to stop calling these tough times? Hello, hello, hello my salon lovelies. How on earth are you? Achingly well, I hope. Phil Jackson, your queen of salons, coming in your eyes and ears with another dose of Wise Owl Wisdom. How are we doing? April the 23rd, this episode is chalked to appear on the internet. How was March for you? How has April been so far? I'm hearing some really good stories out there, it's got to be said. People are making some extraordinary amounts of money and I'm thrilled that we seem to have shaken off the winter blues a little bit. Also, happy St George's Day. If you like the English, if you hate the English, have a happy full moon instead. A bit of a departure today. I don't usually do opinion pieces. Normally I try and bring you tips and tricks and little tools that you can bring straight into your salon business. But I'm seeing something in the world of the internet which is alarming me a little bit. And that is lots and lots of people talking about tough times. Now I want to preface this by saying that I'm not a mindset coach. I've never set myself out to be a mindset coach. Not because I don't believe that mindset is important. I think it's vitally important for your long term success. But it's not what I do best. So I tend to leave the woo woo and the mindset to other people. And focus on those very practical tips instead. But I do want us to start shifting our mindset just a little bit. I think it's time for us to move on from the tough times story. Now I'm not denying that there are some people who have had an extraordinarily difficult time over the last four years. I know because I've been there literally in my own business. I went from jetting around the world pre-pandemic to queuing at the food bank in less than four weeks. That's how quickly things fell apart for me. So trust me, I know that some people have been struggling. I've been at the coalface with you, which is always where I want to be. I always want to feel that we're in the trenches together with these things. But I think this continual story, this long term story of struggling with tough times is actually starting to hold us back. So how can we say that they're not tough times if we're feeling the sharp end of the stick right now?

Well, let's shift our mindsets a little bit by realising that if something is a truth, if something is true, it must be universally true. And I don't think that tough times are universally true. I think that if we take a look at the world economy, there are parts of the world economy that are still growing. There's not less money in the world now than there was a year ago, two years ago, three or four years ago. In fact, if anything, in total, there is more money flowing around the economies of the world than there was four years ago. And I don't believe that every country is struggling. All you've got to do is look particularly at some of the African stories for stories of really quite rapid growth. In fact, here in the UK, I think we're feeling like there's this massive problem with the world going through tough times because we're only seeing our own reality. And it's the difference between reality and story that I want to talk about today. But if you think about it, there's countries that are thriving at the moment. There are probably areas in your town where people are doing particularly well. It's not universally true that everybody is facing tough times. But when we listen to coaches and mentors that are coaching us through tough times, they're painting a picture that everyone is struggling and not everyone is struggling in my own. And this isn't me blowing smoke up my own backside, darlings. But in my own coaching group, there are people getting better results than they have ever had. So there is opportunity out there. It's the difference between fact and story. Now, as human beings, we're hardwired to enjoy stories. Storytelling is ingrained in us. It's part of our DNA. It's part of our cultural heritage. It's the same with every human being on Earth. We respond to stories. And in fact, there's an entire marketing industry that's grown up to tap into our love of stories. And also, there is an entire news industry which taps into our love of stories as well. But there is a difference between fact and between story. Let me give you an example. I want you to imagine you're having a really shitty day, OK? It's one of those where the alarm didn't go off so you're rushed in the morning. Perhaps the kids weren't terribly cooperative when you were trying to bundle them off into the school run.

Maybe there was a queue at your favourite coffee shop so you couldn't grab your latte on the way into work. Perhaps you got into work and there was someone's letter of resignation waiting for you. And you looked in your column and there's one or two of those customers who just make you kind of inwardly groan a little because you know they're going to be energy vampires. And then because your energy is really low, you grab yourself a Mars bar halfway through the afternoon, two glasses of wine after work, and you realise that you've blown your diet again. One of those days. So not the worst day you've ever had, but a pretty grotty day that just doesn't make you feel good about life in general. It's a big world out there with, what is it now, seven billion people. Do you think there's anyone in the world who would see that day as the best day they've ever had? To wake up in a warm bed with a roof over your head. To have the luxury of family and children. To be able to grab your latte on the way into work. To go to a job that actually you enjoy. To have the ability to create wealth for yourself and put money into your own pockets. To go home and share a glass of wine with a loved one. Is there nobody on earth who wouldn't see that as the best day ever? Of course, there are probably thousands, millions of people who would see that as an incredible day. The facts of the day remain the same. It's your story that you're layering over the top which changes your interpretation. And I think that's what's happening with this tough times narrative that we're all putting up with. So why does it matter? Why do I need to challenge your mindset around this? Why do I want you to stop thinking about tough times? Well, I want you to start thinking about how people behave in tough times. And what we tend to do is batten down the hatches. We start playing a much safer game. A smaller game. We just survive instead of thriving. What we don't do is set extraordinary growth goals. We don't innovate. We don't push ourselves and our businesses forward. We don't realize our full potential. And I think over years and years, which is, let's face it, where we're at now, four years since pandemic really first started to bite into most of our economies, four years later, I think that smaller game, that smaller mindset is turning into a very dangerous place for us to be. And the thing is, while we're playing a small game, while we're playing safely,

there are businesses that opened in the pandemic or in the one or two years after that don't see these as tough times. They see this as normal. And those businesses that open are doing what I call, they're going new salon crazy. Think about what happened when you had a new business and how you were marketing and how you were pushing and striving. Goodness me, we were sponsoring the local netball team and the local football team. And we were going to the PTA meetings and doing demos and fashion shows that weren't ever going to make us any decent money. We were in the local paper. We were entering competitions. We had a bubble machine outside the salon for three weeks, for goodness sake. I don't recommend that, by the way. We got lots and lots of complaints with people having cars and windows covered in bubble marks from my bubble machine. But just anything to attract attention, to bring some buzz into the salon, to get that vibe going. These businesses that are opening right now are going new salon crazy. And you're not. You're playing that small game. And that's why I think it can be dangerous. It's because we're playing that small game. They're becoming more and more competitive. And what do we feel? We feel that these are tough times. So take the blinkers off. Have a look at the reality of your business right now. Is it that you are really struggling? Or is it that maybe we need some of that new salon buzz, that new salon energy? Maybe it's time to change the narrative and just look at the facts in the business. The fact may be that your turnover isn't where you want it to be. So what are we going to do about that? How are we going to grow? How are we going to make sure that we start hitting those goals to build a business that ultimately supports your life goals? So there we have it. My thoughts on tough times. Please feel free to disagree. Feel free to reach out and let me know what your thoughts are on the state of our wonderful industry at the moment. My email address at the bottom of the screen, phil at buildyoursalon.com. You know I love hearing about how well my salon owner friends are doing. Also, please reach out if you have questions for my upcoming Q&A Ask Me Anything episode. Reach out with anything at all, however small you think it is. I promise that my audience will find your question interesting. And of course, as always, you can make those questions anonymous if you would rather.

Just seven short days until I'm coming in your eyes and ears with another episode of the Build Your Salon podcast. And until then, take care. Sit down and see what's going on with the queen of salons. Hair, beauty and more successful tips for business owners. All on Build Your Salon.