With Blue Monday on the horizon, three salon owners – Natasha Grossman of HOB Salons, Sean Hanna of Sean Hanna Consultancy, and Benjamin Shipman of The Hair Movement – share strategies for managing the post-holiday slump and the often-associated feelings of overwhelm.
Grossman advises business owners to actively filter out negative external noise, such as uncontrolled headlines. She suggests using the quieter January period to reflect on 2025's successes and identify areas for improvement in 2026. By focusing on controllable elements like clients, team, and financial performance, she argues, owners retain more agency than external narratives suggest.
Sean Hanna warns against excessive social media scrolling, highlighting its often-unrealistic portrayal of success. He advocates for concentrating on internal business improvements, motivating staff with training plans, and enhancing the client journey. Hanna stresses that incremental changes, rather than overnight fixes, drive substantial progress.
Benjamin Shipman categorises stress into genuine challenges versus 'white noise' – negative media, external personal issues brought into the workplace, and unsolicited opinions. He recommends a structured decision-making process involving pausing, assessing, seeking input when necessary, and acting decisively. Shipman reiterates that focusing energy on guests, team, finances, and service standards is key. He contrasts absorbing constant negative industry commentary with staying informed on competitor activity, advocating for deliberate decision-making to foster calm and consistent business growth.
The collective advice centres on a disciplined approach to business management, emphasising internal control and client-focused actions over external pressures. This suggests that while external economic factors may influence the industry, salon owners retain significant power to shape their own business climate through strategic focus and operational refinement.
