Supercharge Your Salon Success: Get a GREAT Plan with Emma Jarvis

Hello, hello, hello my salon friends. Phil Jackson, your queen of salons, coming in your eyes and ears again with another dose of wise old owl wisdom. But you lucky people, it's not my wisdom. This week we have a multi-award winning salon owner. She's also the founder of the THB Academy and she's a fellow columnist on the Salon Education Journal as well. Let's get Emma Jarvis onto the show, shall we? Emma, welcome to the Build Your Salon podcast. Hello, Phil. Well, thank you for having me. You're very welcome. You're one of those strange people who I feel like we should have met and spoken to, spoken a long time ago. And it's just never quite happened. We haven't kind of crossed paths, have we? So I'm interested, interested to hear all about you. So for people that don't know you, give us a little potted history. How did you find yourself in the salon industry, first of all? Okay, so I can remember back when I was five years old, playing with my girls world. I always wanted to be in the hairdresser. I always wanted to be a hairdresser. I always wanted to work in the salon. And I can remember saving up my pocket money and putting half of it in the bank each week, saving up from the salon. And then when I was 13, I ended up going around all the salons and getting a Saturday job. And then from there, I then progressed into an MVP. And then obviously that then went into leading into my own salon. Okay, so interestingly, that budgeting, saving half for your own salon all those years ago is that habit that stayed with you that kind of budgeting and saving and knowing where the money goes. Yeah, yeah, it has. But it's funny, because I can't really remember doing it. But it was one of my friends, we were out and we were talking and she was like, you know, I can remember going down down the high street and you putting half your money in the bank. And I was really, did I? I couldn't remember doing it. So yeah, just subconsciously done. Superb. So what I'm always really interested when people come into the industry, I understand that people have a vision of what being a hairdresser looks like. It is lovely to have a hairdresser on the show for a change, by the way. Love my beauty girls, but my goodness, we don't get many hair people on the podcast.

So I'm always very interested. We have a picture of how hairdressing is going to be and how we might fit into the industry and enjoy a career. And then something shifts and we decide that we want our own business and we want to become salon owners. Was that something that was on the cards from the very start from you? Or is it something that came along later? What was that transition like for you? Well, apparently it's always been on the cards. But like I said, I never went out with no business plan. And like all my friends always remember me saying that I was going to have my own salon. But I worked in a salon since I was 13 and done my own VQ there and stayed there. Then the opportunity just really happened for me to go solo. And I took that chance and then built it up and then realised I actually have a business. And again, another transition, I suppose, is when you start transitioning into helping other business owners and other salon owners. When did that happen and what was the prompt for that? It probably started about five years ago when the industry is my passion. I absolutely love the industry and I think it really gets in your blood and it really grabs a hold of you. So I've always wanted to help other people. But then when I started getting like questions, how do you do this? How have you done that? And I was like, OK, yeah, there's you know, there's obviously something here. And I think when you're in your own business and you're immersed in it, you don't realise what practices you put in place, you know, that other people don't. You just feel that it's like the norm. So getting asked questions and things. And then it was like, OK, now I can reach out. And I think, you know, obviously I've took apprentices on and helped that route, but then going with helping a mentor and salon owners as well. So, OK, so I'm always very interested when I'm talking to people who have got a bit more of an overview of the industry rather than just seeing the inside of their business. So what is the state of the industry? How are we doing at the moment, do you think? This is a massive question and a massive talking point that's been happening over the last few months, really. Well, probably since Covid. I do feel that the way the industry has gone, it's now more self-employed freelance than employed. I run an employed salon and I have always run an employed in salon. I've never, you know, never gone down the hybrid route or the self-employed route. So there is a massive transition. We have had a real hard time. December was definitely not the December that we were hoping for.

And I do think it will go full circle. I do think it will come around because, you know, since Covid, everyone was like the work-life balance and, you know, working from home and freedom and things like that. Whereas now I'm seeing a lot more people come and wanting to be employed again and be in that secure environment. They miss team. They miss that sort of environment. So I really do see that happening a lot. So I do think we're going to go full circle. Do you think we're in for a little bit of a rough ride? But it's just about planning ahead and really, you know, foreseeing and looking at the landscape, really, and then navigating through it. So as employers, then, if we're trying to attract people into the industry that have previously been tempted by the flexibility and freedom of self-employment, how do we bring a little bit of that flexibility and freedom into an employed situation? So I run, I'm quite flexible with my guys. They have, they work a four-day week if they want to work a four-day week, cover their hours over that. So they have like long weekends off. They work every other weekend. You know, a lot of my team have children. So it's being flexible and it's seeing what works for you, what works for the, what works for them and what works for the business. You know, when you really drill down in business and you understand the numbers, you can make educated guesses, not emotional guesses or emotional decisions. You can really, you know, see what works and what doesn't. And it is about what's in it for them, you know, that is, that's their career. So, yeah, so you do have to be a little bit more flexible now with them, definitely. Okay. And as far as that rough time that you said that we've got ahead, what's the trigger for that? What's the cause of that? And how are we going to navigate those rough waters? Obviously, with the, you know, the living crisis, with the wages going up, that is where people, you're going to see probably people now dragging out their appointments a little bit more. So it's just about adding value to the client. Clients are going to be a little bit more careful where they spend their money. So it's, you know, adding value and making sure that they have the full experience. And that's where I feel that, like, salons really have the added advantage of that because, you know, you can offer that little bit more experience without costing a lot for the business.

