Why Are You Working 60 Hours a Week While Your Stylists Work 35?
I'm Nick, and I need to tell you something that changed everything for me.
The only way to build a profitable, scalable salon business that gives you freedom instead of a life sentence is by implementing systems. Research shows that a lack of documented processes is one of the top three reasons salon businesses fail, because relying on pure hustle is a guaranteed path to burnout, inconsistent results, and a business that cannot function without you.
You've been told that to be successful, you have to work harder, be the first one in and the last one out, and personally touch every part of your business. But that's a lie that keeps you trapped.
I've been there. Working 60-hour weeks just to pay everyone else. Answering texts at 10 PM about tomorrow's schedule. Jumping in to fix problems my team should have handled. I thought that's what being a good owner looked like.
I was wrong.
The truth is, your business should fund your life, not consume it. That shift only happens when you move from a mindset of personal effort to one of systematic leverage.
What Four Years in the Marine Corps Taught Me About Running a Salon
Before I ever picked up a pair of shears, I spent four years in the Marine Corps. And the biggest lesson I carried into business wasn't about discipline or waking up early. It was about systems.
In the Marines, everything has a process. There's a right way to do every task, and that way is documented, trained, and inspected. It doesn't matter who's doing the job. The outcome is consistent because the system is consistent.
When I opened my first salon, I tried to do everything through personal effort. I was the answer to every question. The fixer of every problem. And I was exhausted.
Then I remembered what I learned in the Corps: you can't scale heroics. You can only scale systems.
That's when I started building what eventually became the Buy Back Your Time System™. It's now one of the core frameworks we teach inside Level Up Academy, and it's running in all three of my salon locations across New Jersey and Florida.
Systems are not about turning your salon into a cold, corporate machine. They are about capturing the magic of what you do best and making it repeatable, so your entire team can deliver the same level of excellence whether you are there or not. This is how you create consistency, build a brand that people trust, and finally buy back your time.
The Hustle Trap vs. The Systems Payoff
Your current reality is likely the hustle trap. You're constantly putting out fires, every client question comes to you, and a team member calling in sick sends the whole day into chaos. This reactive mode feels productive, but it's a cap on your growth. You're trading hours for dollars, and you're running out of hours.
The alternative is a business run on systems.
Imagine a salon where opening and closing procedures are followed perfectly every time, new hires are onboarded with a clear training plan, and clients receive the same 5-star experience no matter which stylist they see. This isn't a fantasy. It's the direct result of systematic operations, which studies show lead to 25% higher profitability than businesses run on owner-centric hustle.
When you systematize, you stop being the hero and start being the architect of a self-sustaining business.
Let me give you real numbers from my own experience. Before I implemented these systems, I was working 55-60 hours per week in my salons. Today, I spend about 8-10 hours per week on salon operations across all three locations combined. The rest of my time goes to Level Up Academy, my SEO agency, and most importantly, my family.
That's not because I have better people than you. It's because I have better systems.
The Buy Back Your Time System™: A Proven Framework
Getting started with systems feels overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be.
The Buy Back Your Time System™ is a straightforward framework designed to pull you out of the day-to-day operations and into the CEO role. The goal is simple: document and delegate tasks to free up your time for high-value activities that actually grow the business.
Salon owners who implement effective delegation frameworks consistently report saving 15 to 20 hours per week. Think about what you could do with an extra 20 hours.
Inside Level Up Academy, we walk through this system step by step. Our members get the exact SOPs I use in my salons, ready to customize for their own operations. You're not building from scratch. You're implementing what already works.
The system works in four clear phases: Capture, Document, Delegate, and Measure.
You start by identifying repetitive tasks, document the best way to do them, delegate them to the right person, and then measure the outcome to ensure consistency. This process turns the unwritten rules in your head into actionable playbooks for your team, creating true autonomous salon systems.
Step 1 & 2: Capturing and Documenting What Works
The most valuable asset in your salon is the knowledge in your head. The problem is, it's not scalable.
The first step is to get that "tribal knowledge" out of your head and into a format your team can use. This means creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for everything from how to answer the phone to the exact steps for a client consultation.
Don't overthink it. Start with a simple tool like Google Docs or even just record a quick video on your phone demonstrating a process. The goal is clarity, not perfection.
Documented processes are proven to reduce employee onboarding time by as much as 50%, allowing new hires to become productive and confident far more quickly. This solves a huge piece of the constant training puzzle every owner faces.
At my Warehouse Salon locations, we have 47 documented SOPs. Everything from "How to Handle a Color Correction Inquiry" to "End of Day Cash Drawer Procedure." When a new team member starts, they don't shadow me for two weeks hoping to absorb information by osmosis. They go through a structured training plan with clear checkpoints.
Our average time to full productivity for a new hire dropped from 6 weeks to about 3 weeks after we implemented this. That's real money saved and real stress avoided.
