It’s rare for stylists to stay at their first salon for the duration of their career. Knowing how to leave your salon successfully? That’s key.
But how do you know if you’ve left your salon successfully? Let’s define it as you’re still on good terms with your salon owner—even if she’s not stoked you’re leaving—and the majority of your clients follow you when you make the move.
Basically, leaving successfully means everybody’s as happy as they can be, and you’ve retained the most clients possible. Sound impossible? Totally possible, friend.
Today, we want to empower you to do only the right things to make this change as comfortable as possible for you and for your clients. We’ll focus on local moves and moves across states or even internationally. Both have unique sets of challenges and things that need to be done properly.
We’ll also dig into how to navigate that awkward period, retain your guests, and make sure you move with grace today.
Build up your online presence
If you’ve been hanging out with us for a while, you already know an online presence is not optional, so this is a no brainer.
You can’t take a break on Instagram, work on Facebook in a year, or figure out a website down the road. These are important. If you decide to make a move, your social media presence is the only thing that shows how badass you are.
You can’t say that in your other state, you were booked solid. Your new salon owner and potential clients don’t care what you did in California because here, you’re not, so it means nothing. But if you have a beautiful social media presence and website, you already have some street cred.
Having that established online presence is step one and is huge to making the move much easier.
Check your lease about leaving
Always do things legal and above board whenever possible. If your lease says you need to give 30 days’ notice, give 30 days’ notice. (If you are an employee, two weeks’ notice is fairly standard.)
But depending on how you’re employed, your owner has the right to tell you to go that day when you tell them you’re leaving, no matter what it says in your employee handbook or lease.
It may stipulate in your lease that they have to let you serve out your time, but if you give notice and your salon owner is angry and bitter, do you want to work there for 30 days? Maybe not.
Have a plan B, somewhere you could go immediately if it does go sideways. It’s important to have somewhere to land, even if it’s renting a temporary station or if your new salon can take you in early.
Don’t spread the word too early
Real talk: If you spread the word too early on, it’ll get ugly. Every. single. time.
Even if people are happy for you, it brings up weird feelings, like you’ve turned your back on everybody and they will be hurt.
You might want the owner and stylists to still be your best friends, but do your friends hurt you? Sometimes. We can’t expect them to throw you a parade, right? So the less notice they have, the better. Because when you let people know you’re going to a new salon, they’re happy for you at first. Then it starts to sink in and all this weird baggage comes out of the closet that you didn’t even know was there.
Now everyone gets quiet in the break room when you walk in. They start asking weird questions or maybe even trying to sabotage your clients.
It’s like you’ve turned your back, and you’re no longer a part of the culture anymore. Even though you’re just making a change for yourself, you’ve chosen to be out.
Instead, start spreading the word in the salon after you know you have a space to land and you’ve told your owner.
How to tell your owner
If you love your owner and want to be on good terms when you leave, the best way is to communicate.
Hopefully, you’ve had great communication up until this point. If you are, she won’t be surprised when you give notice because you were communicating so often that you’ve already let her know you weren’t happy. That incredible communication is what helps preserve the relationship.
If you think your salon owner will be terrified that you’re leaving, start having the conversation earlier than later. Say, “I’m leaving in six months, so let’s work out a contingency plan.” Just open the communication so she knows where you’re at, and when you do pull the trigger, she isn’t completely blindsided.
That said, you can’t preserve every relationship. There’s a lot of stylists who know they carry a lot of the salon’s financial weight and if they leave, their salon owner would be up a creek. That’s unfortunate and a lot of pressure, but you have to make the best decision for yourself.
The more open, honest communication you have, the better. It gives the salon owner every possible opportunity to rise to the occasion. If they don’t, the best thing you can do is give them ample notice and still show up as a professional until the time comes to leave.
How to tell your clients
Give your salon owner and the people you work with ample notice, but keep the window as short as you can with your clients.
If you’re moving locally
Don’t tell your clients you’re moving on until the move is in motion and you’ve given notice to your salon.
First of all, it will get out and you will look like a real jerk for telling your clients before you tell your team and your owner.
