Darine: [00:00:00] Welcome to this week's episode of Beauty Babble. Today we're talking about why it's time for you to take a deep dive into the state of your business. Hi Suzanne, how are you doing today? 
Suzanne: I'm doing great Doreen, thanks for 
Darine: asking. How about you? I'm doing very good and I am, as always, I'm always excited about what we're talking about.
But you brought this topic forward and It was full of so many great ideas that we thought would be helpful for our listeners to look at. So why don't you kick it off and tell us a little bit about what we're talking about today. 
Suzanne: Well, it, it kind of comes down to, you know, with people as many of you know, I am, I am part of beauty cult.
So I get contacted quite often and it seems that the same kind of questions are coming up. The trends that are happening and then I keep taking them back to this. Have you looked at your business? What is missing? What's that? [00:01:00] So we thought that's why I was like, well, we should talk about this because it's more and more people are doing this because over the years, like years ago.
You know, it was quite different when you were deciding to make, you know, your marketing or retail or your treatments that I don't want to put anything down about it, but if it's a little more straightforward, I would say before, but it's not like that anymore. It's very different. Our industry's changed a lot.
In some ways, really great. In other ways, maybe challenging. And I think it's time to just take a look at a good, honest look at your business and how you're doing. We thought we could just break it down into a couple little simple things to get people started to, to really dive into it. And one of the things that brought it up because I even said to you, one of the questions when you say, you know, what do you want your clients?
Who are your clients? Who do you want them to be? I thought that's an interesting question. So that's part of the things that you do. For people in the business of beauty and other places of who are your clients, who you [00:02:00] want them to be. So what, how would you define that? Like what, what does that mean to beauty people when you say, well, you're going to market for them and you ask them, well, who are your clients?
How does that look in a business aspect? So I think that's the first definition we should go after. 
Darine: I love it. I can actually talk about this for an hour, but I won't. You don't. 
Suzanne: No, don't. No. 
Darine: I love, I love that we're kicking it off with this because I think that this is the most important question you ask yourself.
Any business that you're doing, you should know who you're doing it for, basically. And we don't mean for you to identify them by name or anything like that. If you have an existing client base, you have an advantage because you already have a little idea of what your client. So you can have that demographic look at your client saying, you know, my clients are mostly women or maybe they're mostly men, but you know, you can separate that way.
You can have a look at age range, you know, maybe if you're a lash artist, you might have a [00:03:00] younger client base than if you were a medical esthetician. I don't know. I'm just generalizing here, but just kind of sticking to like. You know, what is my, what is the age range? Why does that matter? Because different age ranges have different concerns, they have different likes, they use social media in different ways, so that can impact how you market to them, the type of content that you would present to them.
And I think It will lead into what we talk about, like the types of service you provide to them. So I think understanding that is like the, that's the most basic of your, who your clients are. And then you can go a little further in understanding what are the things they like and what are the things that are challenges for them.
So if you are in a busy urban center, maybe your clients are short on time. And that way you can customize treatments. For that. So just looking at how their lives are in a generalized sense, right? We can't [00:04:00] deep dive into that. But and there's, you know, I'm going to say this. There's many AI tools out there that can help you with doing this kind of analysis into your clients.
That could probably be a whole episode on its own, but I think just starting off with that and then when having that, I would say like having that as your North Star, you put it up on the top if you're working on a computer or piece of paper and refer everything else that we're going to talk about. How does it compare?
How does it line up with who your audience is or who your client 
Suzanne: is? Right, I like that. So it identifies who it is instead of a person's name. You need to break it down a little bit more. And I think that's a huge part. The first step is who it is. Now, the next part of that is, okay, so they're coming to you for services your loyal clients.
Maybe that's one to look at the ones that are regular and loyal and that could be, you know, your brow wax client comes in four times a year. Are they loyal to you? They're not going anywhere else, but [00:05:00] you might have some of that's actually in every six weeks. So defining who that is and maybe figuring out why they come to you.
So one of the things that was coming up in the conversations that we had that I've been having on and off well for the last month or two was that really diving into the menu. Your service menu. What are you offering? What's what's moving or what's popular? And I don't mean by trends. Trends are hard to keep up with because that's a big investment every time you're changing up and then you need to change your menu.
You need to advertise it. You need to educate your clients on why you're bringing these in constantly. Yes, new is good. However, is it necessary? And sometimes I've had conversations with clients with the product lines I know that they carry. And they said, well, I really am looking at doing X, Y, A. I said, okay, well, that's great.