Give me a couple of examples when you say about enhancing the experience. What does that look like? So we look after, we look at the whole journey from start to finish. So from the minute that the client inquires from, inquires about an appointment, the consultation, the journey in the salon, and then the journey after the salon. So we have like a video that's on the text that goes out. And that's like a walkthrough of the salon. So people that are new to the salon, they don't feel scared about coming in here. We offer an upgrade form so that they can add things onto their appointment if they want to. So we obviously, we're a licensed premises, so we offer alcoholic drinks. And then afterwards, we really keep in touch with them and make sure that they're like, you know, making sure that they're looking after their hair and any things that they might need. Okay. And how does that keeping in touch after the appointment work? So we do WhatsApp. We keep in contact for you that way. And emails, we email out a lot of the time, you know, to our clients. When it's their birthdays, they have like birthday emails go out and then they have little signs put up on their station just so that they feel really valued and part of the community. Okay. I love that. I love that. I like the idea of decorating the station. So you've got obviously your salon business, which is very successful. We've talked about, we've mentioned the fact that you're multi-award winning salon. And now you've also got your mentorship or coaching that you're doing alongside that as well. And you're also a writer for the education journal. How do you decide where your attention, your energy goes? How do you decide what to work on next? Um, so obviously the salon now has been going for 25 years. So all the systems and operations that needed to be in place really for that are, um, I've now reduced my time within the salon on the salon floor so that I can work on my business, not in my business all the time. Um, and it's just planning. It's really planning, um, and, you know, guiding the way through. So, so yeah, so I allocate my time in between both the businesses. Okay. And what does that planning process look like then? Let's get, um, let's get down to the nitty gritty planning. Cause I love planning, but I, um, the danger with me is I can turn planning into procrastination.

Um, so I can spend so much time planning. Actually the doing bit gets smaller and smaller and smaller. Um, and so I'm not actually achieving very much. And, um, and the worst was when I was at university, cause then I would plan, for example, a revision plan for my exams. And then I'd go out and get drunk and then oversleep the next morning. And then I'd spend the rest of the next day rewriting the plan. And then this would happen again and again and again. So what does, what does your planning process look like? Where do you start? So I start at the beginning of the year. Um, we have, we have a big company day within the salon, but then I plan myself, um, what I want to happen for the year for the salon, what education they need. Um, so we have a real detailed, we have a whole day on it together. We do vision boards, goal setting, um, and really it's where you want to be at the end. And then we work backwards of how we're going to achieve that. Um, and that's exactly what I do within the academy as well. And obviously I've got the, um, salon planner. Um, this come from, um, looking through every, every system that you have to track things. Um, you have to, you have to go through so many different, uh, reports to be able to pull out a key figure. If so, that was getting overwhelmed. And again, like you say, procrastination and thinking that there's got to be a simpler way to all this. So this is where I then decided to put the planner together because, um, it's all the key information that you need. It's really understanding, you know, your ideal client. We plan that out and that's in the planner as well. So that, you know, the order marketing is going to be to your ideal client. We, you understand the work-life balance. So you have a wheel of life. So we really do, this is like the big thing that we do in January is plan out, um, everything that's going to be happening for the year. So financial goals as well, and also the rewards, because whenever we plan things, it's really important when we hit them that we reward ourselves no matter how small, but yeah. Yeah. I think you're absolutely right. And I'd see lots of business owners kind of talk themselves out of the reward at the end, which I think is a real shame. So they kind of say, you know, we're going to smash this target for retail, say. Um, and then they get to the end of the month or the end of the quarter and say something like, oh yeah, but we only hit that because Auntie Nelly came in and bought five products. On the last day or so, don't talk yourself out of it. Otherwise, where's the motivation from that reward next time round? You know, you've got to, you've got to, um, trick that bit of your brain, that reptilian bit of your brain into working for you and not delivering on rewards is a really good way to not get the motivation next time round. Um, so is that a collaborative process then that planning process?

