Most salon owners know how to build. You hire the next person and take the bigger space. Very few know how to take it apart again when it stops working, and do it in a way that leaves everyone looked after.

In this Mini Moment, Sam and Jen are joined again by Siobhan from Siobhan Hair Artistry. She walks through exactly how she went from a leased six chair salon with three team members back to just her and her mum. It started with a lease conversation she didn't want to have. Then came the harder one with her apprentice, which she only had after she had quietly found a salon ready to take her on.

For any Australian salon owner thinking about going smaller, this is the practical side nobody talks about. It covers the order she did things in and how she kept it fair. It also covers what happened to a full book of clients once the team was gone.

What we cover

• The sudden resignation that started the rethink
• Deciding to reduce your team and your responsibilities
• Moving from leasing a whole salon space to renting two chairs
• Finding your apprentice a good salon to go to before you tell her
• Giving plenty of notice and keeping every change within Fair Work
• Handling clients when your own book is already full
• Why some clients won't follow you to a senior's price point
• Working side by side with family in a small salon

You built it once. You're allowed to build it again.

FAQs

How do I downsize my salon team without burning bridges?

Plan each conversation before you have it, and give people as much notice as you can. Siobhan gave her apprentice eight weeks and had a new salon lined up for her first, so the news came with a next step.

Can I reduce the chairs I lease in a shared salon space?

It depends on your agreement, but an honest conversation with whoever you lease from is the place to start. Siobhan went from leasing a six chair space to renting two chairs, with a three month notice period for any changes.

What happens to clients when a salon downsizes?

Tell clients early and move them into the calendars that can actually hold them. Not every client can come with you, and some won't want to pay a senior's price, so it helps to accept that upfront.

Mentioned in this episode:

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