Why am I not successful?
Whether you are a Barber or cosmetologist this article speaks to that person who stands behind the chair day in and day out, but have yet to find success. We all have different views of success we are working in an industry of production. So what are you producing when you show up to the shop. Are you booked from start to finish? Do you work well with your shop mates? Are you helpful? Promoting yourself? These things can have a direct result in how much success you can see in your career. You may not recognize where you sit on the scale of success. We’ll discuss how leaving early, lack of education. Not listening, afraid of risk taking, and a negative attitude can all have an impact on the success of your career.
Coming in early or Leaving late?
If you can do both then you are on the for sure path to success! If you can’t be there for the open of the shop that’s fine, but you should definitely be there for closing time. And vice versa be there early if you can’t stay late. Establish a rhythm of being 
seen in the shop to give people an idea that you’re there to provide services. If you remember to NEVER swap the actions you will be fine!
If you’re asking yourself what does “swap the actions” mean? Well, let’s switch early and late and never find yourself coming in late and leaving early. Those two just can’t be the combination.
When building your career, shop hours matter the most because your talent can only get you so far. What time are you getting there, and what time are you leaving? Are you there when people get out of work or are you gone after lunch? I understand it’s slow, and no one is walking in, but you have to put in the hours because you never know when a crowd can show up.
It’s better to be available when needed than to be needed and not available.
Patience is a requirement that has to be met for success to flourish! It would be impossible to plant a garden on Tuesday morning just to come back Tuesday night expecting to see crops.
No education
Being in this industry I have found over the years individuals with a lot of logged shop hours believe that it’s just enough to have years under the belt. However, this is the furthest from the truth. I have a whole blog post on the importance of education in which you can read here. Your experience only means you’ve been working behind the chair for a while but your education will determine how far you will go working behind the chair.
Education may be on the top of the list to finding success because this particular industry is forever changing, and in order to be able to supply the demand we need to be current in our education. Techniques, styles, and new products aren’t the same as the yesteryear so if you can’t foil or fade with the same efficiency as the shop around the corner pretty soon you will find your book dwindling or in a stagnant place.
Customers look to us to be an expert in the area of beauty. We should never miss the opportunity to show our guest what is needed to fit their specific needs. If you’ve just performed a service that requires attention in between visits then it should be you who shares the information on how to keep up with the maintenance not YouTube.
Can’t take instructions
We all need direction in this line of work, and it doesn’t matter what stage of our career we are in. Active listening plays a huge role into meeting the expectations of our customers. During the consultation we need to discover what it is that can or cannot be done. What it is they like or dislike!
Your customer just explained how the razor can only be used on the front hairline and NO where else on the face. When the time comes to clean up your outline you have to do as instructed, if not you may have just opened yourself up for major confrontation.
Suzanne has been using a product on her eyelids that contains retinal for anti-aging and this could leave her skin too thin for hot wax. Once you use the wax and peel a layer of skin off it would be too late by then to ask why this happened! You have now just opened yourself up to lawsuits.
If you can’t take simple instructions given then there will be more times than not you will find yourself in serious troubles.
Afraid to take risk
Now before you go jumping off the deep end taking risk in the shop please understand what it is that I mean by risk. Are you challenging yourself? These are the only risk that are safe in the shop. If you know you aren’t the best at blow-drying you’ll never get there if you don’t push yourself to begin blow-drying.
You could be in the barbershop and someone comes in and ask for a design, but you know that’s not your strong suit. There is nothing wrong with trying. Just be sure to let the person know that you aren’t that great at it, but you will do your best given the opportunity. If you are given the green light make sure you stick with a simple design before trying an elaborate one.
Don’t be afraid to take your craft to the next level by jumping in on services you aren’t great at! On your down time hit the streets and find someone who may want a free service that you may practice. It’s a risk to take asking a total stranger for help especially when it involves their appearance. However, taking no risk will yield no reward!
