Grow My Salon Business Podcast

Every salon owner learns eventually that to manage a salon business, you first have to manage yourself. It's easy to focus on the team, the standards and the accountability conversations you'd rather avoid. But before any of that works, you need to look honestly at your own time, habits and follow-through.
This week I look at why being busy and managing well are two different things, why giving someone a task without also giving them the authority to make decisions isn't really delegating, and why so much of good management is invisible to your clients even though they feel the result of it. Manage yourself properly, and the rest of the business gets easier to run.
IN THIS EPISODE:
Why being busy and managing well are two completely different things
The diary test that shows what you're actually prioritising, not just what you say matters
Why delegation fails when you hand over the task but not the authority
The difference between managing things and leading people, and why both matter

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS

[00:00] Introduction: Why the hardest person to manage is the one running the salon
[01:28] The uncomfortable realisation that your own standards set the tone for everyone
[03:37] Why being busy and managing well are two completely different things
[06:00] The two very different jobs of a stylist and a salon manager
[07:21] What your diary actually reveals about your real priorities each week
[10:57] Why you manage things and systems, but you have to lead people
[12:32] Why clear expectations do more for standards than being hard or controlling
[13:00] Why "obvious" means something different to every single person on your team
[16:00] What clients actually feel when a salon business is genuinely well managed
[20:11] Why knowledge alone never changes a business, only implementation actually does
[23:02] The one question every owner needs to ask about their own business

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

🎥 4 Essential Lessons in Salon Management (free video series) – sign up and get one short video a day for four days, straight to your inbox, starting the 14th September – Join the free video series

Want MORE to help you GROW?

🆘 Management overwhelm!? Download our free checklist! This checklist will help you get clarity on where you're at 

RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE 

If you enjoyed this episode, you'll also like: Episode 363: Why the Most Successful Salons Keep it Simple. Listen here  

👉 FOLLOW US!
Instagram | Facebook | Website

RATINGS + REVIEWS

🙏Thanks so much for joining me this week.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! 
They do matter in the rankings of the show and help other people find my podcast.
👉 Here's what you do:
- On your phone, Click here  (Read steps below first)
- Scroll down to 'Ratings & Reviews'
- Tap on the empty purple stars and rate 5 stars
- Click on ‘Write a Review’ I love to hear what’s been helpful and what you love about the podcast! Thank you for your support! 🙏
Until next time!
Antony

Most salon owners assume their business feels complicated because it needs to be. But after years inside salons at every level of the market, I've noticed the opposite. 

The businesses that thrive are simple, while the ones that struggle are usually a collection of good ideas picked up along the way that were never designed to work together. So ask yourself: does your business actually function as one connected whole, or does it just feel like separate parts that don’t quite work together as they should?
I'll share why keeping things simple takes real work, why most owners build their business one decision at a time, and why the real job of management is making sure every part connects to everything else. If your business feels harder than it should, this episode will help you see why.
IN THIS EPISODE:
Why the most successful salons are simple, not complicated
How joined up thinking turns one small decision, like pricing, into a ripple across the whole business
Why removing something from your business can matter as much as adding something new
The real difference between a simple business and one that depends on you

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00] Introduction
[00:43] The one question people most often ask about salon success
[01:54] The jigsaw puzzle metaphor for building a business that works
[03:56] Why so many salon owners end up building the plane while flying
[06:46] Why you need the picture on the box before you build
[08:35] How one pricing decision ripples through every part of your business
[10:00] The two sides of management: systems and processes versus people
[13:16] Why removing something from the business can matter as much as adding
[14:02] The real difference between a simple business and a dependent one
[18:08] Why the goal is making the pieces you have work together
[19:00] The free management checklist and course mentioned in this episode

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

🆘 Management overwhelm!? Download our free checklist! This checklist will help you get clarity on where you're at https://growmysalonbusiness.com/management-checklist/

Want MORE to help you GROW?