Second, it will confuse your clients. They’ll think you’re unhappy and now they’re coming in with this weird secret that puts them in an uncomfortable position.
If you’re moving across the country
Start telling your clients three to four weeks before the move. If you start telling your clients now, they’ll leave you. They’ll miss you, but as soon as they meet another stylist, they’ll take it because you’re leaving anyway and your money will go down. Nobody wants to move across the country with no savings in the bank.
Continue to market yourself and push forward until you’re three to four weeks out from the move because what if it all falls apart? You’ve lost 30% of your clientele for nothing.
Don’t say anything until the move is impending. Then let your clients know you’re headed out of the state, but don’t worry because Cassidy will take great care of them. If they don’t connect with her, let them know you have a few other stylists whose info you can give them.
There’s a way to move gracefully where your clients still feel well taken care of, but if you tell them too far in advance, not only will you confuse them, your business will dwindle.
If you’re opening a salon
Your salon opening will be delayed, even if you have a good contractor. It might be weeks or months, but it will not open on time. There’s always permitting delays and weird things come up.
Do not tell your clients you’re moving until you have keys in hand because to clients, it seems like you’re not organized. It also puts a damper on the excitement of the move because when you move in, it’s not “Oh, how exciting!” It’s “Ugh, finally.” What reaction do you want?
It’s totally normal to be excited and want to spread the word that you’re opening a salon, but do not do it. Let them know the week before you move.
The best way to communicate your move to your clients
When you are seven days out from being in the new space, start to spread the word: call, email, and mail cards to your existing clients.
Don’t bother texting or posting it on social media because it’s not as effective. For example, if you just put it on Instagram, only about 3% of your followers will see it, 10% if you’re lucky. 90% won’t even get the message. Yikes.
Does calling take more time? Yes, but this is your business. It will take a lot of time to facilitate a move where you don’t lose 15% or more of your clientele. You have to put in some work.
You can get help making the calls, but every client should get a call letting them know you’re moving salons, the new address, that their appointment has been transferred, and they’re all set.
If you’re moving locally, the messaging should never be that you couldn’t stand your last salon because nobody wants to hang out with unhappy people.
The best thing to do is to put a positive spin on your move. Tell your clients it will be a huge upgrade, the location is more convenient, and you’ll be able to do so much more for them. Clients just want to get their hair done in a beautiful space where you’re happy, so spin it that way and lean into it.
Host a grand opening month
When people move or open a new salon, they want to invite everybody to a grand opening with wine, champagne, and catered food, right?
Don’t bother.
People are busy. It’s a big ask to expect your clients to come on a Friday night after a long workweek and many clients still aren’t comfortable being in a room with others right now. Turnout is always fairly low and it isn’t as big of a splash as you think.
Instead, do a grand opening month or two. Offer everybody who comes in a special bonus service, like a free eyebrow wax with any hair service, in-salon conditioning treatment, or free mini highlight. Enter each guest into an amazing raffle and have some amazing goodie bags to hand out when they leave.
It becomes a celebration and an upgrade they want to be a part of with you. It changes the entire situation.
Send your salon owner a thank you note
After you tell your salon owner you’re moving and spread the word to your guests, it’s time to do something most stylists don’t: give feedback to your salon owner.
Many stylists leave and choose not to tell their salon owner the truth because they try and spare their feelings. The greatest gift you can give your salon owner when you leave is the gift of honesty.
Many salon owners feel like their salon is amazing and don’t get why people want to leave. If you are a big enough person to give that gift of feedback, it will come back to you in spades.
Also, think about writing a thank you note to your salon owner. Even if you’re not super happy with them, thank them for the time you had there. They gave you an opportunity, it wasn’t a good fit, and that’s okay. It’s another good way to stay on good terms and keep it classy.
Consider sending an email or a separate letter letting them know the real deal and areas you think might be helpful. They might crumple it up; that’s fine. At least you got the chance to say your piece. Always be upfront and honest whenever you make the leap.
Leaving successfully from your salon is fully possible. Just make sure to give your salon owner and fellow stylists ample notice, have a plan B, and keep it classy.
Want to dig deeper into this topic? Check out this podcast episode!