How to Set Gentle Money Goals for Your Salon This Year (Without Overwhelm)
Introduction
January can feel like standing in front of a blank wall with a giant bucket of paint and no idea where to start. Everyone’s shouting about “six-figure years” and “massive growth,” and you’re just trying to make sure rent clears and your body doesn’t fall apart by June.
You don’t need a 47-tab spreadsheet or a vision board full of numbers that don’t feel real. What you need is a gentle, grounded way to set money goals that actually support your salon—and your life—this year.
Think of your money goals like dimmable lamps, not stadium lights. They don’t have to blind you. They just have to be bright enough to guide your next step.
In this guide, we’ll walk through how to:
Set 3–5 calm, realistic money goals for your salon this year
Tie those goals to your real life (owner pay, time off, education, savings)
Turn big “year goals” into gentle monthly focus points
Capture everything inside a simple Salon Money Goals Snapshot you can revisit all year
No resolutions. No shame. Just a softer way to decide what you want from your salon this year.
1. Start with Your Life, Not Your Revenue
Before we talk about numbers, we’re going to talk about you.
Because “Hit $X in revenue” is only meaningful if it supports things like:
How many days and hours you actually want to work
How much you’d like to pay yourself
Whether you want to hire help, move suites, or take a real vacation
What kind of energy you want your salon to have this year
When you start with your life, your money goals stop being random and start being supportive.
📌 Practical Tip:
Grab a notebook and finish these sentences:
“This year, I’d love to work about ___ days per week and ___ hours per day.”
“I want my salon to pay me at least $________ per month by the end of the year.”
“One thing I’d love to invest in this year (education, equipment, space, team): __________________.”
These answers become the backbone of your money goals. The numbers will follow.
💡 FACT:
Goal-setting research shows that people are more likely to stick with financial goals when they’re clearly tied to personal values and lifestyle, not just abstract targets.
2. Choose 3–5 Gentle Money Themes for the Year
Instead of a long list of hyper-specific resolutions, we’re going to choose 3–5 themes that matter most for your salon’s money this year.
Some examples:
Owner pay – “I want to pay myself more regularly and reliably.”
Revenue stability – “I want fewer wild swings between busy and slow months.”
Profit margin – “I want to keep more of what I’m already earning.”
Savings / cushion – “I want at least one month of expenses saved.”
Education / growth – “I want to budget for specific classes or upgrades.”
You don’t have to choose them all. Pick the 3–5 that make your shoulders drop a little just thinking about them.
📌 Practical Tip:
On your Salon Money Goals Snapshot (or a blank page), write:
This year, my main money focus areas are:
_____________
_____________
______________
(Optional) 4. __________________
(Optional) 5. __________________
You’re not locking yourself into anything dramatic. You’re simply deciding what deserves your attention when life gets busy.
💬 Quote:
“You can do anything, but not everything.” – David Allen
💡 FACT:
Focusing on a small number of key goals (3–5) has been shown to increase success rates compared to long, scattered goal lists.
3. Turn Each Theme into One Simple, Measurable Goal
Now we’ll gently put numbers and/or clear outcomes to those themes—so you know what “progress” actually looks like.
Examples:
Owner pay theme → Goal:
“By December, I want to be paying myself at least $3,000/month from the salon consistently.”
Revenue stability theme → Goal:
“I want my lowest month to be at least 60–70% of my best month, instead of huge drops.”
Savings / cushion theme → Goal:
“By the end of the year, I want at least one month of bare-minimum expenses in a savings account.”
Notice how these are clear, but still gentle. No “double your income in 90 days.” Just: “This is what better would look like for me.”
📌 Practical Tip:
On your Snapshot, for each theme, write:
Theme: ___________________________
This year, “better” looks like:
For example:
Theme: Owner pay
Better looks like: Paying myself $3,000/month by year-end, instead of $1,500–$2,000 randomly.
💡 FACT:
According to goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham), specific and challenging—but realistic—goals lead to better performance than vague “do your best” intentions.
4. Break Annual Money Goals into Gentle Monthly Focus Points
A big yearly number can feel impossible when you’re staring at a quiet January book. That’s why we break it down into small, monthly touchpoints.
