We argue that salons don’t fail for lack of talent but for lack of leadership and a present operator. We break down why equity handouts and 1099 “owners” backfire, and how an operator-led, systems-first model helps people and profits grow.
• defining the operator: clear eyes, clear math, steady leadership
• why owner-absent businesses unravel over time
• the pitfalls of giving shares and golden handcuffs
• legal and cultural risks of 1099 “owners”
• lessons from Chick-fil-A’s owner-operator model
• building a farm system: select, train, develop
• systems that create safety, growth, and profit
• practical metrics that drive stylist success
• people first, profit as the byproduct
Text the word pro, P-R-O, to 469-283-5590
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Episode Transcript
Today's episode is one of the most important
conversations we've ever had,you guys.
Because businesses don't failfrom a lack of talent, they fail
from a lack of leadership.
And specifically, they fail whenthere is no strong operator.
(01:02):
And so today we're going to talkabout what an operator really
is, why every salon needs one,the dangers of owner-absent
businesses, and what happenswhen a coaching company tells
you to just make everyone anowner.
And this is going to be bold andit's going to help your salon
win.
SPEAKER_00 (01:23):
Yeah, because you know, you can have the best
brand, the cutest space, themost talented team.
But if no one is operating thebusiness shrewdly, it will fall
apart.
And shrewdly means, you know,wisely, cleverly, in a careful
way, using good judgment andthinking ahead.
You know, because salons don'trun on vibes, they run on
(01:47):
systems.
And the and actually the wordoperator means one who carries
on business shrewdly.
So let's pause there becausethat means, you know, carries on
the business.
They show up consistently.
And shrewdly means they haveclear eyes, clear math, there's
(02:09):
no fantasy involved.
So an operator isn't, you know,someone who's emotional.
They don't take thingspersonally.
They see the business like apilot sees a plane.
They see the gauges, thedashboard, the weather patterns,
fuel, you know, the altitude.
And their job is simple.
(02:30):
Keep everyone safe.
Get everyone to the destination.
Grow the business so people win.
Because the best business modelsare designed so the most people
win.
Not just the owner, not just thestar stylist, not just the
person with the biggestpersonality, but everyone who
(02:51):
participates.
And before we go deeper, I wantto share a story about a
business locally that just shutdown.
You know, back in the day inlike the early 2000s, there was
a couple little hotspots in ourtown that everybody loved to go
to.
And they were owned by a coupleof brothers, actually.
And anyway, they ended upselling out part of the company
(03:15):
to another business owner intown who had sold a business for
multimillion dollars, thinkingthat they would get some systems
in place, you know.
But, you know, what happened wasthere were some missing
components in the middle, likethe operator, you know, because
this business, it changedownership over the years.
(03:37):
They kind of slowly stepped outof it.
And there wasn't ever thatstrong operator because
eventually that one owner justbought out the other shares of
the guys, and there wasn't astrong operator in place, you
know.
So this last one of theirbusinesses that was still
remaining open just shut down.
And you know, what it what ittaught me was that the owner
(04:00):
wasn't present.
There was no strong operatorpresent that knew that they were
on that mission, like we justtalked about, like a pilot is.
Um, you know, and reallysomething that once had the
greatest potential.
You know, they were known fortheir loud music and spicy food,
or their spicy music and loudfood, which I loved that, you
(04:22):
know, um, it it totallydissolved because the leadership
disappeared.
You know, and that story breaksmy heart because look around
your town.
You know, you'll see salons orspas or restaurants or boutiques
or other small businesses thatdon't make it.
And it's rarely because theyweren't talented or they weren't
(04:43):
busy or they didn't have greatpeople, it's because there was
no one steering the ship.
No one was looking at thesystems, nobody was developing
people, no one was carrying themission forward.
You know, leadership was absentand operations were abandoned.
And what what what that does orwhat happens is entropy wins,
(05:08):
chaos wins, you know, becausethe business doesn't close just
overnight, it just slowlyunravels until one day the
lights all go off.
SPEAKER_01 (05:23):
Man, such a good story.
Thank you for sharing that,Lindsay.
It's really um, reallyinspiring.
I think a business is that samething in my town that that exact
same thing happened to.
So um great story.
Um, because like when you thinkabout it, um, let's get into
something that we're hearingfrom other salon coaching
companies.
(05:44):
Um, because right now, if you'veseen it, you know exactly what
I'm talking about.
There are some coachingcompanies uh right now that are
telling you just make serviceproviders owner, you know, give
them shares, make themshareholders.
That sounds sexy, right?
You would think so.
You know, it truly is greatmarketing, I'll give you that.
But let me ask you this questionif someone is mad, wanting to
(06:07):
leave, are not aligned with thevalues, and you make them an
owner, you guys, do you thinkthat makes them more aligned?
Heck no, like absolutely not.
You know, it actually just makesthem more entitled because if
their motivation is truly moneyand you hand them ownership,
you've now created chaos in acontract.
(06:30):
Like you've created what somepeople are proud to call golden
handcuffs.
