Small Business

Considering Starting a Salon Business?

May 13, 2021 by Guest Contributor

So, you’ve decided to finally take the plunge. You’ve gotten your certifications, you’ve gotten some experience, and now you’re ready to open your own hair salon. It’s time to follow your dream. The first thing you’ll need is a space. Check available retail space in your area and see if there are any for lease. You want to be in an area with a lot of foot traffic to be able to draw in your customers more easily. Once you have your building, the real work is set to begin. Here are some things you’ll need in order to get your salon up and running.

Salon Stations

The first and most important thing you’ll need to set up is the salon stations themselves. You’ll need plenty of mirrors, swivel chairs, and workstations for your employees. Your employees must have enough space to keep their salon equipment. Keeping your equipment organized will help prevent your salon from looking too cluttered. In addition, utilizing quality supplies tells your customers that you care about your business.

Shampoo Bowls

Most salons offer hair washing in addition to the cut and style. [Read more…] about Considering Starting a Salon Business?

Signs You Need to Upgrade Your Business Equipment

April 29, 2021 by Guest Contributor

There comes a time in the life of your business equipment when it is time for an upgrade. Otherwise, you may well find that it is holding your company back in all sorts of different ways. How do you know that this time has come? Well, there are several key indicators to look at in closer detail.

1) You Are Spending a Lot on Repairs

While repairing an item is often the cheaper choice compared to replacing it, if you have to keep doing this time and time again, you may find that getting a new version would be the most cost-effective option in the long run. Most equipment has a recommended life-expectancy during which you can reasonably expect to get it repaired. However, if stretched beyond this, you may well find that it is not worth making these continual fixes.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Things to Consider When Opening Your Restaurant

February 17, 2021 by Tim McMahon

Starting a restaurant is a dream come true for many people. However, it’s expensive to make that dream a reality, and “common wisdom” says that it is one of the least likely to succeed. So-called, “experts” often claim that as many as 90% of new restaurants fail in the first year. But RestaurantOwner.com thinks that the common wisdom is wrong. They say the actual number of failures in the first year is closer to 26% and about 19 percent failed in the second year and 14 percent in the third year. Other sources say only 17% of restaurants fail in their first year. Much depends on which year. Some years like 2009 had a much higher failure rate than others.

This is actually close to the average of all businesses with more than 20% of all new businesses failing in their first year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for businesses that started in 2019, 78.1% were still in existence a year later for a failure rate of 21.9%. On the other hand, information companies had the highest failure rate at 63% failing in their first year.

To put yourself and your business in the best financial position possible, you should look for ways to save money when you’re first opening. Naturally, you can’t skimp on food quality, so you have to find other places to cut costs. Here are some things to keep in mind when opening a restaurant.

Labor

One of your biggest expenses will be [Read more…] about Things to Consider When Opening Your Restaurant

Fleet Management

December 5, 2020 by Guest Contributor

Managing a fleet, whether it be a small one or a fleet of hundreds of vehicles, is no easy task. Fleet management is more than simply owning and operating vehicles. A fleet manager is like a business process manager. In recent years, a variety of tools for fleet management optimization have developed. The fleet management industry is projected to grow from USD 19.9 billion in 2020 to USD 34.0 billion by 2025.

What is fleet management?

Fleet management is the management of commercial vehicle operations at scale. Any company that uses a fleet of vehicles as part of their business model can be said to be doing some form of fleet management. Fleet management is all about keeping costs reasonable, maximizing profitability, and minimizing risk.

Track Your Fleet

If you are using outdated GPS tracking to keep an eye on your fleet when your vehicles are out on the road, or even if you previously thought that you had no need for such tracking for a smaller fleet, you should reconsider and invest in a better tracking system. By keeping a sharp eye on your fleet, you can identify any irregularities and your drivers will be more encouraged to stay on track and on time.

You might be worried about complex software that is difficult to use properly, especially if you have hundreds of vehicles to track. Thankfully, systems such as Geotab make tracking your fleet easier and more effective than ever before.

Practice Good Communication

One of the difficult challenges that [Read more…] about Fleet Management

Hopeful Entrepreneur: Starting Your Own Business With Limited Funds

August 18, 2020 by Tim McMahon

There are more small businesses starting up now than at any other time in history. If you are a person who is an entrepreneur, no doubt you are a person who seeks out your passions and who wants to have a fulfilling career. As an entrepreneur, your time is all yours. Apart from that, you are able to control your income to a large extent. Finally, as a small business owner, you are able to work in a career that you love. One of the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs face is funding for their businesses. Even though finances can be tight, the problem with the funding is not unsurmountable. The following are a few helpful tips for the low budget entrepreneur.

