New Year, New Goals: How to Plan Your Beauty Business Success

The New Year is a popular time for resolutions and setting personal goals. But it doesn’t have to stop there! This is an opportunity to reset, refocus, and grow your salon, too. The beauty industry is dynamic, competitive, and full of potential – and with the right strategy and tools, you can transform your salon from surviving to thriving.

Enhance Your Team Culture: The Foundation of Success

Let’s admit it, you wouldn’t be where you are today without your team — your most valuable asset. This year, take time to understand their personal and professional goals and focus on improving your team communication.

It’s crucial to create a supportive environment that encourages growth. If your employees see how much you care about their goals, they’ll make sure you reach yours, too.

Coordinate team check-ins through Vagaro Connect, share individual and collective objectives for the salon, and align personal aspirations with business goals.

Pro tip: Set up quarterly meetings to discuss individual development plans and how they integrate with your salon's overall vision using reports to back up where you think they can improve.

Review Your Business Health: A Deep Dive into Your Financials

Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to your business finances. So take a deep dive into your business performance in 2024 and find areas of growth. Here’s how to review your financials, without losing your hair:

Financial Analysis Strategies

Analyze your past year's total revenue: This is the total revenue made from all income sources—services, add-ons, retail sales, cancellation fees, and other streams—before deducting expenses.

Identify your most profitable services: Consider things like total income per service, profit margins, booking frequency, repeat rates, and service duration.

Review your pricing structure: When did you last raise your prices? It may be time to adjust them to reflect market trends. Shop around for the services you offer in your area and see what others service menus look like, on average.

Understand your tax obligations: Consider your business structure (LLC, sole proprietorship, etc.), whether you hire employees or contractors, deductible expenses, and state/local tax laws (consult a tax professional for specific guidance).

Leverage Reporting Tools

Vagaro’s reporting features are your secret weapon for business insights:

Combined Salon Reports: Get a high-level view of your business performance.

Top 10 Sales Items Dashboard: Instantly see which services and products generate the most revenue and start planning on where to display these products for visibility.

Trends Report: Take a peek at your projected future earnings and identify areas of growth. This is a great place to start thinking of how to pair services with products and add-on services.

Stay Relevant: Trends and Continued Education

The beauty industry is constantly evolving and it’s so important to make sure you keep your beauty business cutting edge. Keep your service menu fresh and your clients interested by using these strategies:

Researching current service trends: Follow industry blogs like BehindtheChair, Allure, or Modern salon for a dependable resource of what’s trending. Alternatively, explore hashtags on TikTok and Instagram like #beautytrends and #saloninnovation. Most importantly, your clientele is another resource you can turn to! Ask how your beauty salon can be a one stop shop for them and find ways to provide their requests.

Marking 2025 industry events and conferences on your calendar: Attending industry events is a great way to discover new opportunities for your beauty business. Get passes to an in-person tradeshow like America’s Beauty Show, or the Premier Orlando Show. Or, keep an eye out for virtual events you can attend from anywhere you want, like iconic.24 or The Known Initiative.

Exploring professional development opportunities: If you find a new brand at a tradeshow that resonates with you, ask a representative for a training session for you and your team. They are more than willing to support you in expanding your service menu and want you to succeed.

Maximize Revenue with Service Add-Ons

Add-ons can help you introduce services and products you offer without changing the core service itself. Make sure the add-ons still compliment the clients booking! Increase your total service price by adding on services like:

• A deep conditioning treatment to help with the cold, dry weather.

• Gloss treatment to any haircut service to increase the color and shine.

• Makeup application after a blowout service to set them up for date night.

Upsell products you have a large stock of to balance your inventory: Have a favorite product at your station to talk about with your client and casually tell them about it while you use it on them during the appointment.

Not sure where to start? Promote dry shampoo to your blowout clients, color-safe shampoo and conditioner to your color clients, curl creme to your curly haired clients, etc. Ask them how they like the smell, talk about the texture, explain when to use it. The key to upselling is keeping it interactive.

Pro Tip: Use the reporting tools to discover which service combinations are most profitable and appealing to your clients.

Marketing: Make Sure People Know Who You Are

Marketing your beauty salon is one of the most important pillars to establishing your brand. Encourage your clientele to follow your social media accounts while they’re at the salon, to start!

Most of us spend our free time scrolling on social media. It can be our greatest strength and our greatest weakness. Why not use it to your advantage and remind your clientele about their next appointment, through a different approach?

Social Media Strategy

• Post high-quality, engaging content consistently

• Share before-and-after transformations (clients love seeing themselves on a popular platform!)

• Create interactive content by encouraging likes, comments, shares, and follows

• Plan strategic giveaways to boost engagement

It doesn’t stop at your social platforms. Some clients prefer email and text for their communications. Not sure what to send to your client base? Let AI draft something for you.

Unlock Your Blueprint for Success

The new year is more than just a date change – it's an opportunity for transformation. By focusing on team culture, financial insights, trend awareness, strategic service offerings, and targeted marketing, you can position your beauty business for incredible growth.

Ready to take the next step toward your 2025 beauty salon goals? Vagaro is your all-in-one solution for business management, marketing, and growth. Start planning your success today!