But you told me you're carrying this brand. And then, yeah, I said, well, you don't need a [00:06:00] new brand. That brand does it for you. So I think people are missing out the opportunities of what their brand already does for them instead of just, maybe it's that flight or flight moment of running a business in life and you're go, go, go, and you're just following that and you're not stepping back and looking.
So I think if you look at your menu first and pinpoint what's moving. Okay, Those are solid. These are good. I don't need to tweak that. Or maybe you want to make it more and better. It's hard to say, but then look at what's not moving. What's not as popular and why? So is it out of date? Is it the way you're giving the description?
Sometimes that's it. Is it because there's just way too much on your menu? You and I talked about this, about the restaurant world, like those what is it? Mission Impossible restaurant or something. And they're like, oh my god, you have 50 things on your menu. How do you carry that load, that cost? And then honing in [00:07:00] on just a few things and doing it well, so that quality over quantity.
It's huge in this. And then the bottom line is much better. You're not having to carry all these things. And if you have staff, you're going to have to keep training them on all these things, even yourself. Right? So I think if people look at what they're doing with the service wise, start breaking down the menu.
I mean, waxing is waxing. I get it. But do they know that you brought a new one in? Why did you bring it in? Do you need to tweak? The menu of your waxing because now you're using a polymer base instead of a, I don't know, a resin base or, you know, those types of things. And you're taking for granted that you're just making it better for them, but you haven't told them that.
So sometimes those things are really important to add to it. So really diving into that menu, figure out what's got to go, or do you need to change it? Like, I had one that, I mean, she's doing the Hydro [00:08:00] facials and we know that's amazing treatment. It's not moving for her. Okay. Let's look at why why is it not moving?
So I looked at okay. Here's your product line. Just while I was looking at bringing this in Why are you bringing all that in? That's another cost to you when you have the products that do it already So I think understanding what you have and how to use it is crucial already if you have a good brand It should do more than one purpose, if I can put it that way.
The protocol on that should be I guess you could say being able to work it differently. Because, just like skin, you have skin types and skin conditions and it's all over the place. But couldn't this one protocol help many people? But then you need to explain why it helps many people, you know what I mean?
And then you have one protocol in place. The protocol of that is going to be, well, this is why oily skin can use this. This is why, you know rosacea skins [00:09:00] can use it. This is why, and people are probably like, well, what's that magic thing? Well, you need to know ingredients to understand. And this is why I keep honing in on that education side and staying on top of things.
And, and it's just knowing your stuff, knowing your brand. And if you're, you have a brand and you're not certain, reach out to the, where you're getting it from and say, I need your help. I need your help with this because I can't carry, you know, 15 different facials anymore. You know, our, our beauty business has changed.
It's not what it was five years ago. You know, and I think that's something we need to look at. It's not straightforward. All those things probably were really, really wonderful then, and it made sense. It doesn't anymore. So I think that's a big part of that. What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, 
Darine: I 100 percent agree.
And I can, just from a personal experience, have worked in places where we had so many different types of facials, but everybody just did the [00:10:00] customisable facial because we, that's what we wanted to do. We could just use the products differently and then, so I think that what you said about, you know, streamlining your menu, making sure that you, your services is.
Are just in it in a way where it's the best for your staff or yourself if you're doing them and then also for your clients because if somebody's reading your menu and there's so many different types of the same service, they wouldn't even know which one they want. And so, yeah, I think, I think it's a great starting point, looking at your menu, and, and knowing that it's a tweaking, you can adjust the script, if that doesn't work, then you re, you revisit it after a while, I think this What did we call it?
Like your deep dive into your business, it should be, you know, at least once a year, but as you're changing, you can even do it more often. 
Suzanne: Well, for example, maybe there's a new service you're looking at and you want to bring it [00:11:00] in. Before you do that, first off, does your brand currently help you do that service, right?
Instead of just jumping on to another brand. I'll put it that way in some cases. Yes, it is definitely a protocol, especially when you're getting into certain equipment and that I understand. But then do you need it? What can you use currently in place? Of it's something new because you already know the product.
You already know how to use it. You understand it. So you put the protocol together. Like we did that for an establishment when they brought in their hydro facial machine was I knew the brand that they carried and I put together the protocols of every possible skin type condition and how to use that properly.
That was kind of a gifting thought to it, to help with the situation because. Well, I'll be honest. They are a really great client. They do a lot. They purchase only from us. And that's some of the advantages [00:12:00] of sticking to one brand or one place is can your Educator help you with anything. Some people ask for it.
It's like, okay, I, I don't know the brand and that's not fair. I, I don't know the brand. So, but if you look at it and think, okay, skin type, skin condition, what out of that brand can I set up my own protocol? I'm not going to say, oh, I can't help you, but I'll help you figure it out, but I can't give it to you without me knowing the brand really well.