Negative attitude
This trait is one that will stifle the best of any artist. You must maintain a level of positivity whether it is making sure to keep up the morale of the shop, or keeping focus on becoming a better professional. The shop doesn’t need to be divided with groups amongst you. A shop should never be divided or the guest will feel that tension, and a shop full of tension may lead to guest feeling uncomfortable. One person feeling uncomfortable in a place where they should relax is too many.
It may be a slow season for you right now, but that’s no reason to get down on yourself every business has highs and lows. Stay positive, and keep pushing through the slow times. This is the time to begin pushing yourself, and hitting the streets with your cards. Start making promotions to get people through the door make a happy hour during after work hours when services are discounted or add extra services for guest to enjoy.
You may even be impacting your growth because you’re just too hard on yourself. You’re doing way better than you think you are. Don’t hold onto the bad with every mistake made use it as a learning experience for tomorrow. In fact read my post on how you will build wisdom by learning through your mistakes. Acknowledge the things you do well, and work on the things you need to do better. With persistence, you will turn the corner to success by keeping positive it will be much easier to stand the test of the slow times. It may get tough, but keep your head UP!
Finally, in closing
Your success totally sits square on your shoulders with no one to blame but yourself if you fail to succeed. It doesn’t take much to put in practice these simple steps. Come in to work ready to put in a full day, if you must leave early make sure to be there early. Planning to sleep a little extra in the morning plan to stay late until the shop closes. Put in quality shop hours with 
the mentality to be ready for the day.
Keep education a top priority for years to come. Never let the times change without knowing what it has changed to. Google is a great place to find where education is happening. If you aren’t able to travel far just search Beauty/Barber expos near me, and here you will find the closest area to gain some education.
Be an active listener when your guest is talking it is not enough to just hear them but listen to what they are saying, and if by any chance you can’t understand what is being said ask questions to gain clarification. By doing this people will gain more trust in you as someone who really wants to pay attention to detail so mistakes can be limited.
Take those risk of course they should be calculated risk never work where you are not informed of a service because you can do more harm than good. However, once you find yourself educated act on what was learned and push yourself to those limits you thought you’d never go.
Stay positive ALWAYS!! Don’t be a trouble maker, don’t keep trouble going, respect all that you encounter, and most importantly give yourself some credit. You are more valuable than you believe, and have more to give if you just keep on learning, pushing, and attacking your goals to be a successful grooming professional.
Have you found yourself in any of these categories? I know I have that’s why I can confidently say you will find success once you begin to practice being better in these areas. Leave a comment letting me know where you can improve your habits, and what area are you most weak?
Thanks for taking the time to read this post, and I hope you find the value to become a successful pro!
Shannon Kamal
These points you are mention in your article are straight forward and valid.
Before I decided to go into online marketing I had once an offline business and therefore, I can confirm 100% what you saying.
As the owner, you have to be present, sometimes, even more, so when you were still an employee. Having your own business doesn’t qualify you to be free of responsibility and can do what you want.
Success, and yes, back then, I was successful. However, before I even would take a day off and feel good by doing so, it took me over 3 years until I felt o.k. to say that my business was finally established.
Of course, this is just my experience but I do believe this will apply to others as well.
Thank you for sharing this is a great article.
After reading this article I am feeling more of a self boosted person right now and i a also evenly motivated from it. Why I am not successful can be the question in so many people’s life and I think reading this article can give a clear path for it and also teach us how to overcome those obstacles.
It is well written article. It was easy for me to read and understand. Thank you so much for sharing this article with us.
Wow, this just explains why some of us find it hard to grow from the stage we are in our businesses. There are so many things we overlook. A lot of people have this negative attitude towards what they do, which is very bad, because if you are not positive about what you are doing, then why do itl?
This is some great advice. It is good to get as much education as you can because I know personally that it is very difficult to get a job with just experience alone. It is also good to develop your work ethic like you said, starting early and finishing late. This is good because if you work for yourself you will have to be even more disciplined.
I think it is also important to define what you think success is and what it will look like when you reach it. It must be measurable so that you can take steps to reach your goal. You are right that you must be able to follow instructions as well as take calculated risks in order to achieve success.