Somehow in between the multiple waves of pandemic scares or shifts in the number of clients you’re servicing, beauty business owners have become creative when it comes to rebounding financially. Yes! While it’s important that you stay driven to keep your business open despite any challenges, taking time to evaluate how you are coping with daily pressures of life as a small business owner during a challenging economy is just as important. So, I bet it’s a great time to improve your concentration and productivity at the salon – especially if you wear two hats – stylist and owner.
Are You Ready to Work Full Time?
From maternity leave to extended vacations, you may have stepped away from your salon for just a bit. And, let’s be real: Transitioning from having been away to returning to work can be stressful.
Balance Mental Shape Shifting to Improve Concentration
Thus, to preserve your sanity, it’s important that you create a smooth shift back into entrepreneur mode as you work to keep your salon buzzing on all cylinders.
Possessing better concentration and focus while behind the stylist chair will play a pivotal role in allowing you to easily turn off home and turn on work.
Let’s dive into how to coax your mind into doing this.
Like with lots of things in life, when we change our minds, we change our world.
Now is the time to train your brain to produce what doctors call “flow,” in order to be super-efficient.
Get in the Groove
Psychologist and creator of the flow concept, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, has said that flow is a highly focused mental state ripe for productivity.
It is also characterized as an “optimal state of consciousness where you feel your best and perform your best.”
Furthermore, research describes, when engaged in flow, your brain naturally directs all attention toward a specific goal and is keen to solve problems, which is why those who experience this concept while at work just get more done than those who do not engage flow.
Let It Flow (pun intended!)
Improve concentration to usher in this flow state, which allows all distractions and any thoughts threatening your productivity to be squashed at the onset.
And, get this, in a 10-year study, conducted by McKinsey Global Institute, 5,000 executives found that they were 5x more productive when they were in flow mode versus when they were not. Girl, imagine how much more you could get done at your beauty business if you were 5x more productive.
Well, let’s do more than just imagine.
Create your own flow using these 3 steps:
- Daily, create specific and detailed goals.
The clearer your goals, the better your concentration will be on getting these goals knocked out. - Edit each goal to be both a challenge and achievable.
When your abilities are stretched in order to accomplish a task, you respond better than when it’s easy for you to get it done. Research shows that when motivation is improved, you will also experience improved concentration. You know that when you improve concentration, you immediately create a catalyst for flow. See how one building block leads to another? Before you know it, you’ve built a foundation for some goodness to happen. - Accept positive criticism or watch for feedback.
Feedback feeds flow. Throughout your day, as you’re working, ask for other’s opinion to gauge how well you are doing with achieving your goals. Or, if you prefer to keep this a solo effort, be mindful of your level of victory or defeat with the task at hand. Then, switch gears, if you need to, based on your findings to achieve the ultimate flow state.
New Leaders
Coralus, formerly SheEO, is comprised of thousands of female business owners who invest millions of dollars annually into the Perpetual Fund. Their combined effort funds the ventures of female founders who apply and are selected into the program. Then, there’s The Female Quotient, which has connected thousands of female entrepreneurs across the world to new professional opportunities. These are just a couple of the many organizations that continue to provide support to fellow female business owners stateside and around the world.
Embrace Your Sister Circle
This each one-share one philosophy is helping to create what Oprah is calling the new girls’ network, and it’s a safe (and happy) bet that we will see this philosophy continue to surge.
Although today’s pop culture, from reality TV to music, would have us to believe that women are cutting each other down at every turn with jealously, cattiness, and deceit, go on a scroll through social media, and you’ll see a totally different story.
From women’s online communities, like Boss Babe Box and Real Brown Girls, to those that are all about empowering beauty entrepreneurs, like Salt Society and The Thriving Stylist, women are excited to help other women to move their businesses forward.
Numbers Don’t Lie
And embracing a girls network is actually good for business. According to recent research from the Harvard Business Review, women who have an inner circle of other women with whom they stay in close contact, are more likely to experience greater professional success than women who roll solo.
Ready to reap the benefits of being enterprisingly social? Here’s how you can extend your tribe:
“Network” for Fun
Cultivation is Key
Gail makes a good point. And, if you want your new connections with others to morph into strong bonds, remember that these relationships require nurturing. Consistently follow up with the contacts that you’re meeting and keep the conversation going is paramount for a girls’ network to thrive.
Learn and Return the Favor
It is an effective strategy to actively seek guidance from a mentor to grow in your beauty business. It’s a fact that business owners who are mentored by top-producing entrepreneurs are 3x more likely to become top producers themselves.
Then, once you feel your growth activating, share your newfound nuggets of wisdom with a newbie business owner and become her mentor. But, before putting on your Teacher’s hat, glean some business tips from Mahisha Dellinger, author, CEO and founder of natural hair care brand CURLS.
Schedule Social Time
It’s an understatement that we all sometimes feel overwhelmed with juggling our families, businesses, and just the daily hustle. So, naturally adding in getting to know new faces along with everything else that requires our attention can be a struggle.
Therefore, be social on purpose. At least twice a month, physically add social activities that you want to attend or get-togethers with your crew to your calendar with reminder notifications.
TAKE AWAY
- You get what you give when it comes to sustaining relationships with other women.
- Be patient with yourself as you network with new people. Great bonds with others don’t happen overnight.
- Be open to learning from women who have walked in your shoes and climbed to new heights. They will have some great stories to share!
- Subscribe to Crown & Reign and stay in-the-know.