For example, if your year-end goal is to:
Pay yourself $3,000/month
Save $5,000 for cushion
Keep product costs within 10–15% of service revenue
You don’t have to solve all of that in January. You just need January’s tiny slice:
“In January, I’ll aim for $2,200 in owner pay as a step toward $3,000.”
“In January, my savings goal is $200.”
“In January, I’ll simply track product costs % so I know my starting point.”
📌 Practical Tip:
Your Salon Money Goals Snapshot should have a section like:
For January, my money focus is:
Owner pay target: $________
Savings target: $________
One thing I’m paying attention to: ___________________
You can repeat this each month—updating targets and focus areas as you go.
💬 Quote:
“Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.” – John C. Maxwell
💡 FACT:
Breaking large annual goals into monthly or weekly steps increases follow-through by making the goal feel more controllable and less abstract.
5. Build Your Money Goals into a Monthly Ritual (Not a One-Time Burst)
A goal you write once in January and never revisit is just a wish. The magic happens when your money goals show up in your monthly ritual.
This is where your December content threads in beautifully:
Once a month, you can:
Do your Monthly Salon Financial Snapshot
Glance at your Salon Money Goals Snapshot
Ask 3 questions:
“How close am I to my owner pay target?”
“Did I add anything to savings or cushion?”
“What’s one small tweak I can make next month?”
This might look like a 30–45 minute “Money & Coffee” session at the start or end of each month.
📌 Practical Tip:
Add this line to your calendar event description for your monthly money ritual:
“Check my Salon Money Goals Snapshot and choose one small focus for next month.”
This keeps your goals from living in a notebook you never open.
💡 FACT:
Research in behavior change shows that regular review of goals (weekly or monthly) dramatically increases the likelihood of achieving them compared to “set and forget” approaches.
6. Make Room for Life: Adjusting Without Shame
Even the best-laid money goals will bump into real life—illness, staff changes, surprise repairs, family needs.
The answer isn’t to toss the goals out. It’s to update them without shame.
If a month doesn’t go as planned, ask:
“What actually happened?” (facts, not stories)
“Which of my goals needs a small adjustment?”
“What’s one gentle thing I can do differently next month?”
Maybe owner pay holds steady for a while while you build savings. Maybe your savings target pauses for a month so you can cover an unexpected repair. You’re allowed to rearrange without labeling yourself as “bad with money.”
📌 Practical Tip:
Add a line to your Snapshot for each quarter:
Quarterly tweak notes:
Use it to jot little adjustments so you can see your money goals evolving with you—rather than feeling like broken promises.
💬 Quote:
“Flexibility requires an open mind and a welcoming of new alternatives.” – Deborah Day
💡 FACT:
Flexible goal adjustment (versus rigid all-or-nothing thinking) is associated with higher long-term success and lower stress in financial planning.
7. Capture Everything in a One-Page Salon Money Goals Snapshot
To make all of this feel manageable, I created a Salon Money Goals Snapshot—a one-page overview that holds your:
Life-based intentions (work hours, owner pay, priorities)
3–5 money themes for the year
“Better looks like…” statements for each theme
January (and future months’) tiny focus points
You can print it, tuck it into your planner, or keep it in Canva/Google Drive and update it as you go.
You don’t have to have your whole year figured out to use it. You just need to be willing to give your money goals a home that’s calmer than your brain.
Your salon doesn’t need huge, aggressive targets this year. It needs aligned, honest, gentle goals that make sense for where you are and where you want to go.
You’re allowed to let your money goals feel soft—and still let them change your life.
Want Your Money Goals for This Year in One Calm, Clear Place?
You don’t need a giant spreadsheet to plan your salon’s finances—you just need a gentle snapshot you can actually come back to.
Download the free Salon Money Goals Snapshot and, in one cozy planning session, you can:
Decide what you really want from your salon’s money this year
Choose 3–5 calm money focus areas that support your life
Set a tiny money focus for this month so you actually get started
Grab your Salon Money Goals Snapshot here and give your year a softer, more intentional financial foundation.
