Lessons Of A Lashpreneur

Today we're going to talk about the sneaky clients.  I've seen this come up in our Facebook community for The Lashpreneur Society a couple of times where people are like,“Gosh, this client, she just keeps booking the WRONG appointment cause she’s just cheap!”  or “I’ve told her a million times she has to come in by 3 weeks or it’s a full set and she just keeps booking a fill”  or just all of these frustrating client nuances.  So what do you do as a business owner when you think that clients are trying to GET AWAY with cheaper services, or undercut the policies that you have in place? Enter - healthy business boundaries by way of your policies!  Are you struggling with policies in your business? Maybe you don’t know which ones help avoid the most common client issues you’ll face or you’re not exactly sure how to word it so that it’s clear and enforceable? Well you’re in luck! I have my sample policies that worked extremely well in my business that eliminated 99.999% of client problems BEFORE they occurred.   T

No matter what level you're at in your journey of being a business owner, at some point you may want to consider renting a space to operate your business out of.  On today's episode, we're gonna go over some basics of what you need to be aware of when looking for a commercial space to operate your business out of. Whether you’ve started your business yet or not, or if you're thinking about expanding beyond the current space that you're in… here are 5 things to consider when you start perusing the interwebs for a commercial lease space.  EXTRA SPECIAL BONUS - I actually have a more in depth list of 23 THINGS THAT YOU SHOULD CONSIDER WHEN LOOKING FOR A COMMERCIAL LEASE SPACE that you can go download for free. This is the checklist I used when I was on a hunt for my first location! To get the full list - Go to www.thelashpreneur.com/leasequestions   Episode Highlights: [9:37] Why you should AVOID renting a room in a hair salon at all costs. [14:08] What is an “anchor” store and how does it affect the price you p

Would you like to increase your income without taking on more clients? On today’s episode, I’m sharing a tip that will show you how!  I have ONLY shared this tip with my mastermind students who are building out salon teams - until now! This is a great financial exercise for you to do to see which service brings you in the most money for your time! To keep it simple and clear - this is not evaluating the profitability of your business - just the amount of SALES PER MINUTE. Doing this simple evaluation can help you to see if you've priced your services reasonably or if there are some major red flags to how you've structured your pricing! Once you know which service brings in the most money, you just do MORE of that service-which will allow you to increase your income without having to take on more clients! After doing this breakdown you may realize that you actually make more money doing a Classic fill per minute than doing a Mega Volume fill! And this is VERY COMMON if your pricing was never intentional and yo

I got a DM yesterday asking- IS MOMENTUM MASTERMIND A GOOD FIT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY STARTED BUILDING OUT A TEAM? On today’s episode, I’d like to introduce you to Mastermind Member, Rose Meza, of Sugar Blossom Lashes. When Rose joined this program 6 months ago - she already had two locations and a team of 14 with sales of OVER HALF A MILLION in annual revenue. Rose has now built out a team of 20 (and growing!) and is projected to do $1.2 million in annual revenue this year

On today’s episode, I spoke with Momentum Mastermind Member Tiffany Federico, of Bright Eyes Beauty Bar. Prior to the pandemic, Tiffany got pregnant, and found herself in need of hiring an employee to cover for her FAST.  She quickly realized that it wouldn’t be as simple as she thought-there are a lot of legalities and responsibilities that come with building out a team. Now I’m not unrealistic - I know that it is COMMON in our industry to hire women as 1099 Independent Contractors - throw 50% commission at them and think you’re creating a win-win situation for both you, the team member and the business… and that is how A LOT of salon owners choose to build out their teams without actually looking at whether or not that pay structure is LEGAL or PROFITABLE. But OOF - did you know that 99.999999% of the time - the way the salon/contractor relationship is handled in our industry is 100% ILLEGAL and violates FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT LAWS (at least here in the US) - and just cause you don’t know the laws - doesn’t mea

