Time is Money

As many of you may know, I travel quite a bit. I service over 100 different spas, varying in many different sizes. As my business grows, each minute of each day becomes more and more valuable. The saying that time is money, begins to form a true sense of being, and as my available time becomes scarce, I start to appreciate those who understand the true value of excellent time management.

It’s a topic I have been considering as a blog article for several months, although, until this moment, when I am stuck in an airplane between a screaming toddler and a snoring man, I haven’t had the time!

Wasted time is a resource that never comes back, it can’t be regained, and if you live from appointment to appointment, it can’t be extended. Time can be used as a negotiating tactic or a form of power. It can be abused, and it can be gifted.

So as a business owner in the spa industry, one must treat time as preciously as the clients that walk through your door.

The Early Bird Gets the Worm:

Being early to work, appointments, and any obligation in life is advantageous. From beating heavy traffic, to staying in good standing with clients and employers, being early is always the best bet. If you make it a point to be early to most appointments in your professional career you will find that accomplishing tasks and negotiating with others is much easier and your credibility stronger with colleagues.

Here are a few examples of early advantages:

Ø  People who arrive to work early exhibit a sense of organization, self-control, and professionalism

Ø  Arriving early to a class, especially one you have paid for, guarantees you a better seat, increasing your knowledge retention

Ø  Many businesses offer discounts for early hour appointments.

Ø  Having a reputation for being early or prompt will earn you preferential consideration when asking for a raise or a promotion.

Ø  If you and your client are both early, you might be able to add on an extra service to their ticket

Ø  When you have an unexpected event that causes you to be late, your reputation for being punctual will allow for more patience when things do go wrong

There Is No Such Thing As Being Fashionably Late In The Working World

In my career, I have to juggle interstate travel, rental cars, luggage, flights, hotels, and customers with their own agendas, yet I manage to stay on time or early 95% of the time.  I am always perturbed when employees whose place of work never changes, still manage to be late to (sometimes every) training. 

Nonchalantly, shrugging off being late as just another part of life, is irresponsible and very expensive. If you chronically run late, it means that certain decisions you are making are causing your tardiness. Hitting that snooze button may be costing you hundreds of dollars each year that you may not even be aware of.

As a business owner, late-comers are a drain on spa revenue and on other employees. I think of chronically late employees and colleagues as thieves, because by their own free will they are choosing an option that can cost you more than the occasional shoplifter!

Consider how much your business makes per hour. Let’s say $200 per hour divided amongst two therapists. Both therapists average 6 scheduled hours a day. Therapists #1 is punctual and arrives on time every day. Therapist #2 is chronically late 25% of the time by 15 minutes. 

Let’s do the math:

In a four day week:                 Therapist A brings in $2,400             Therapist B brings in $2375

In a four week month:             Therapist A brings in $9,600             Therapist B brings in $9,500

In other words, therapist B costs your business $100 a month when compared to Therapist A, due to her/his own personal choices.

Another way to look at it is how much is customer service worth? Late starts can push all of your appointments back, upsetting good customers who have every right to look elsewhere for esthetic services. When you lose a customer due to a service issue such as running late on appointments, it costs much more than $100 per month in referrals.

Professionals with trouble staying on time, seem less apt at their jobs. In our industry, being chronically late gives people the sense that perhaps you are irresponsible on a fundamental level and that maybe you are not 100% in control of yourself. Take a second to think about somebody you know who is consistently late, and then consider what you or other people might privately assume about that person. Would that be something you would want anybody to think about you or your employees?

The Good News

The best news about time management issues, is that they are simply habits. In the end, you can actively change any habits that might be costing you precious minutes. Thousands of books and tools are available for those who need help or advice on more effective use of their time. Just type time management into a google and there will be plenty of help at hand.