The Delegation Matrix: Deciding What to Hand Off
Once your processes are documented, the fear of letting go kicks in. "No one can do it like I can."
That's where the Delegation Matrix comes in. It provides a clear framework for deciding what to delegate, what to train, what to automate, and what you absolutely must keep on your own plate. You can't do it all, and this tool helps you strategically offload tasks without losing quality control.
Here's how I think about it:
Low Skill + Low Strategic Importance = Automate. Appointment reminders, review requests, basic email responses. These should never require human time.
Low Skill + High Strategic Importance = Delegate. Social media posting, inventory counts, basic bookkeeping. Train someone and hand it off.
High Skill + Low Strategic Importance = Train. Inventory ordering, supply negotiations. Worth training a team member to handle.
High Skill + High Strategic Importance = Keep. Strategic planning, key client relationships, team culture. This is your job as CEO.
Effective hiring and delegation are leadership multipliers. By assigning tasks based on your team's skills and the task's importance, you empower them to take ownership and free yourself to focus on vision, strategy, and growth.
Making It Stick: Accountability Is Not a Dirty Word
Creating SOPs is useless if they just sit in a binder collecting dust. The final, most critical step is building a culture of accountability where systems are followed, measured, and improved.
This isn't about micromanaging. It's about setting clear expectations and empowering your team with the tools to meet them.
In the Marines, we had a saying: "Inspect what you expect." That applies directly to your salon. If you create a closing procedure but never check if it's being followed, it won't be followed. Not because your team is lazy, but because humans naturally drift without feedback loops.
Teams with clear accountability structures see a 30% increase in the consistency and quality of their work. This is achieved through simple tools like checklists, regular check-ins, and celebrating team members who champion the processes.
When the "way we do things" is clear, owned, and tracked, your salon transforms from a group of individuals into a high-performing team.
One of our Level Up Academy members, Kristin in Ohio, was terrified of seeming like a "micromanager" to her team. But after implementing weekly 15-minute SOP check-ins, her team actually thanked her. They said it was the first time expectations were clear and they knew exactly how to succeed. Her client complaint rate dropped by 60% in 90 days.
What This Looks Like When It's Working
Let me paint you a picture of what systematic operations actually look like.
Last month, I took a two-week vacation with my family. No laptop. Phone on silent except for emergencies. My three salons ran without a single crisis. Revenue was actually up 4% compared to the same two weeks the previous year.
That's not luck. That's systems.
My salon managers have clear decision-making authority. They know exactly what situations require my input (almost none) and what they can handle themselves (almost everything). Because we documented it all.
Compare that to seven years ago when I couldn't take a weekend off without 30 text messages and at least one "emergency" that required me to drive in.
The goal isn't to remove yourself from your business because you don't care. The goal is to remove yourself from the daily operations because you've built something that doesn't need you to survive. That's when you know you own a business instead of a job.
Frequently Asked Questions About Salon Systems
"I don't have time to create systems. I'm too busy."
This is the classic trap. You don't have time because you don't have systems. The 15-20 hours per week you'll save is the payoff for an initial investment of a few hours. Start small. Document one process this week. The time you invest now will pay you back tenfold.
Inside Level Up Academy, we give you templates that cut this time investment in half. You're not starting from a blank page.
"My team is creative. They won't want to follow rigid rules."
Systems aren't about stifling creativity. They're about creating a baseline of excellence. Documenting the non-negotiables of your client experience frees up your stylists' mental energy to focus on their creative craft, knowing the foundational elements are handled. It provides freedom within a framework.
My stylists are incredibly creative. The systems handle the operational stuff so they can focus 100% on the art.
"What if I create all these SOPs and no one follows them?"
This is a leadership challenge, not a systems problem. It's solved by getting team buy-in from the start, assigning ownership for each process, and building accountability into your weekly meetings. When you inspect what you expect, your team understands that following the system is a condition of employment, not a suggestion.
"I'm just not a 'systems person.' It doesn't come naturally."
Neither was I, honestly. I'm a creative at heart. But four years in the Marine Corps showed me that systems aren't the opposite of creativity. They're what make creativity sustainable.
The frameworks we teach inside Level Up Academy, like the Buy Back Your Time System™, are designed to be simple and actionable for any salon owner, regardless of your natural tendencies. Over 200 salon owners are using these exact systems. If they can do it, so can you. You just have to be willing to follow a proven plan.
Ready to Stop Being the Bottleneck?
You didn't open a salon to work more hours than your team for less money. You opened it for freedom, creativity, and the ability to build something of your own.
But freedom doesn't come from working harder. It comes from building systems that work without you.
The Buy Back Your Time System™ is the same framework running in my three salons right now. It's what allows me to run multiple businesses, coach over 200 salon owners inside Level Up Academy, and still be home for dinner with my kids every night by 6:30.
If you're ready to stop trading your time for money and start building a business that actually works for you, the path to freedom is through systems.