Right? That's not fair to me and not fair to the brand either, because I might be missing a few things. And 
Darine: I don't think it hurts for them to reach out to your brand rep or your supplier, because They might, they might have the answer, but they didn't know you had the question, so that never hurts. 
Right!
Suzanne: Exactly, exactly, that's so true. Another thing too is looking at when we talk about these professional brands, is what those protocols I was mentioning, do they have, let's say this pro use blueprint ready for [00:13:00] you, of a special powerhouse treatment ready to go, and one little system in a, in a, like a formulation of, product set up in a certain way that you can customize, customize still to a degree and target any skin type in that.
And it's not magic. I'm not saying one cleanser will do it all. Don't all freak out on me. And one mask will do it all. Don't freak out. I'm not saying that, but there are product lines that I've presented to people said, listen, this system here. will cover you for these skin conditions and these types, right?
And, and if you want to know what that is, you're going to have to reach out. That's, that's my secret weapon. I love that. But again, quality over quantity. Exactly. So really looking at and figuring that out. So look at, again, we, with the menu and then the service, I had one that we talked about and I went [00:14:00] on her website and we went through it and I went, okay, you have five different antioxidant treatments.
Why? Like, why do you have five on there? You know, you can do five different things. Be creative. And make it one simple, that's an example I'll give you, right there. Because how many antioxidants are there? My God. But it should be one on your menu with a really good quality description. As you said, AI is amazing.
It can help you greatly with it. You don't have to think that hard, I guess you could say. You just need to know how to talk to AI so it gives you the right information. But I think that's a huge one as an example like that, right? Yeah, so looking at that dive into your menu on all of it I was picking on skincare per se that tends to be the wide one like my god.
There's People in their skin care menu is huge, like I wouldn't even know where to begin with some of the websites they see, like which [00:15:00] one do I pick? And they 
Darine: carry so many products, right? It's like the back bar of it, like you end up carrying so many different products to accommodate all the services and it's sometimes it's just a waste, right?
It's bringing down your cost is important to help you kind of Yeah, 
Suzanne: the bottom line, right? Yeah. You're sure. You know, Wes, we're always talking numbers. The other one was, what did I have? Oh yes, I was saying I have a secret to success. Partnering, as you've heard me say, with the right professional brand.
Why? Because I think you just heard what I said. And that's an all aspect that you do. Is it your lashes work, waxing? Is it the facial is it permanent makeup? Is it like, what is it that you specialize in or what you offer for service? And what is, who am I, who's my person? Who do I need to talk to with this?
And I think that's a huge part. When I ran my business, [00:16:00] I partnered with I'll say brands or businesses or companies. Because they were partnering with me, and if they weren't there for me, I was out. Could have been a great product line, but I don't have any support. You're not helping me with anything.
And these are all the things I looked for in a company when I would search out. So, I mean, one time I had a company that was willing to front me the whole skincare line for my professional use in the back and my retail. And I said, you know I have three of everything, right? Of everything on my shelf, we'll front it for you for six months.
You want a year? We'll front you for one. You imagine having everything in your hands for one year. Pay us back after. And I said, no, because the company wasn't truly partnering with me. They just wanted their product on the shelf for visualize. It's not good enough for me. I [00:17:00] need more. Who's your educator?
Who do I go to? Who's actually developing your product line? All that. And 
Darine: the promotions too. We talked about that in one episode where are they supporting you when you do promotions? Do they, what kind of support do they have that way? So there's so many more, there's so much more to it than just the 
Suzanne: surface.
Yeah, and it's, and I don't think we We think we're just like our world has changed. We go online, we order something. There's no people involved. We walk into a place, we buy it and there's no thought behind it. And that's where we think dive deep into your business. Now it's not like it used to be, right?
What else was there? What else was there? I got here all my points. I want to make sure. I think we talked 
Darine: about it. Effective retailing? 
Suzanne: Yeah, effective retailing. I mean, that's, we could do a few series on that one, or even workshops on it for that matter, because I don't think people realize, when you're, when you're bringing in a new service, anytime I brought in something new, and my staff would recommend, [00:18:00] how do we support it?
And it was always supported by home care. What are we going to do? How does this work? It's like, oh, well you can do this. Well, there's nothing. They don't need anything. Well, why would I bring that in? Because, again, dive into your business, who are your clients? Who are your people? My people wanted to be taken care of in house and out of house.
So, know your people. I mean, retailing builds a trust. It builds a loyalty if you do it well. Because I never talk about it as retailing, I'm really actually sincerely here to help you with your treatment. And if you do it well at home, it's going to be better for you when you come in, whether it's a waxing.