On today’s episode Lauren talks about her experience with her first employee who-within a couple weeks-was already stealing lashes and taking clients at home behind her back!  Lauren says, “So I would say every time I listened to any  free content out there on building a team-I was making EVERY SINGLE MISTAKE that someone who had gone through it before me was making and so I was like, I need to get help. I really need help.” Lauren was under a lot of pressure because when she first started, the whole goal was to start to pay herself more because she has $3,000 a month in rent, which is insanely high for a solo artist. So already, even if she was fully booked and doing $6,000, or $7,000 a month in sales, most of that was going to be to rent. So she made the investment into this program with the anticipation that she was going to build out a team to help support that. Applications for Season 2 of Momentum Mastermind are NOW OPEN through June 10th. If you’re considering building out a team, I’ve got two more fre

On today’s episode, I talk with Victoria Parrish who was essentially my “test subject” when it came to creating the Momentum Mastermind program.  She experienced such significant growth in just a few short months of working through the curriculum and I knew that there were more beauty business owners who could benefit from the same training. Victoria started lashing about six years ago and always knew she wanted to grow, to have a team of ladies who had the same vision as her. She was always really good at her craft, but not necessarily the business- so she needed help. One thing that she knew she wanted to do was learn from somebody else's mistakes and gain insight into their processes. That way, she didn't have to waste her own time or go through the same mistakes as others. “For me, I'm a very black and white person when it comes to business. And a lot of times I was like, it's the end of the world. I ran on anxiety all the time. Tara really, truly helped me with the mindset aspect of it all. And that in i

On today’s episode, I talk with  Erica Hjelmaa about her experience going through the Momentum Mastermind program. Prior to the pandemic, Erica had one employee. Once her business was able to re-open, her employee- who was on a commission based salary- was asking for a raise. Erica didn't really know how to go forward with paying her more without it cutting into her profits.  When she received an email about Momentum Mastermind, she felt like it was perfect timing because it was exactly what she needed at that time. She learned how offering a 50% commission was actually bad for business and what she should be looking for in hiring a new employee. We will be having more interviews coming from our Momentum Mastermind members! Season 2 of Momentum Mastermind starts in July and applications open May 25th through June 10th, 2022. If you’d like to join us for Season 2 of Momentum Mastermind, join me on an upcoming introductory call to learn more about this program and get your questions answered HERE:  www.thelashp

Farideh has been a member of the Momentum Mastermind since we started in January. She was doing well as a solo artist, but when she expanded she didn't have a business structure of how things worked. She knew she didn’t want to go the route of DIY-ing her business and trying to Google everything on her own because that was too cluttered and overwhelming. On today’s episode she gives an overview of what the mastermind is from her perspective and experience, how her mindset has shifted since participating in the program and what her biggest takeaways were. We will have more interviews coming from our Momentum Mastermind members! Season 2 of Momentum Mastermind starts in July and applications open May 25th Through June 10th. If you'd like to join us for Season 2 of Momentum Mastermind, then you can go to www.thelashpreneur.com/mastermind   Episode Highlights: [7:21] What the program is from Farideh’s perspective and experience. [15:52] How Farideh’s mindset has drastically changed since participating in the prog

There is this illusion that once you get fully booked, then you hire a warm body to come in there and help with your overflow. And eventually, someday, out in the future, you might be able to work less and still have the business be making money. When it comes to hiring a team member, there are questions that I get asked consistently- many of those come from lash business owners who have already hired team members and are now discovering steps that they may not have been aware of or just didn’t know would be an issue prior to hiring. So I want to address the five things that you should know before hiring your first team member so that you are setting yourself, your team member and your business up for success.   Episode Highlights: [5:58] Just because you don’t know the laws-doesn’t mean they don’t apply to you. [22:01] Are you afraid that your clients won’t go to the new team member? [28:30] Paying yourself is a discipline, not a destination.   I hope you'll join me next week as I breakdown why hiring indepe