📚 Check out our Bestselling GROW Books https://growmysalonbusiness.com/books/

👉 FOLLOW US!
Instagram | Facebook | Website

RATINGS + REVIEWS

🙏 Thanks so much for joining me this week. 
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! 
They do matter in the rankings of the show and help other people find my podcast.
👉 Here's what you do:
- On your phone, Click here  (Read steps below first)
- Scroll down to 'Ratings & Reviews'
- Tap on the empty purple stars and rate 5 stars
- Click on ‘Write a Review’ I love to hear what’s been helpful and what you love about the podcast! Thank you for your support! 🙏
Until next time!
Antony

When it comes to marketing, many salon owners pour their time into Instagram, hoping it brings new clients through the door.

My returning guest Phil Evans, founder of Salon Guru, has analysed over four and a half million visits to salon websites, and the results show that social media is not driving potential clients to your website in the numbers that you might expect.

So here's a question worth reflecting on: if your marketing time is going to the wrong place, what is that actually costing your salon?

In this conversation, Phil breaks down exactly where new clients are really coming from, what Google's EEAT framework means for your website, and why most reviews fall short of what Google and AI are looking for. By the end of this episode, you'll know where to put your marketing time so it actually brings in bookings, not just likes.

IN THIS EPISODE:
Why only 1.5% of website visits come directly from social media, and where the rest actually come from
The four-part framework Google and AI use to decide which salon to recommend
How to structure your Google reviews so they build real trust and authority, not just star ratings
What to search on your own phone to check whether your salon is visible on Google and AI

TIMESTAMPS:

[00:00] Introduction
[00:51] Introducing returning guest Phil Evans from Salon Guru
[01:44] Inside the new Salon Guru trends report and why it exists
[03:42] Google versus social media, the surprising split in the data
[05:26] Why social media rarely closes the booking on its own
[09:16] How AI is reshaping the way clients search for salons
[11:39] Is AI about to replace Google search entirely
[18:14] The EEAT framework Google and AI use to pick a salon
[22:00] Why detailed Google reviews matter more than five-star ratings
[27:17] Where to focus five hours a week of marketing time
[32:34] What clients actually want to see on a salon website
[38:00] Inside Showcase and the early results from beta salons

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Salon Guru Trends Report – New data on where salon clients really come from and how to be found on Google and AI 👉Download the report

Showcase Webinar – Phil's live walkthrough of the new website tool built from the trends report data, going live 31st August 👉Send it to me
Want MORE to help you GROW?

📚 Check out our Bestselling GROW Books https://growmysalonbusiness.com/books/

🆘 Management overwhelm!? Download our free checklist! This checklist will help you get clarity on where you're at https://growmysalonbusiness.com/management-checklist/
👉 FOLLOW US!
Instagram | Facebook | Website
👉 FOLLOW SALON GURU!
Website

RATINGS + REVIEWS

🙏Thanks so much for joining me this week. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! 
They do matter in the rankings of the show and help other people find my podcast.
👉 Here's what you do:
- On your phone, Click here  (Read steps below first)
- Scroll down to 'Ratings & Reviews'
- Tap on the empty purple stars and rate 5 stars
- Click on ‘Write a Review’ I love to hear what’s been helpful and what you love about the podcast! Thank you for your support! 🙏
Until next time!
Antony

Treating your team like family feels warm and caring, but it might be working against your leadership and having a negative impact on the business.

A family relationship and a business relationship serve two very different purposes, and in a business, when the boundaries are blurred, accountability gets harder, standards slip, and you start making exceptions you'd never normally allow. 