You know, your waxing is going to be less You know, ingrowns, less dry skin, hurt less, like whatever it may be, targeting the reasons behind it. And I always say, try it this one time. It's going to take you through [00:19:00] three months or however long a product they have. And then you tell me if this protocol that I'm setting in place for you doesn't work.
You tell me that after three times. And, and I 
Darine: think that the flip side of that is also important to look at. Are you carrying products that you, that don't go with your services? Like do you have just extra products? They're sitting there because nobody's recommending them 'cause they don't fit with anything else you offer.
Right? So that is part of your, your deep diving to carrying what you need to, not more. But I think when you said waxing, I thought about like, you know, always recommending exfoliation. But if you don't have anything for exfoliation, that would be something that you can 
Suzanne: add. Yeah. And then go to the brand and look.
What do they have already? Right? Make it easier on yourself. Exactly. Instead of, now I gotta research something. What's out there? What's trending? What's the big thing? Why are you doing it? [00:20:00] Be confident in what you currently have. If you're not confident what you have as a brand. Why do you have so many brands?
Ask yourself that question. Why do I have three different brands when, when you look at them, they're all going to do the same. I'm not saying you have to stick to one. That's fine. But I'm just saying if, if financially there's a crunch happening in your world right now, maybe this is where you need to look at it.
If you're doing great. Why are you changing anything? , you know us in a sense, right? We'll, them on the show. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Please be our guest because we need to, you know, help others understand , you know, we won't say to all your secrets, but Yeah, exactly. It's like, what's the difference with that? You know?
I mean, I did have two product lines but again, it was because I brought in a service. Unique service within with a machine and a piece of equipment, and I had to understand how does it work with that, and it was a business decision. And I'll say [00:21:00] this much on how it affected me financially with the equipment, because the people who were supplying the equipment worked out a deal with me with the product.
I'm like, I'm in. So was it a good machine? Yes. Was I willing to buy it? Nope. To share that much with you. So it was a unique situation that came up and why I was with that company for years and years and years. So they looked at protocols of what they could do. Was I committed to other things? Oh, yes.
There was numbers I had to reach and, you know, there's other things like that, but yeah, there's, there's so many things that could potentially happen. So, again, that wasn't sourcing out at a, how do I say this, to an equipment only style establishment where they're just selling you equipment. Does that make sense?
I went to a house that had it all. So, hey, I'm looking at bringing in [00:22:00] microdermabrasion machines. What do you have? Right? So then it's like, I'm working with in house. So then again, that's support. Yeah. And it's, it, it, that's, I can contribute a lot of that to my success of it. And yeah, there's a lot of, like I said, the secret.
I love that. It's a good one. You know, like that's, I remember actually, I'm going to do a shout out here to Tawal Beridan with Lori. She actually, I think I saw that on social media not long ago. And she said way back when she had her business. That she said, I'm done with this brand and she didn't say it like that.
She said it in Laurie's way, but she goes, ah, that day when I fired that company out of my business with the best thing I ever did, because she recognized they weren't doing anything for her. And every time she reached out, it just, it was an optical and it was tiring and it was a challenge. And she was like, Oh my God.
So she searched out something [00:23:00] somewhere else and they got her business. I mean, We're talking to well beared in here. Yeah. The big brand, right? So I love that, that she's so honest about that. And again, she's been in industry so, so long. Her mom started in the industry, right? That's how she got involved, but so you got people who've been in this for 40, 50 years, 60 years, like, you know, because it's been passed down.
So of course you would learn from the person ahead of you, your mother or whoever that person is. And it stems down. Right. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 
Darine: The longevity sometimes maybe at the beginning it's good and then you lose that support as you go along. But that again is part of your, your, that deep dive, your self auditing looking at your business and seeing what's working and what's not.
And really from the lens of how you can be more successful. Like, is it helping you? Make more money 
Suzanne: or not. Yeah, because in the end everything is going up. Rent [00:24:00] goes up, products go up, water goes up, electricity, taxes, like your clothing, your makeup, your, like, it's everything around us. Your coffee, your supplying, your, your clients maybe, like, there's always that.
So really look at cost efficiency with what you have. And it's, it's playing smarter, not harder, right? Like, really think about before you jump on the bandwagon of the next service. Or, you know, like I said, that quality over quantity, I think, sets people apart and it shows a level of confidence. Insurance that you know your stuff, but you know, I had people, well, why aren't you doing this?