In Part 2 of this two-part Coaching Corner episode with Ashley Lopez, we talk about the importance of improving the structure of your business and setting financial goals that will keep you motivated long term. Missed Part 1? Check it out HERE Talking with an accountant is a great place to start to understand the financials, I think it's also going to work better for you to start to look at your business as a BUSINESS and get yourself on payroll and get structure in your business. If you're only paying yourself when you want something, that  also comes with the downside of the opposite-when you want something and you can't pay yourself, because you didn't have the structure of the business in place.    Episode Highlights: [12:31] Childhood Beliefs That Could Be Holding You Back [13:58] Setting Lifestyle Goals Vs Money Goals  [19:42] The One Thing You Must Do In Order To Have A Successful Business   If building out a team is something that you really want to do we have our momentum mastermind applications ope

In Part 1 of this 2-part Coaching Corner Episode, I talk to lash business owner Ashley Lopez about finding balance between working on her business and spending time with her husband and kids. Ashley is from Galloway, New Jersey and prior to opening her lash business in December 2018, she was in the corporate world. The corporate world was not very friendly with kids. Since she had a cosmetology license she thought, “What can I do with this to have a more flexible schedule, be with my kids, but still make the money that I was making at my corporate job?” Her main struggle right now is finding the balance between investing in the business and also being able to have the capacity to be present with her kids. Some business owners experience mom guilt- when they're paying attention to their business, they're like “I should be with my kids”. You can also experience the opposite- “I'm with my kids, but I should be with my business”. Isn't that interesting?  So if you were spending so much time in your business, and

Recently a long time student of mine asked "I want to offer a monthly subscription for my clients so I get paid on the 1st of the month. I'm thinking of including 2 services in their payment, with perks of getting first dibs on appointments - and offering the services at a discounted rate. This would help my clients save money and help me manage my time and money AND create a secure income. I think this would give me more consistency in my business - what do you think?" As someone who has run a membership business model for the last 5 years with The Lashpreneur Society - I would consider myself an expert in membership or subscription based business models. And I am NOT a fan of the membership or subscription based business model for solo lash artists for a variety of reasons which I share in today’s episode.    Episode Highlights: [2:58] Common reasons why businesses have memberships. [7:10] The two main membership structures and how they work. [11:28] Why having a membership as a solo lash artist is going t

I have just returned from an incredible trip to Medellin, Colombia where I spoke at a lash conference for latin american lash and brow artists!   There were so many powerful moments for me over this trip that I’m incredibly grateful for - that the Tara of 2-3 years ago wouldn’t have had the capacity to even recognize were big moments for me in my journey as The Lashpreneur.   As I was speaking at this conference, the idea of imposter syndrome came up for me because I had this moment where I'm like, “Who am I to be going to a country where I don't necessarily speak the language and teach other beauty professionals?”   So it kind of left me going back and forth between what my brain was telling me (you’re not qualified to do this) versus what I know to be true (that I am an expert in business and I know how to teach business and that does translate across all languages).    So where does imposter syndrome show up in your life?   In today’s episode I’m going to talk about imposter syndrome. What it is, how to ta

In Part 2 of this Coaching Corner episode, I answer Tori’s question about how she can find the time to go to therapy and do the necessary work on herself to improve how she shows up in her business.  My recommendation for Tori to find more time for herself and her business is to drop some of the clients she’s taking.  There is a formula (which I share in this episode) for how to drop clients and create more time to work on your business-while making the SAME amount of money. I show Tori how she can free up an entire extra day of the week using my formula.  What would an extra day do for you and your business?    Highlights from this week’s episode:  [7:48] What is an “after hours” fee and how to use it to cut back on the hours you’re working. [11:37] How working on yourself affects how you show up in your business and allows you to make informed decisions on what the business needs. [13:01] What I would do if I found myself in a position where I was a burned-out, people pleasing biz owner. [15:36] How to work

