There are a lot of misconceptions about what you need to do to be a success as a stylist, but there’s one that rises to the top every time: You have to work Tuesday–Saturday to be a successful stylist.
Nope.
In Thrivers Society, we have hundreds of successful stylists and salon owners who work Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday, or Monday and Wednesday. Or just mornings or just afternoons.
Our point here is it is fully possible to work the schedule you dream of, the one that lets you live your absolute wealthiest life.
How? Today, we’re going to break down the five strategies you need to design your ultimate schedule.
#1 Set your goals
Before we go any further, we need to ask you this: what do you want to achieve in your career? Your life? (If you need some help with this, check out Wealthiest Year Yet!)
Got it? Good. Now think about whether your schedule is currently supporting those goals.
Talk about mind blown, right?
Having a schedule that supports your goals doesn’t mean immediately cutting out Saturdays to go to your niece’s soccer games, but it does mean starting to make shifts towards that ultimate goal.
So look at your goals. What changes can you make to your schedule to support the shift towards making them happen?
#2 Think about your lifestyle
Do you love early morning jogs? Or maybe you want to be home for dinner and homework every night? Want to make it to Saturday book club or Sunday football games?
Think about the aspirational lifestyle you want to live. What changes can you make to move closer towards it? Maybe it’s taking a half day every week, moving your schedule forward or backward, or adjusting your appointments to start at a different time.
Remember, your business should support your life. Your life should not support your business.
#3 Keep your service times in mind
As service providers, our books are our business’s lifeblood…and if yours is out of order, your whole schedule is thrown out of whack.
As you start shifting to your ultimate schedule, think about your service times. Each service you do should have a set time, right? How long does it take for you to do a consultation, a cut, or a partial highlight?
So how does this play into your ultimate schedule? Knowing how many hours you have in the salon each day and how long each service takes will help you plan which days you can do what. For example, if you’re only going to work a half day on Monday, maybe you just do short services like cuts and root touch-ups. If you’re working longer days, maybe leave open bookings for more in-depth and time-consuming services like color or balayage.
#4 Know your freedom numbers
Round here, freedom numbers mean how much you need to make each day to live the holistically wealthy life you dreamed of.
For example, let’s say you want to make $50,000 a year in services. If you’re working 50 weeks a year (two weeks off for vacation—more on this in just a second), you need to make $1,000 a week. If you’re working four days a week, that means you need to do $250 in services.
Suddenly, achieving that big, fat number feels a lot more achievable, right?
So break down that big number you need to make per year to live your freedom lifestyle into how much you need to make every day. Having that view makes creating your dream schedule so much more achievable.
#5 Book your vacations
Have you ever noticed how on workout plans, there’s usually designated rest days? Maybe with a light walk or a slow yoga practice? That’s because in between all the hard workouts, the body needs rest to repair…and that rest actually makes your body stronger.
It’s the same thing with your mind.
If you work and work and work some more, you’re facing burnout and exhaustion, both of which spell doomsday for your business.
The cure? Vacation.
Pull out your calendar right now and markdown at least two vacations this year. Two chances for you to unplug, relax, and recharge.
Trust us. It’s a game changer.
Building your ultimate schedule as a stylist doesn’t have to be tricky, difficult, or downright impossible. You just have to apply these five strategies to design the schedule that gives you the freedom lifestyle you crave.
Want to dig deeper? Join us at Thrivers Live to hear Hal Elrod, the bestselling author of The Miracle Morning, and Candy Valentino, Founder and CEO of the Founders Organization, give you the strategies you need to build a career and business that supports your lifestyle and schedule, not the other way around!