Why aren't you, why aren't you jumping onto that? And this, this is so cool. I said, well, and I was head announcer. I said, well, actually we do this, this and this here. So why do I need that? Right? So I, I, I knew. What we had already. And I, and there were some things that'd be, no, that one's outta my reach. I can't even compete with that.[00:25:00] 
You know, financially I punched the numbers. How to make that one work, boy, oh boy. That would be a, that would be, that would be tough. One. I have to hire more people 'cause I, I, they gotta be able to do the thing, do the service or do the equipment. Right. But I think that's a part where some people were surprised when, you know, laser hair removal was the one.
Why didn't I bring it in? And I just, at the time, I just had to punch numbers and look, and I had to make the hard decision of, nope, that's not, but I did work with people who are very well respected in the industry, who did laser, and then they would refer us. All electrolysis clients, partnerships, exactly.
So had the discussion, talked about it. They knew what we were doing. Was it a great job, a very you know, result driven without harming skin, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then I could see what they were doing and then I could refer. And I think the biggest thing is like hearing them [00:26:00] say, no, you're not the right candidate for laser.
And I would tell some clients. You're going you're wasting your money because it's based on this and this if you're gonna go go to the one of these three places And then why because I know they're gonna say no they're gonna be honest with you And they didn't want to hear no, so they kept searching and they kept going out and they finally found one that said, yes, and this one person in particular did eight treatments with zero results.
In fact, it stimulated hair growth because it was, it's melanin driven. Like if you don't have melanin in your hair, I explained all that. And then they were really upset. There was hormonal imbalances as well. And that's why I think it didn't really, I'm not, I'm not a doctor. Right. But generally it's just going to stimulate.
But there were some factors involved that I tried, right, really helping the client with. And she made her decision and then came back and started doing electrolysis again. But anyhow, you know, it's like, it's unfortunate and she's, I should have [00:27:00] listened, I should have listened. But I know because you wanted to hear yes.
Darine: You're just going to, yeah. She kept going. I mean, you did what you could. Yeah. And which is educate and 
Suzanne: yeah. Make a decision for yourself and be aware and, and then it was like a year later she came back and was really upset. And I said, it's okay, you know, you just yeah, but they said it should work. I said, yeah, I understand.
But, again, that was a newer establishment. There's no regulations in this industry, people. So who's doing it? You have money to buy the equipment and you start a business, you know? So, it's really understandable. 
Darine: Like, that's an episode, I think. 
Suzanne: Yeah, that, I felt bad for that person because she was told it would work.
It's why she bought the machine. Right. So it's like, there's that side of it. They made it sound. the professional. Yeah. They made it sound like this, but if you understand lasers [00:28:00] and how they work. 
Darine: Yeah. Again, education, right? Like going to the right place to get your education as a professional so that you can help your clients.
But 
Suzanne: that's. Way off topic, sorry. Way off topic, 
Darine: but that's okay, it's what we do. Yeah, 
Suzanne: yeah, exactly. Yeah, so I think really this is all about like, like you said, dive deep into your business, take a good look, you know, know that things are not what they used to be five years ago, and it's changed, and if you haven't recognized that, and you're doing well, That's okay.
Right? It doesn't apply to you. But there's a many people who are saying my, I'm struggling. This is really hard financially. I'm not, I'm not covering my bases. I, I don't have the money to buy more or more product or whatever it may be. How am I going to do this? Right? So it's like, this is what you need to do.
Just step, take a breath, take a breath. Maybe these tips we gave you today will help [00:29:00] you. I hope it does. And like we mentioned AI all the time, take a look. Is it the wording? Can you combine? Simplify? Makeover your website? Do you need all of the things that are on there? Right? So I think simplify.
People are impulsive in their decisions. So you need to make it very clear and short and sweet, concise, and one beautiful little package, not pages of scrolling, especially today people are on their phone. Do you know how much scrolling that is on a phone? I don't know how long you go, but I'll do one or two and then I'm done.
Darine: Oh yeah, and I think too, like when you're doing your descriptions, just read them with the eyes of your client and not yours, because you know you have a lot of more background knowledge. But what? Do your clients want to read? Again, back to knowing who they are, but yeah, reading people do the better they don't, nobody likes to read 
Suzanne: much more successful.
That's for sure. . . [00:30:00] Okay,
Darine: well, I love it. Thank you so much for those tips. As usual, if you have any questions or topics that you would like us to cover, so if you have any questions, there's a form link in the description. Send it to us, and we'd love to have your question on our one of our episodes, 
Suzanne: so.
Yeah, we'll do our best to answer it and come up with ideas for you. I think it'll be fun, because like I said, we're getting questions all the time, and I think it'd be great if you reach out and bring in your questions so we can answer them. 
Darine: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for listening, and we'll be back next week.