In today's episode, I walk through five practical shifts that replace the family myth with something stronger, a team built on genuine care and clear standards. You'll come away with a better way to handle the conversations you've been avoiding, and a level of clarity that serves everyone in the business.
IN THIS EPISODE:
Why family belonging is unconditional, while team membership comes with real expectations
How holding people accountable is one of the most caring things you can do
The difference between supporting your team and carrying every problem in their lives
Why blurred boundaries between friend and employer make hard conversations even harder
A better metaphor than family for building loyalty, trust and belonging

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS

[00:00] Introduction
[01:15] Why calling your team family can create serious problems
[02:31] Families and businesses exist for completely different reasons
[02:42] Word from our sponsor: Zenoti
[04:46] The unconditional nature of family versus the realities of a team
[06:34] Why caring about people does not mean avoiding accountability
[07:57] The hidden cost of protecting one person from feedback
[08:53] You are not responsible for fixing everyone's problems
[10:03] How the family mindset creates a one-sided psychological contract
[11:26] Why blurred boundaries make leadership so much harder
[17:33] Recap: five things to remember about your team
[18:58] Where to find the free salon management checklist

Want MORE to help you GROW?

➡️ Zenoti – all-in-one salon management platform with AI-powered client communications and automation. GMSB listeners get 50% off their first three months – Find out more

🆘 Salon Management Checklist – a free download to help you assess where your salon's management currently stands – https://growmysalonbusiness.com/free-resources
RATINGS + REVIEWS

🙏Thanks so much for joining me this week. 
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! 
They do matter in the rankings of the show and help other people find my podcast.
👉 Here's what you do:
- On your phone, Click here  (Read steps below first)
- Scroll down to 'Ratings & Reviews'
- Tap on the empty purple stars and rate 5 stars
- Click on ‘Write a Review’ I love to hear what’s been helpful and what you love about the podcast! Thank you for your support! 🙏
Until next time!
Antony
 
👉 FOLLOW US!
Instagram | Facebook | Website

One of the bigger challenges the salon industry has always faced is getting reliable data. Fortunately, that is changing for the better, and today I break down a new industry benchmark report that has been put together by leading salon management software brand Zenoti.

You'll hear why client retention, not marketing, is driving industry growth, what's really behind falling new client numbers, and why one number, utilisation, might be the biggest opportunity sitting inside your business right now. 

In this episode, I pull out the numbers that actually matter, the ones that tell you something real about salon industry benchmarks and business trends so that you can stop guessing and start knowing how your salon is performing. 

IN THIS EPISODE:

Why new client numbers are falling across every part of the industry, and why that's not automatically your fault
The client retention approach that's driving almost all industry growth right now
Why salons with membership programs are growing four times faster than salons without one
What calendar inflation really means, and why 72% of first rebooked appointments never happen as planned

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS

[00:00] Introduction 
[00:25] Why "is that good?" is the wrong question to start with 
[01:47] The moment benchmarking changed how I ran my own salon 
[04:07] Numbers are facts, not feelings 
[06:59] Same salon revenue is still growing despite the uncertainty 
[07:56] New client numbers are falling across every sector measured 
[09:16] Why retention, not marketing, is driving industry growth 
[11:39] Membership programs and the eight percent growth gap 
[13:13] Calendar inflation and the 72 percent rebooking problem 
[15:40] Where AI actually helps, and where it doesn't 
[17:15] The 30-point utilisation gap between average and top salons 
[20:00] This week's challenge: 30 minutes with your own numbers

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

The 2026 Beauty and Wellness Benchmark Report by Zenoti: Download the free benchmark report here

Want to see how your business compares? Head to the Zenoti benchmark scorecard Enter your numbers to see where you stand against industry benchmarks.

Interested in a personalised consultation with Zenoti and 50% off for the first 3 months. 👉Head here to arrange a personalised consultation

 
👉 FOLLOW US!
Instagram | Facebook | Website
👉 FOLLOW ZENOTI!
Instagram | Website
THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY ZENOTI

RATINGS + REVIEWS

🙏 Thanks so much for joining me this week. 

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated!
They do matter in the rankings of the show and help other people find my podcast.
👉 Here's what you do:
- On your phone, Click here  (Read steps below first)
- Scroll down to 'Ratings & Reviews'
- Tap on the empty purple stars and rate 5 stars
- Click on ‘Write a Review’ I love to hear what’s been helpful and what you love about the podcast!
Thank you for your support! 🙏

Until next time!
Antony