The first week of the new year has gone really well, overall it has been a calmer week at the salon because 2 of the makeup artists are completely free and it is immediately noticeable in the number of customers in motion. But I personally have gotten a lot done and feel incredibly happy :)

Preparations for MEXICO woop woop!
Yep, yep, yep, me and Miska have booked a trip to Mexico for a full 2 weeks and are already leaving on January 13th! So next Sunday at this time we will probably sit and eat hotel breakfast in the sun;) Feels completely crazy, first time in over 3 years that we are free for more than a week!

But there are a lot of things we have to prepare before, as a self-employed person you have to work hard to be able to take a holiday haha. No, it should probably go well :)

• Blog material must be prepared so that the blog is not empty for 2 weeks. There will be a lot of product reviews as I do not have time to do so many make-ups before, but there will be many make-ups too!
• The campaign pictures for February need to be nailed down already now, then Malin does them, but it is still me who prepares which themes, pictures and texts are to be fixed.
• Set a schedule structure so that the staff can handle the reception without having to stress. And review if anyone needs to work extra to make this work.
• We have decided who will be responsible for ordering later, but have not taught all this yet, so we need to replenish the stock extra + teach for the brands that sell the most so that they can order themselves if something becomes urgent.

We will be a bit standby via email and even though we have a holiday, but as much as possible must work as we do not have wifi everywhere and also there is a 6 hour time difference so we need to help remotely with something so it can not be urgent matters because we will not be able to answer immediately :)

All Tuesday I worked from home in the makeup studio and prepared blog material for the trip. Here is the first make-up after we booked the trip, so inspired haha!

January 1 and lots of numbers
We worked on New Year's Eve and waited until Ämma finished with the last customer just to pull out the annual receipts and even before I ate breakfast the next day, it itched my fingers to enter the figures for 2017 in our statistics documents!

It's the kind of job that is fun because you get such insight, while it feels a little unnecessary for these numbers does not help me now, while it is very important to keep track of the statistics because once you need these numbers it is very simple to check out.

This is what our kitchen table looked like the first morning twig 2018 haha!

New metrics, strategic focus and diagrams
On Thursday we have our first hug meeting (staff meeting) for the year and in addition to preparations for the holiday, this is mostly what I sat with this week.

We have set a goal by June 31, 2018 and before that we have several intermediate goals. Between September-December we had the first sub-goal and on Thursday we will show the results of it and at the same time present the new sub-goal until 31 March and which parts we must focus on to get there.

Interim goals are the most important thing to achieve their goals. You can not just set a goal for a year ahead and then wait and hope that it will be so. First you have to divide it into several sub-goals and set a plan for how to reach the sub-goals - then you will finally reach the goal!

And to mix in some fun numbers like this at the beginning of the year, I will also show some interesting statistics in 2017 and compare with 2015 and 2016 to show how much we have increased since we opened this new salon :) In early 2015 Annika still had her little salon, and it was not until September 2015 that Miska and I came into the picture.

The make-up studio includes all treatments for lashes, eyebrows, makeup, manicures, etc. Everything that does not happen inside the treatment rooms can be said. Look at the curve! :) That there is a big difference from 2015 is not so strange because we did not have the current salon all year then, but that it increased so brutally between 2016 and 2017 is fantastic!

In order for you to understand how big the increase is even though you do not see the numbers, I can tell you that the amount we had throughout 2015 is almost exactly the same amount as we had in 2017 in December alone;)

"Think we built this up" I think all the time when there are customers in each make-up chair and several in the waiting room and the reception, the numbers are just a proof of what we experience but that is exactly what is magical for me - to see everyone satisfied customers who come again and again and thrive so well when they are cared for by us. The feeling is indescribable!

Between 2015 and 2017, we have more than DOUBLED sales for the entire salon. So everything in total with all treatments and product sales.

Then we have more than doubled the costs as well so the total profit was probably higher when Annika drove completely alone and had a very cheap rent haha, but it's really worth it. We would rather build a large living salon that goes plus or minus zero than sit alone and work ourselves to death and be rich :)

Saturday job and first backache customers
I rarely work Saturdays at the salon nowadays (before I worked 6-day weeks all the time) but last Saturday we had a customer who really wanted to come to me and can only on Saturdays and also Mia had her first working day with backbone customers so fit great!

I took pictures at my make-up consultation (you will see before and after shortly) and Mia scratched her back on a conveyor belt. We were there over an hour before opening to heat the room with heating elements, light candles and fix quiet music. Really atmospheric and relaxing! The first customer booked a new time again in 2 weeks so it was really successful :)

Satisfied Mia after her customers:

The week has thus included lots of jobs in my photo studio, lots of jobs with statistics, numbers and goals, and then as usual several customers in the salon and reception jobs. Good mix!

Normally, I would have been completely exhausted after a week like this with extra early mornings to keep up with everything and a lot of work from morning to night, but all stress is physical and it is not at all as demanding as inner, mental stress. So I'm pretty energetic actually and will continue to work from home this Sunday as well. When you know that you will soon be free as well, it is not as hard :)

Hugs are!