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Spring Clean Your Business
Posted on March 2, 2022
Sola Salon Studios
Can you smell it? Spring has sprung and we are so looking forward to the warmer weather and more daylight. Just as nature cleanses from a long winter with rain showers that clear the way for new life to thrive, so must we do some spring cleaning to make way for business to thrive!
Spring is the perfect time to clear out old items, products, winter decor, habits and even thought patterns that are inhibiting our personal and professional growth. World-renowned professional organizer, Marie Kondo, explains that visible clutter is also mental clutter. If we want to operate with ease and efficiency, we have to create space in all aspects of our lives.
If you have a big pile of towels that have never gotten around to washing, this is likely an outer reflection of inner issues you are not wanting to face. Or if your space feels cluttered and chaotic, what inside of you needs a bit of order to make sense of things? It tends to work the other way as well - when you come into a messy or dirty salon, you may feel rushed, avoidant, chaotic or ungrounded in a way that may not be obvious to you but is circulating in your subconscious. Not to mention, your clients can feel it.
In essence, these externalizations of our inner world beg for a holistic spring cleaning treatment; cleaning your salon will require a cleanout of not just your workspace but likely your home and headspace as well.
Here are a few tips to get you started on your spring cleaning:
1.) Tidy your salon
Over a long cold winter, we can sometimes forget to attend to the little things. Things can get chaotic over time, even for the most organized beauty professional.
We recommend taking all of the things out - out of bins, cabinets, off of countertops and out from underneath the places you didn’t think anybody would notice. Get it all out and see what you can get rid of. Do you really need that old cuticle oil or the tanning spray you purchased 3 years ago?
Chuck or donate anything unnecessary, broken, out of date, or no longer useful. This is a hard rule. Be harsh about it. Remember that anything that does not bring you joy or use should not belong in your workspace. We promise you’ll find other ways to fill the space with things that are useful and bring you joy. Do you have a hard time getting rid of things? Put them in a box and label with a date 6 months from now. If you have missed anything in the box, you can retrieve it. Otherwise - donate!
Next, put like things with like things. This is a great way to ensure that you always know where to find things. This eliminates any fumbling or searching when you have a client in the chair. Your favorite comb that you can never quite locate? Create a small bin where you keep your favorite tools and put it in your most accessible spot. The random assortment of towels that are never folded to your liking? Hide those away in some storage cubes and sort by towel size. That stack of paperwork that you haven’t quite gotten to? Give yourself an extra hour after seeing clients to make sense of it all. Place it into a labeled accordion folder or file cabinet. Better yet, scan everything important and file it away electronically in labeled folders. This can be the part we avoid the most but that makes us feel the best once it is done.
For more organization tips, read our Marie Kondo inspired blog about organizing your Sola salon here.
2.) Clean your salon
Now that your salon is tidied up, it is time for a deep clean. Get out your rubber gloves, a toothbrush, and some Goo-Gone because there are some places we can only go alone. Sure, you may have a cleaning staff that gets to the regular day-to-day cleaning, but what about that clog in the sink or the explosion of shampoo that left purple residue above the cabinet?
The longer we let these things build up, the worse they get (and worse they smell)! Speaking of smell, when is the last time you gave your garbage can a deep clean? Wash any fabrics that haven’t been washed in a while, give your tools a deep clean, scrub the inside of sticky storage bins, wipe down technology, and most importantly, make sure that anything your clients will touch is fresh and clean.
Pro-tip: choose a spring smell that you absolutely love, whether it is a cleaning product, air freshener or essential oil. We recommend fresh scents like lemon, tea tree, and sweet orange oil, or calming scents like lavender, bergamot, and eucalyptus.
3.) Clear your mind
A spring cleaning is not complete without taking a dive inward to clear out some mental blocks, stagnant energy and old habits. After winter, we all tend to have something to shake off, whether it is a sugar frenzy, undo stress, seasonal depression, winter weight, frozen toes or even just your old run-of-the-mill cozy season hibernation. It is time to get back in the swing of sunshine-filled days and the creative energy of the season.
It takes 30 days to make a new habit, so try this:
Meditate for at least 5 minutes per day for 30 days. In those 30 days, replace negative thought patterns with positive affirmations that counter those pesky thoughts. For example, if you wake up thinking about financial pressures, try waking up and replacing those thoughts with, I am working toward financial freedom. As your mind wanders from your meditation, repeat the positive affirmation as a mantra. To seal it in, try rubbing counterclockwise over your heart as you say the phrase aloud or to yourself. Your body will believe it and your mind will soon follow.
Other tactics for clearing your mind include taking a personal day, getting out in nature, picking up a new exercise habit, joining a gym, getting to a yoga class or even taking a vacation.
Spring break is not just for students! Take a vacation (or staycation!) to give yourself the time and space to return to work with a clear and healthy mindset. Time off re-energizes creativity, productivity, and mental capacity. We all need some time away from our work and daily pressures. As an entrepreneur, you must carve out that time for yourself, and remember that it is absolutely essential. With SolaGenius, you can actually schedule personal time into your online scheduler, so that clients cannot schedule over me-time, and neither will you!
Get in the habit of taking some days off just for you. Taking time for your mental health will set you up for long-term success in both your health and your career.
Set yourself up for success, #SolaBoss! Spring has sprung.
