From Survive to Thrive: 4 Steps to Take Now That Your Small Biz Is Profitable

From dialing in your branding to adopting the most effective tech, learn how to reinvest profits for growth

Owning a small business is hard but rewarding work. In fact, few things in life are more satisfying than seeing all the sacrifice pay off when your bottom line crosses into the black. 

But — as you probably already know — once the champagne bottles are empty and you’ve had time to let the victory sink in, the next challenge awaits: achieving sustained growth. 

From dialing in your branding to adopting the most effective tech, here’s how to reinvest profits to continue growing your business in a scalable way.

#1. Double-down on branding

Brand matters a lot. A recent consumer survey of thousands of Americans discovered that 60% wouldn’t go to businesses with a bad logo, no matter how good their reviews are. Aesthetics is a powerful tool for communicating the quality of your service, and if they’re subpar, would-be clients can’t help but feel they could do better by going elsewhere. 

To make sure you’re tapping into the power of your brand to boost your business, you need to concentrate on two things above all else: consistency and overall quality. 

• Consistency means that every component of the customer experience — from website graphics to your wallpaper — should work together seamlessly. 

• Quality means that the actual aesthetic of your brand should be of the highest order. Your color palette, fonts, and other visual elements should practically scream excellence. 

If you're lacking in either of these areas, you have your new priority #1. 

#2. Go all-in on innovation

These days, top performers in every industry are investing in tech. Why? Well, embracing innovation can improve every aspect of a company’s performance. 

For beauty businesses, two pieces of technology can often help grow revenue: online booking and advanced scheduling. 

• Online booking: According to a recent global report, the average person spends just under seven hours online every single day. If you want to maximize your bookings these days, there’s no getting around the necessity of a killer online booking system. A premium solution will make it easy for customers to schedule appointments, purchase a membership, and store payment information. It will also have waitlist functionality to ensure last-minute cancelations don’t have as much impact on your business. 

• Advanced scheduling: Once upon a time, all client scheduling had to be handled by hand, and, even with the best personnel, mistakes, oversights, and inefficiencies were inevitable. But recent technological advances have eliminated the need for manual labor. Top scheduling tools use automation to cluster appointments, reduce gaps, and increase productivity. 

Looking for a tech partner to help you get where you need to be? From online booking to sophisticated scheduling, Boulevard’s industry-leading solutions can help accelerate your growth.  

#3. Use promotions to win fence-sitters

As solid as your current client base is, there’s another healthy chunk of consumers on the edge of becoming your customers: They just need a little nudge. Snap up these fence-sitters by deploying tried and true tactics like discounts and added-value promotions. 

• Discounts: For those with extra-tight budgets, discounts often prove to be the perfect incentive to finally try your beauty biz. To target this segment, offering a significant — but not heavy — discount often works best. If the full price isn’t that much more than the promotion, the idea of becoming a regular client seems much more reasonable. 

• Added value promotions: For those who just needed a little impressing, added value promotions may be just the ticket. Offering a free bottle of product with a haircut or two services (like a foot massage with every pedicure) for the price of one gives the curious a wider sense of your menu — and encourages them to come back to try the rest. 

#4. Get inspired by the best

Another key tactic for taking your business to the next level is to study how the best in the business run their operations. While their specific tactics, strategies, or approaches might not work for you, immersing yourself in excellence will undoubtedly get you thinking the right way. 

To get started, consider researching how Drybar, Devachan, and Sally Hershberger have set themselves apart from the competition. 

• Drybar: For Drybar, focus has been essential to their success. Instead of providing a wide range of services, they only do wash-and-dry blowout styling. Consequently, they’ve made a name for themselves as the go-to for this service.  

• Devachan: Focus has also been key to Devachan. This New York shop is perhaps the best in the nation at curly hair, a reputation they’ve cultivated through their famous training programs and certifications. 

• Sally Hershberger: This salon has carved out its place in the industry by going all in on luxury, setting the bar for the customer experience and earning a growing list of celebrity clientele. 

Take your next step today

While creating sustained growth can be an even bigger challenge than first breaking even, there are maps that can help you reach the summit. 

We created The Ultimate Growth Playbook for Beauty Businesses for those ready for this next level. It outlines how to cultivate a world-beating culture, build a beauty assembly line, create an evergreen client experience, and more so your business can reach its full potential.