Fix Your Salon Business by Fixing Yourself First

If you’re a salon owner starting over or a stylist opening your first space, you might think the secret to scaling lies in better marketing or smarter systems. But the truth? Your business will never grow past your growth as a leader.

At The Level Up Academy, we coach entrepreneurs like you to stop spinning in strategy and start evolving as a CEO. Because when YOU level up—your salon follows.

What Level Are You Really At?

• Level One ($1,000): Made from skill — getting crazy good at what you do.
• Level Two ($100 Thousand): Made from hiring — building an awesome team.
• Level Three ($1 Million): Made from systems — refining processes and operations.
• Level Four ($10 Million): Made from leadership — coaching your people and growing leaders.

Salon owners stuck in Level One think they have a salon problem. They don’t. They have a leadership ceiling.

1. Model First. Modify Later.

Too many salon owners try to invent everything from scratch. This leads to chaos and burnout.

“Find the people who have what you want and do what they did.”

Before adding your personal flair, get your foundation right by modeling systems that already work. Then refine.

2. Profit Fixes Problems

Can money solve your issue? Then it’s not a real problem—it’s a cashflow one.

Track profit, not just revenue. You can’t pay your rent with "likes" or invoices. You need gross margin to grow. Do the work that makes you money first.

3. Don’t Hire to Grow—Hire to Free Your Time

Your first hire should almost always be an assistant. Why? Because time is your most valuable asset.

• Audit your week
• Delegate anything that drains energy
• Use that time to sell, create, or lead

If you don’t have an assistant, you are the assistant—and you’re probably overpaid for it.

4. Culture Over Cash

Great teams don’t just want a paycheck—they want to be part of something meaningful.

“Hire for the soul, train for the role.”

Sell the vision. Know your team’s personal goals. Build a culture that aligns their dreams with your mission.

5. DRY: Don’t Repeat Yourself

Every time you solve the same problem twice, you're slowing down your business.

• Create templates and SOPs for repeat tasks.
• Teach principles so your team can make decisions without you.
• Use budgets to avoid micromanagement.

6. What You Measure Expands

If you’re not measuring it, you can’t improve it.

Set up a simple dashboard: revenue, rebook %, retail, retention. Look daily. Talk weekly. Fix fast.

“Sunlight sanitizes. Metrics reveal.”

7. Teach, Don’t Tell

Stylists won’t scale if they always need to ask you what to do. You must teach them to think like owners.

Instead of saying “do this,” say “here’s what success looks like—how would you get there?”

The more you coach, the more confident your team becomes.

8. Know Your Team’s Dreams

If you don’t know what your team wants personally, you can’t lead them professionally.

Ask in interviews. Revisit in 1:1s. Align their growth with the salon’s growth.

When people feel seen, they stay. When they’re inspired, they soar.

Final Word: Want to Fix Your Salon? Start With the CEO.

Scaling your salon doesn’t start with a new logo, a new software, or even a new stylist.

It starts with you.

At The Level Up Academy, we help salon owners build from the inside out. Leadership. Profit. Culture. Growth. One powerful step at a time.

Join us if you’re ready to stop fixing your business at the surface—and start leading from the top.