Incorporate Your Business

If you have a small budget, the last thing that you need is for something to happen to your business that will make you lose more funds. Starting an LLC can be highly affordable. In most states, it cost only a few hundred dollars, but it could save you thousands in the long run.

Keep Your Own Records

Business spending management is extremely important to a small business. Since you are on a small budget, you are going to have to dedicate a significant amount of your time to learning. A great thing for you to learn is simple accounting. There are tons of Youtube tutorials on the subject, or you can choose to buy a great accounting book off of Amazon. You can save yourself tons and become more business savvy if you do your own accounting.

Work at Home

You may not have a lot of space, [Read more…] about Hopeful Entrepreneur: Starting Your Own Business With Limited Funds

Remodeling a Commercial Property

July 17, 2020 by Guest Contributor

Remodeling a commercial property can be a smart move for your business. Nobody is excited to work for or with a company that has an outdated interior. The way people perceive your company matters, so you should try and do your best to present it in the best possible way. But often appearance takes a back seat to “day-to-day” operations. Remodeling can be costly, so you need to weigh the benefits against the costs. So, let us take a look at the costs you will have to pay for commercial property remodeling, shall we?

What are the factors to determine the costs of remodeling a commercial property?

The average costs of renovation or remodeling vary from one property to another. But, there are still some main factors that can help determine the costs:

the square footage of the space to be remodeled – the cost of remodeling grows proportionately to the growth of the square footage;
the state your commercial property is at the moment – new construction vs. previously-owned space – obviously, remodeling and adapting is much cheaper when a property is in a good condition to start with;
cost of hiring professionals – the budget you will spend on the workforce can vary from one location to another, as a matter of fact, those prices are rather volatile even within the same city or a neighborhood;
the cost of materials – the overall costs of the materials used will depend on the finishes you choose for your remodeled commercial property.

Downtime Should Be Considered

The days your company won’t be operating due to remodeling or reconstruction can be fatal to your business, especially if they turn into weeks or even months. This is the first thing you should think about when planning to remodel. If the projected downtime is longer than a couple of weeks, you could consider relocating your entire company to temporary premises so that your production does not suffer and you do not lose your clients.

Let’s talk about numbers, shall we?

The average price of remodeling [Read more…] about Remodeling a Commercial Property

Three Ways You Can Market Your Freelance Business

July 1, 2020 by Tim McMahon

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has led a lot of people to reconsider their work lives. You might have decided to make the leap to a freelance career, eventually establishing your own business, either by necessity if you have been furloughed from your previous role, or turning the pandemic into an opportunity to build a passion project into a career. Either way, one of the main challenges in building a successful freelance business is marketing yourself and the services you offer. The idea of marketing might sound complicated and leave you feeling overwhelmed, but there are several easy steps you can take to increase your profile. Here are three ways you can market your freelance business.

Schedule Social Media Posts

Perhaps the simplest, and cheapest, way to [Read more…] about Three Ways You Can Market Your Freelance Business

Tips for Starting a Business While Unemployed

June 6, 2020 by Tim McMahon

Job loss is never nice, that much is for certain. It brings with it a lot of financial uncertainty, and it can have a devastating impact on the person’s confidence and self-esteem. That being said, unemployment still throws up a host of different opportunities, one of which is entrepreneurship. If you ever lose your job, don’t allow yourself to wallow in the disappointment for too long — see it is as an opportunity to broaden your professional horizons. If you use your newfound free time wisely, there’s no reason why you can’t start your own business and ultimately take your career to a whole other level.

Explore Your Options When It Comes To Financing Your Startup

Unemployment will force you to [Read more…] about Tips for Starting a Business While Unemployed

How to Improve Morale in the Workplace

February 26, 2020 by Tim McMahon

It’s important to maintain a positive atmosphere at work for you and your staff. When morale gets low, it leads to counter-productive behavior and causes employees to get stressed and upset. To avoid these issues, here are some ideas on how you can keep high morale in the workplace.

Appraisals

Appraisals aren’t only opportunities to explore areas in which an employee can improve; they also allow staff to air any concerns they might be having regarding work. By providing a private and safe space for them to discuss how they’re feeling at work, this creates mutual trust between you. If employees feel as though they are being treated fairly and listened to, they will be more comfortable when they come into work, ultimately giving them a more positive attitude to their colleagues and duties.

Benefits

Another way in which you [Read more…] about How to Improve Morale in the Workplace