That's something you involve the whole team in. Yes, definitely for the salon. Yeah. So that they have their own plan and they know where they're going for the year, what they want to learn, what they want in their columns. Um, and then obviously we're all on the same boat, all heading towards the same island. And then obviously, yeah, ultimately it's where the salon's going to be at the end of the year. Um, but yeah, it's, they're really, really included in it. And if we hit targets, they have lunches, they have like monthly incentives that they, they get rewards from and stuff. So it's really, it's really about rewarding the hard work. So you're taking your end destination and then kind of working back into what monthly targets is that then? Yeah. So it is, it's, um, so yeah, it's monthly targets and then, so six month targets, three month targets and then monthly targets and then down to, um, you know, weekly. Okay. And are they purely financial targets or are you setting targets on other things as well? Uh, financial targets, but no, definitely on other things as well. If we want to look at a new service launched within the salon, I sit and we plan all what service we're going to have, the marketing for it and how that's all going to be launched as well. So, yeah, no, it's not just financial, you know, and obviously the team, um, they pick what, where they want to go and everything ultimately has to bring back to the business. You know, there's no point in doing a barbering course if you don't have no gents that come into the, you know, there's no requirement for that service. Yeah. So, um, so yeah, so we, we, we do a good day on that and then, yeah, every week I sit down and I, I plan out my week. Okay. And that's your own personal week. You're not sitting down with each team member every week. No. No. Okay. Um, and then when you're planning your week then, is that, are you a nerd like me? Do you like a bit of technology or are you old school like a, like a pen and paper? No, it's the planner. That's why I've done the planner. I've tried every way. I've tried like Google. I've tried the techie, but it just, I, I end up losing it and then not happening. So yeah, so it's no pen and paper, pen and paper, the diary, the planner, that's there. And I'm always really interested with people that, I mean, firstly, it's so rare to come across people that actually have a decent plan that they stick to throughout the year. Um, but I'm always really interested, what happens if say two or three months into your, your year, um, you start realizing that things are going adrift a little bit and that maybe those annual goals aren't achievable.

What happens then? Well, it then takes you to, it then allows you to, um, be able to reset, re reset and relook, re-evaluize. I mean, the planner before I've launched it, I've been using it within my business for a couple of years now. And it's so easy to be able to go this week, last year and this week, this year, what is the difference? Why is there the difference? You know, how can we make it? So it's so easy to really get that laser light focus on it and see how you can change things, how you need to turn the dial up on something. Um, and then you can then, you know, it gives you so much more confidence to make certain decisions and then it makes you, it allows you to sleep at night. And is the planner built with salon owners in mind? Is it for team members as well? Is it, um, purely for people that have a team? Who's it targeted at? So it's anyone that has their own business, whether it's in the hair and beauty. Um, so whether it's a solopreneur, uh, you know, or if they're renting a chair within a salon or salon owners, um, it's also got like the QR codes in it. So each part of it, there's a QR code that you can scan. And then it's a video of me explaining how to use it and the certain checkpoints, um, along the planner that, you know, where you should be checking and what you should be checking now. Superb. It sounds like a brilliant resource. And then very briefly, you mentioned your academy. What does that look like? Who's that for? So, um, we, this sort of pivoted through lockdown. So we train all our apprentices in-house. So we are a centre. So that's where the academy came from. Um, and then we started getting like, obviously the team want to get into education as well. So it's ultimately at the moment, it's for salon owners and for myself to mentor, but we are looking to grow that into more of a hub with, um, stylists coming on board and other educators as well. Okay. I love it. And if people are interested in the planner or interested in the academy, what's the best way for them to get in touch with you or follow you for more? So they can get in touch with me via, I've got a book, a call with me on the Calendly link. And also you can get in contact with me through the website, which is, um, thbacademy.co.uk. Wonderful. And I've got three, uh, well, firstly, I will mention that all of the links are available.

That Emma's provided. They're going to be in the show notes for everybody as well, but I've got three questions that I ask at the end of my interviews that I don't warn people about. Um, don't worry. They're not too heavy. What is the best thing about working in the salon industry? The feeling that you give people. I love that. It's, uh, I get versions of that answer so much and it's, uh, it's something that we all really buy into is that, that transformation of the way someone feels. It's fantastic. Okay. And what is the best piece of advice you've ever personally received? Ooh, the best piece of advice. Just do it. Okay. Nike gave you that advice, did they? Or was it someone else? Yeah, just do it. Yeah, yeah. Just do it. And if you were speaking to someone right at the beginning of their career and they were inspired by your journey and wanted to take a similar path, what would be your advice for them? Um, get in touch with the person that you want to be and learn from the best. Learn from the best. I love that too. Fantastic. Brilliant. Well, I've really enjoyed hearing about your journey, Emma, and I love hearing about how you're paying back into the industry. It's always lovely when I hear of people that have reached a level of success and then they want to kind of help other people on that journey too. So thank you so much for your time today. Thank you. Thanks a lot. So there we have it. My interview with Emma Jarvis, fantastic, inspiring entrepreneur. And I hope you enjoyed our chat together. Just seven short days until our next episode. If you know someone who you would like to hear interviewed on the Build Your Salon podcast, reach out phil at buildyoursalon.com. And until the next time, 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.