Survival Checklist For Estheticians During COVID-19 Pandemic

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Many business owners are going through a tough time right now, especially beauty industry professionals who rely on face-to-face interactions with clients.

Spas are temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many estheticians are scared for their business.

Instead of feeling despair or panicking, we need to be proactive and make the best of this downtime.

Here’s a leadership checklist to help you take action:

Maintain a Positive Mindset

This is not your first rodeo — you have overcome challenges before. First and foremost, you need to believe that you can be successful during any crisis. Then, remember that input equals output so be mindful about what data and information you’re receiving.

While we need to stay informed, watching the news and scrolling through social media all day can cause undue stress. You may have to distance yourself from certain media outlets and negative people on social media so you can stay upbeat and motivated to ride out the challenge.

Hold Your Core Values Close To Your Heart

It’s easy to practice our core values when things are going smoothly. However, the rubber meets the road during tough times when we face difficult choices. 

Hanging onto our core values helps us make decisions and take actions that are aligned with our long-term goals and visions. In fact, how people and businesses practice their core values during a time of crisis is a testament to their leadership quality.

Take Care of Your People

As a leader, consider how your decisions affect those around you, including your clients and employees. 

Stay in close communication with your clients — use text, phone calls, and emails to share important information. Upload videos to your social media business pages instead of streaming as systems are bogged down and glitchy.

Create conference calls and email chains to remain connected to your employees. Team members may feel scared or unsure so it’s important to be a stable pillar.

Do a Financial Audit

If you haven’t already, it’s time to wrap your head around your numbers. Do you know how much cash flow you need if you have to cease operations for a while? Can you survive for 8 weeks without any revenue if needed? What expenses can you turn off to stretch your budget? 

If you don’t have the cash, look into getting a line of credit. Call banks to see if they can offer you 0% interest on any open credit cards so you can better manage your cash flow during this lean time.

Contact Your Small Business Administration

You may be able to get some help from your state government as each state has a disaster relief plan. You may also be eligible for federal relief programs so stay tuned to make sure you’re receiving all the help you can get.

Explore Unemployment Options

If you have a team, encourage them to look into unemployment benefits. As a business owner, you have paid into this and there’s no shame to take advantage of it now. Also, Canada is waiving the 1-week waiting period and also promising not to increase unemployment insurance.

If you’re a solo esthetician with an S-corp and have put yourself on the payroll, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits. Check with your CPA to find out what kind of relief you can get.

Add Retail to Boost Cashflow

Encourage your clients to keep up with their beauty routines by offering personalized recommendations on products and modalities. You will be able to generate an income while staying relevant. This also allows you to continue building trust and relationships with clients when you can’t work with them face-to-face.

Many companies offer drop-ship services so you don’t have to worry about stock, warehousing, and shipping. I recommend looking into Circadia Skincare, My Skin Buddy, LightStim, Hale & Hush, and Se Skin. Make sure to sell high-quality products that align with your expertise and philosophy.

There are opportunities in every crisis — instead of feeling despair and becoming reactive, we can be proactive and positive leaders for our clients and employees.

If you need support during this transitional time, I invite you to join the Esthetician Inner Circle. You’ll not only learn the best business and marketing tips for beauty professionals but also get the peer support you need to ride out this critical time.

Be safe.

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