In this new Coaching Corner episode, I talk with Tori Miller who owns a sugaring business in Las Vegas, NV. In Part 1 of this 2-part series, I take her through what I call domino belief coaching. That’s where we're going to get clarity on why she keeps overbooking herself despite her declining health and exhaustion-and it will start to make sense how it affects how she shows up in other areas of her business and life as well. Tori says: “I live in Las Vegas, Nevada.  I am now four years into my company and I do sugaring. I have found your episodes very helpful, especially the ones about what not to do and what to do with policies and clients. I just don't put myself in place with it. I always book days off to either give myself a break or to do office work. But if a client comes in and asks to have an appointment on that off day then I open it- and I just start stacking up more work.” Why do you set aside time to rest, get stuff done or catch up on your business, only to put that on the back burner as soon as

On Part 2 of my coaching call with Shyrome, we talk about marketing her business and where she’s stuck in a rut and needs a little guidance. Shyrome shares: “I know sometimes I get distracted by everything that's going on on my Instagram, and I'm looking at everybody else, and I'm feeling like I need to be at a certain speed. And so I decided to go in and unfollow people. I did hear that from your podcast a while ago. And I just never got to it.” Trying to copy and paste another lash artist’s success and marketing will NOT serve you or your business. In today’s episode, I’ll share with you what WILL.    Here’s some highlights from this week’s episode: [4:53] Why keeping up with your competition is keeping you STUCK. [13:48] My best tip for always knowing what to say in your social media captions. [24:32] How to write killer captions.  Do you enjoy these coaching call episodes? Send me a DM on Instagram and let me know! Happy business building! Have a good one!

Podcast Listener, Shyrome Hardmon applied to be a guest on this Coaching Corner episode. Shyrom wrote in saying: “In 2020 I was pregnant with my 2nd child and literally had no motivation or energy to do anything. The time was also horrible because of covid and I didn't feel safe doing lashes. I kinda lost myself after. September 2020 I had my child, and it was hard getting back to business so I took it easy and started beauty school Jan 2021 which was online so it worked out for me. I just graduated Dec 2021 and I leased a space. Now I’m struggling with content, marketing, and building my clientele. I’m struggling with the business side, and branding myself. I’m trying to make money to invest in the business side also so I’m kind of in a rut and it’s hard because I’m a single mom who needs a little guidance.” In this two part episode, I will address both her challenge of feeling like she doesn’t have enough time to learn marketing for her business while running a household and also her struggles with marketin

On today’s episode, I’m diving into the do’s and don’ts of discounting your services. Discounting should not be used as a strategy to  compete on price - cause that’s a losing game. If you’re priced “too high” for someone - chances are they’re not the type of clientele you want to be attracting into your business for long term growth and stability. BUT there can be a lot of ways in which discounting is an effective marketing strategy to increase new clients coming into your business. In this episode I’ll share... ✅The strategic purpose of discounts/sales/promotions ✅ What to do when your discount doesn't work to bring people in ✅ Real talk about model pricing ✅ How much to discount your services for a promo and creating an irresistible offer ✅ Determining Customer Lifetime Value to inform your promo strategy Send me a DM on Instagram or TikTok if this chat helped you to change up how you are going to run your next promotion!   Episode Highlights: [1:54] -The purpose of discounts and promotions [7:39] - Build

YOUR BUSINESS IS NOT YOUR BABY - if you've ever said or thought the phrase "my business is my baby" - there's a strong chance you've got an unhealthy codependent relationship with your business. In this episode I share… … the ways in which this unhealthy codependency shows up in beauty businesses … what a healthy relationship with your business looks like …and how to detach your feelings of worth from your business so you can make decisions based on the BUSINESS'S needs, not YOUR unmet needs. Shoot me a DM on Instagram if you’ve experienced any of the struggles I shared in the episode - cause I can tell you sis - I am STILL doing this work myself!    Episode Highlights: [8:05] – Enforcing boundaries keeps the business sustainable [12:34] – Establishing systems and processes is a win-win for you and for clients [17:43] – Confrontations are uncomfortable but necessary [22:04] – Don't let codependency interfere with your business's growth   Happy business building! Have a good one!