It's like, you know, it lookslike commitment, it feels like
partnership, but it's actuallythe opposite because now they're
not truly loyal.
You know, they don't operate thebusiness, they don't empower
people to use the systems, andthey cannot be coached.
(06:51):
They just expect a profit checknow.
And at the end of the day, ittruly gets worse because they're
also coaching companies who aresaying 1099 your people and make
them owners.
Have you seen that, Liz?
I know you have because wetalked about it.
Yes, I think it's like boothrent sucks, commission sucks.
I don't even know what down withthe commission, down with the
(07:13):
booth rent.
Like, share your profits,everyone wins.
SPEAKER_00 (07:18):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
You know, this is like, oh man,when I see that, it's just like
so shocking because this isactually the worst model of them
all.
Because legally, when you dosomething like that, you cannot
enforce systems for a 1099contractor.
(07:40):
You know, they can come and goas they please.
Uh, you cannot require anyadditional training, you cannot
dictate the dress code, youcan't require branding
consistency.
So now imagine this there's norules, no standards, no
agreements, no shared mission,just a group of people with
(08:02):
ownership titles and zeroaccountability.
That is truly a recipe fordisaster.
Not none of this is becausepeople are bad, but this model,
this model is bad, you know.
Just because you give it a cutename, you shorten a strategy or
(08:26):
you know, whatever you call it,it doesn't mean it's a good
business model.
It might be great, greatmarketing, you know, people are
talking about it, it's creatingsome um volatility, some, you
know, lots of people talkingabout it, but it's horrible
operationally.
And it never helps people winlong term, you know, but there
(08:47):
is a business model thateveryone in our industry should
be studying.
And it's not another salon, it'snot another coaching company,
it's not a celebrity stylist.
Um, you know, it's Chick-fil-Abecause Chick-fil-A, they don't
just have owners, they haveowner operators.
And this is important.
(09:09):
They don't sell people a title,they develop people for a role.
You know, Chick-fil-A is veryclear.
Their owners are on site, theirowners are in the business,
their owners are in thetraining, the culture, the
standards.
They're not just collectingchecks from a beach somewhere.
(09:29):
You know, listen, this doesn'tmean that you need to be working
60 hour weeks as a salon owneroperator.
But what they are showing us isthey're working the business,
they're building the people.
You know, they're operatorsfirst and owners second.
(09:51):
And that model creates acompletely different result.
SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
It's so good.
Because if you think about it,other fast food comp um
competitors that are competitorsto Chick-fil-A, they will sell
anyone a franchise.
Like, you get a franchise, youget a franchise, like you know,
Cobra's like selling franchisesif if they have the money for
the fee.
You know, you pay the money, youget the title.
You pay the money, you get thetitle.
Like there's no filter, noleadership standard, no
(10:19):
operator.
You know, they just hope you'llfigure it out.
And that's why so many of thesestories truly fail.
You know, Chick-fil-A absolutelydoes the opposite.
Like to own a Chick-fil-A, likeyou need to be selected, you
need to be trained.
Like most people that areChick-fil-A owners started at
the bottom, or not even thebottom, they started as cashiers
or um, I don't even know whatthey would have there, but
(10:41):
cashiers, janitors, whatever.
And then they've worked theirway to the top.
Like they, because they believethat you need to be trained, you
need to be developed, you needto be present, like you need to
be an operator.
And they truly, like, if youthink about it, we did the
research and they turn awaythousands of applicants every
year because they aren't lookingfor someone who just wants
profit.
(11:01):
They aren't looking for someonethat just wants profit.
You know, they're looking forsomeone who wants people to win.
And then they build a systemaround you so that your people
win, you know, and that's trulywhy Chick-fil-A has the highest
uh revenue per store when itcomes to fast food, why they
have the highest retention, themost consistent guest
experience, and the longestlines every single day.
(11:23):
Even though you guys, if youremember, they're not open on
Sundays, they don't sellalcohol, they don't discount
food, they don't run flashshells or coupons.
So if you're thinking toyourself, okay, well, how do
they do it?
It's very simple.
It's actually they grow people.
You know, Chick-fil-A has a farmsystem, if you think about it.
Like you can literally start asthat high school kid working the
(11:45):
fryer.
And if you show that heart, thathunger, that humility, humility,
you know, they will begingrowing you through like
management, uh, leadership,culture, systems, all the way up
to the opportunity to become anoperator.
And you do not buy aChick-fil-A, you become a
Chick-fil-A owner or operator.
(12:06):
And this is exactly what salonsneed.
SPEAKER_00 (12:10):
Yeah.
You know, it's when you saidstarted from the bottom, it made
me think of that song startedfrom the bottom, now we hear.
And you know, I started at thefront desk in our salon company.
And so I love this model, notbecause I think that that's the
only way.
I think you can start out as anowner, but if you don't have
that mindset, um then it's justgonna combust because not the
(12:37):
the model that doesn't work iswhere everybody gets shares or
everyone is an owner, or youknow, 1099 people and hope that
it works because they're ownersnow, and then golden handcuff
people so that they don't leaveonce they get to a certain
level.
