Tip #3 of 10 in the series - Think of time as units – To manage your book better and manage your time better stop thinking of time as time.  Start thinking of time as units.

All units are created equal.  Not units carry equal value to you at the end of the day, week, month or year.

All services should be broken down into units.  The shortest time duration service serves as a single unit.  For instance, if a haircut can be delivered in 15 minutes and this is the shortest duration service you offer think of this haircut as one unit.  Perhaps a haircut with beard trim is 2 units, a shave is three units a haircolor service is three units and so on.

Days are divided into units and services are booked in units.  A unit is assigned a value based on your single unit service.  If a haircut costs $25 and takes 15 minutes a single unit is a quarter hour and is valued at $25.  All other services need to be priced, at minimum, based on unit value.  A two unit clipper graphic design must cost minimum $50.  A three unit shave service must coast at minimum $75.

Once you begin to think of time in units you will quickly work hard to avoid delivering services whose timing and cost do not make up your unit minimum.  This is why I cite frequently, in classes, the notion that shaving is not really economically viable as a shop service.  The example goes that a 15 minute haircut at $25 establishes a unit value of $25.  A shop with a $25 haircut might typically charge $35 for a shave… But that shave takes three units to deliver in a manner of service consistent with the environment and its expectations.  Therefore rather than MAKING $35 every time you shave you are actually LOSING $40!! (three units are valued at $25 X 3 = $75).

As soon as you begin to think of time as units you will turn your appointment book into a revenue producing ATM.

Your appointment book is your interface between you and the world of your clients.  Your appointment book does way more than just tell you who to cut and when to cut them.  In this 10-installment blog post series I will share my top 10 tips for managing your appointment book.  You can extract the maximum value to you and your business from this powerful resource and tool.  I welcome your comments and discussion.

 

 

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