A few years ago, we bet the idea of a salon owner hiring a business coach didn’t even register with you – now you can’t scroll through your social feed without encountering countless salon coaches promising instant revenue increases and freedom from common business issues. Are you curious about how it all works?
We were, so we hosted our first Instagram Live to chat it out with two very different salon owners, Tina Hollis (aka The Lonely Boss Lady) – Tina saw her revenue jump from £2.5k per week to £8k per week (yes, you have read that correctly!) when she hired a coach – and Cally Borg, who came close to burnout working as a session stylist and now turns 6 figures annually from her home salon without working evenings, weekends or school holidays.
Tina has an incredibly successful salon in Kent, T2 Hair & Beauty, she specialises in colour, holds the Wella MCE, and has a waiting list of up to 12 months for clients wanting to book. She’s learnt so much and become so passionate about coaching that she now runs The Lonely Boss Lady, offering education and coaching to salon owners and freelancers.
Cally Borg worked at salons including Charles Worthington, Toni & Guy and John Carne before moving into the session world, working with people like Billie Piper, Amber le Bon and Amanda Holden. A dream job on paper – in reality Cally was juggling single motherhood with early starts and an unpredictable diary before setting up her own home salon. Reaching out to various coaches and mentors, her salon now thrives on her own terms – it’s a lifestyle business that works for her. Cally’s on this year’s Project X with the Fellowship for British Hairdressing, and teaches her Bossing it with Balance courses as well as mentoring home salon owners.
Salon Gold Superstar Sally Learmouth, MD of Gloss Communications, quizzed Tina and Cally for key learnings about salon coaching, and these are our 6 top takeaways….
- They are generally accessible at every price point – from £50 a week, the average cost of a single service, you can get business support, advice and see an increase in your revenue.
- You might be at rock bottom when you hire your salon coach – but you don’t have to be. Cally and Tina both had falling down, burnout moments where they hated running their businesses, they both told of tears and exhaustion. This is a good time to hire a coach… but equally, you can hire a coach at any point of your journey, even if you haven’t set up your business yet, or you’re ticking along nicely but want to see more growth.
- A coach is kind of like a cross between a boss, an assistant, a mentor, a cheerleader, a therapist, and a business guru. They’re there to hold your hand, identify the blocks that are holding you back, offer solutions, structures, and support.
- Chemistry is a huge part of finding the coach for you. There’s tons around, and with good reason, everyone has an area of specialism. As Cally says, she wouldn’t coach a large salon group, that’s not her area. Home salons though? She’s an expert on everything from branding to logistics, insurance, recruitment, marketing – from water pressure to parking to not being on a high street she’s been there and done that. Tina is a goal setter and a problem solver, and keeps her salon owner clients accountable in a very relaxed way – she’ll find some instant solutions to increase revenue whilst wielding a cup of tea and a biscuit.
- Most coaches offer an exploratory complimentary phone call or zoom without asking for any money upfront; this is a chance to chat through your business and for the coach to see if they can help you.
- To get the most out of your coach, you need to do what they ask you and stay accountable, so have figures ready when agreed and stick to your arranged accountability meeting times. Be really honest with your coach, they need the full picture to give the best advice.
You can watch the full talk here; Salon Gold customers can enjoy an exclusive 10% discount when booking coaching and education with Tina and Cally
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