When first starting out as an independent hairstylist, Hunter Donia had a super hard time building a business and even getting one month of bookings. He had a dream of his ideal business model, but he just couldn’t get the butts in seats to make it happen.

Then things started to change. He focussed all his efforts on creating an incredible client experience, beginning to end, and knocking their socks off. Within a few months, he had completely turned around his business, and was getting booked solid, months in advance (all during COVID!)

With new success, came new problems. With an influx of bookings, client requests, and full books, Hunter felt like he had to be constantly “on” and was responding to messages, client requests, Instagram messages, texts, etc all times of the day.

He found himself overworked and taking on too many hours doing services he didn’t have passion for.

On top of that, he soon became so popular and overbooked that he couldn’t get his favorite regular clients back in his chair.

He knew he had to figure out a way to “balance the books” - for his mental health, for the sake of his business, and in order to serve his ideal clients in the best way possible. So Hunter created automated “systems” in his business that automated his bookings and client requests so he no longer needed to be at the beck and call of clients, plus allowed him to work with only the best clients that he loved.

Whether you’re booked for months straight or you’re just at the starting stages, Hunter shares some great advice for all beauty business owners, from hairstylists to make-up artists to nail techs:

Setting boundaries, not having to be always “on”, and not being at the beck and call of clients 24/7 should be the ultimate goal of running a business that you love.

Read on to find out the brilliant automated system he set up to make his salon work for him, instead of the other way around!

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Hunter Donia is a self-proclaimed “behind-the-chair educator”, which means that he still actively serves guests in his own salon suite, “Hair by Hunty” while also sharing his wisdom and experience with hairstylists who want to “create beautiful guest experiences, so they can scale up,” explains Donia.

He started his salon suite during a terrifying time for all beauty business owners: right smack in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I felt the fear and did it anyway,” says Hunter, breezily.

He felt confident, because he knew that his idea for a business was different in the best way possible.

He envisioned a perfect guest experience from beginning to end - one unlike anything he’d ever seen before.

A completely personalized salon appointment, Hunter’s clients get the deluxe celebrity treatment: being the only one in the salon, choosing the music that they get to listen to, and getting undivided attention from Hunter all the way through.

He describes his salon suite as “a private, non-judgmental, customized experience”. And his clients couldn’t get enough of it!

“Because I created such a great experience, my business absolutely exploded. I went from being barely a week booked out to three or four months.”

However, Hunter soon discovered that being so heavily booked meant two things: he was being stretched totally thin, and so he couldn’t provide high-quality personal service to all his clients because he was tired, overwhelmed, and overworked.

“I was at the point where I couldn’t get a new guest in for four months...or even get my existing clients back in my books at a time when they needed it. I was overwhelmed and grateful for the success...but [also felt like] I was drowning.”

Like the highly motivated, tech-savvy self-starter that he is, he got started on solving the problem and came up with a really brilliant solution.

“What I had to do (along with a price increase) was to create automation and systems in order to take the burden off my shoulders of everything outside of serving from behind the chair...because we don’t get paid for those things.”

Here are a few of the things Hunter shared as the most important systems he uses to run his business smoothly while being crazy booked, and enjoying the process.

#1: Pre-appointment qualification with automations for booking and appointment info

Hunter’s entire booking system takes place strictly online through his website, Hair by Hunty.

Right when you get on to his website, you’re asked if you’re a new client or returning.

If you’re new to the experience, you’ll be taken to a questionnaire that will help you assess your hair needs, based on your lifestyle. This is how Hunter susses out his ideal clients.

Hunter uses this first step to pre-qualify clients for an experience he knows they’ll love because it really suits who they are as people.

#2: Messaging that attracts the right clients

“On your website and in your marketing, you should have a really strong brand,” explains Hunter. “You should have a really strong sense of who you’re speaking to.”

“When you have a strong sense of who you’re speaking to, you’re using that same language, that same vibe on your About pages, your bio, it’ll automatically [attract] the people who vibe with you.”

Hunter has used this type of messaging on his website, along with pre-qualifying “applications” for new clients, successfully...and continues to attract his ideal clients by doing it!

#3: Client only portal lets clients manage their own appointments

“In my course, I teach about setting up a client-only portal. It’s such a beautiful resource because it keeps them from having to sort through all the “new client” stuff just to book an appointment. So it’s all the information they need - frequently asked questions, all the docs they need, all the policies. The more crap your existing client has to sort through to get the information they need, the more likely they are to shoot you a text.”

...which is exactly the type of time-suck Hunter tries to avoid: having to answer questions with simple answers, instead of serving clients. And that leads to his next big system he has in place…

#4: Get a business phone number app (and always have a separate biz number!)

“Always have a separate business phone number - period,” says Hunter.

He recommends getting a phone app that allows for Do Not Disturb hours, as well as a text-based app for auto-responding to inquiries, sending out appointment confirmations, etc.

This will help with reducing cancellations, providing after-hours support to clients, and keeping yourself sane and enjoying your free time.

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Hunter’s had a wild journey that’s brought him to a place of genuine success and enjoyment, but it hasn’t been without its’ own share of painful lessons. He never forgets the most important lesson of all - and something that every beauty business owner has to keep in mind all the time:

Burnout will keep you from scaling up.

So make your life easier by automating what you can, delegating and outsourcing if possible, and get back to doing what you love the most: serving your favorite clients by showing them how beautiful they are, every day.

If you’re dipping your toes into advertising on social media to build your books, you’re gonna want to check out this cool e-book I’ve written about writing magnetic Facebook ads. It’s packed full of templates and step-by-step instructions to get you up and running on an irresistible social media ad campaign that will help you reach new heights in your business!

Download the free eBook right here:

Until next time, keep dreaming your big dream, and taking steps to make it happen!

Stephanie