No, because that model isconfusion, and people don't win
(12:59):
by being given a title, becausethat's all for ego, that's for
the show, that's not really forthe dough.
You know, they win by beinggroomed, by being coached, by
being grown into a role, and yougrow leaders by developing
people, not by equallydistributing equity.
(13:22):
Because here's the truth thesalon industry needs fewer
owners and more operators.
You know, we need leaders onsite, people who are invested,
people who know the systems,people who build culture, people
who coach others, people whocare more about the mission than
(13:43):
the profit, you know, becausethat is how guests win.
That's how team members win.
And ultimately, at the end ofthe day, that's how the business
wins because systems createsafety, and safety creates
growth, and growth createsprofit, and it always happens in
(14:07):
that order.
SPEAKER_01 (14:10):
Lindsay, it reminds me, you know, we like to
experience blowouts when wetravel.
And I remember the blowout at avery high-end, probably
well-known um hair salon.
We both went in for blowouts.
And do you remember you gottaken back right away?
Same time, we had the sameappointment time, and I waited
for like 45 minutes.
You could tell there was noleadership there.
And then somebody comes runningout the back and they're like,
(14:33):
Oh my gosh, I didn't know youwere put on my schedule at the
last minute.
I had just run to Sam's tocollect some stuff.
And then so it was like, wow,okay.
But you could just you can tell,like in Chick-fil-A's, you can
tell their systems beingfollowed because they have those
operators.
Like we could tell in thosemoments, or most of the salons
that we we visit to justexperience a blowout, like they
(14:53):
don't have those, you know,operators because when you think
about it, like most people arejust saying, just give them
shares, make them owners.
That's what I've been taughtbefore in the past.
And you have to think, well,Chick-fil-A doesn't do it that
way.
You know, they have the mostsuccessful franchise model in
the entire country because theyunderstand that ownership is
(15:15):
responsibility, it's notentitlement.
And that responsibility, again,is called the operator.
SPEAKER_00 (15:21):
Yeah.
You know, Jen, I think uh thewhat's standing out to me, or
the one of the other companiesthat says it best is the owner
of the Savannah Bananas.
And he says, people come first,not profits.
Because when people win, theprofit follows.
And, you know, this is thesecret.
(15:43):
We are so solid and what weprovide that we know our people
cannot earn more anywhere else.
It's not because we guilt themor because we control them, it's
not because we handcuff them,it's because we help them win,
we help our guests win.
(16:05):
We invest in systems that win.
And a true owner or operatorunderstands profit is a
byproduct of doing the rightthing.
You know, when you serve peoplewell, when you build great
systems, when you create massivevalue, money flows.
(16:26):
You know, that's why Zig Zigglersaid, help enough people get
what they want, and you'll getwhat you want too.
And Jen, you I love when you saysystems help ordinary people get
extraordinary results.
It's one of my favorite thingsthat you say, Jen.
SPEAKER_01 (16:47):
Thank you.
Uh yeah, it's so true.
If you think about it, systemshelp ordinary people get
extraordinary results.
That's why people in team-basedcommission salons that are run
well can get to six figures inthree to five years, including
their training time, becauseit's helping just regular people
get extraordinary results.
So I love that.
And if you're listening, you'rethinking, hmm, Jen and Lindsay,
(17:08):
like we don't have systems.
Like we truly got you at the endof the day, guys, because inside
of one of our programs, like weare taking beauty pros and
turning them into six-figureincome earners in under five
years.
You know, it's not by givingthem shares.
I promise it's not.
It's not by making them 1099owners, it's not by golden
handcuffing them, it's bybuilding their confidence, by
(17:30):
teaching them leadership, byhelping them serve guests
better, by developing theirsales skills, you know, by
creating that culture ofexcellence and finally helping
them see that they can onlyachieve all of this by working
together as a team.
And that's what an operatordoes.
You know, an operator trulycares more about the people than
(17:52):
the profit.
And as a result of that, theprofit comes.
SPEAKER_00 (17:56):
Yeah.
So if you're listening right nowand you're thinking, I know I
need systems.
I know I need to be doing moretraining for the people that I
care about on my team.
And I know I could use someleadership.
Uh, go ahead and text the wordpro, P-R-O, to 469-283-5590.
(18:21):
And we'll send you the detailson how we're turning beauty pros
into six-figure earners insidesalons just like yours.
You know, we're doing all of thework, make giving you back all
of your time that you would havespent um, you know, teaching
them so that they really canshow up differently inside of
(18:42):
the world, because the worldneeds more operators, not more
owners, not more shareholders,not more golden handcuffs, but
more leaders, you know, peoplewho show up, people who carry on
business shrewdly, and peoplewho want the most people to win.
(19:03):
And you're that person, andwe're here to help.
So thank you for listening totoday's episode of Salon Success
Secrets.
Share this with a salon ownerwho needs encouragement or a
reminder that leadershipmatters.
And remember, businesses failfrom a lack of leadership, not a
lack of talent.
(19:23):
Be the operator or have anincredible operator on your
team.
We'll see you next week.
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