When I bought a hair salon, I could not have told you what a balayage was. I couldn't pronounce half the services on our own menu.

A year in, I'm convinced that not knowing was the best thing I brought to the business.

One of the first things I did as the new owner was ask the stylists about the people who'd owned the place before me. Two different regimes, years of history. What did you like? What did you hate?

The thing they hated rhymed across all of them. They'd had their creative control taken away. They were told which products to use and exactly how to do their work, in ways they often didn't agree with.

Anyone who's good at their craft knows that feeling. There's nothing worse than someone who doesn't do your job telling you how to do it.

So I told them the truth, which happened to be the most freeing thing I could have said. I don't know what you should use, and I'm not going to pretend I do. Use whatever gets you the best result, and my job is to make it as easy as possible for you to do that.

I couldn't micromanage their craft even if I wanted to, because I don't have the knowledge to have an opinion. That turned out to be a gift. We handle all the product ordering, and over the past year I've watched each stylist drift toward the lines they personally swear by. They feel trusted, because they are.

Giving people the freedom to be professionals in their own field is one of the most powerful things you can do as an owner. It's a big part of why people stay.

Here's the trap I watch owners fall into, especially ones who came up doing the craft, or who don't have much business background. They fixate on the tiny things. They worry about a few dollars here and there. They care about getting the last squeeze out of the shampoo bottle.

That's backwards. The operator's job is to fill the chairs. The right question was never how to conserve shampoo. It's whether you have enough bottles to keep up with the demand you're creating. It's easy to forget that, especially in a slow stretch when the instinct is to clamp down and save.

The worst version of this is the retail quota. In a lot of salons, especially big-box chains and franchises, stylists are required to push a set amount of product. Miss the number and you lose incentives, or you get a talking-to. The whole goal is squeezing out maximum profit.

What that actually buys you is a team that's stressed and quietly resentful of how they spend their days. I want the opposite. As much as I possibly can, I want my stylists to love their jobs. This is a hard service business. You get difficult customers. A color doesn't always develop the way you hoped. You can't control those things. But you can make everything you do control easier to carry, and that is most of the job.

Since I can't do their work, I did the next best thing. I asked each of them, separately, to go away and really sit with one question: what matters most to you in this job?

The answers were all different, and that changed how I run the place.

One of my stylists is relentlessly ambitious. If I find her more business, she will find a way to fit it in. She lights up on big transformation services, the long and complex color work, even when three hours in one chair isn't the best money per hour. For her it's the craft, so I funnel her those projects and watch her build an incredible book of work.

Another told me straight that what he values is consistency. He has a young and growing family, and he wants predictable, reliable clients. He is at his best with our retired regulars, some of whom come in just for a shampoo because it's the highlight of their week. He's wonderful with them, so I make sure he gets them.

Our newest stylist is early in her career and hungry to build a base of returning clients she can count on month to month.

So when a new lead comes through our funnel, we aren't just booking them with whoever's open. We sort them to the stylist who will most love having them. The client gets someone genuinely glad to serve them, and the stylist gets more of the work that fulfills them. Owner, operations, the stylist, and the customer all end up wanting the same outcome. That alignment is the whole game, and I only found it because I walked in without a clue and had to ask.

If you ever buy a business in a field you don't know, here's my honest advice. Don't rush to learn just enough to start meddling. Stay curious, trust the experts you inherited, and spend your energy on the things only an owner can do. Sometimes the most valuable thing you bring to the table is that you don't know how to do anyone else's job.

Hit reply and tell me: have you ever been managed by someone who didn't understand your work? What did they get wrong? I read every one.

Michael

I’m building out a suite of products and services to help people like you consider buying or starting then scaling a local small business. If you’re interested in learning more, let me know.