The Motley Fool is one of the best sites for financial advice (Fool.co.uk or Fool.com) on everything from Credit Cards to Property to Pensions and Investments… and in these difficult economic times, sorting out your personal finances can leave you with more time and energy to focus on your salon business.
They also have useful articles on self-employment and small business, like the recent article on The Five Essential Rules of Business -
“Much of the advice for entrepreneurs suggests that success rests on choosing a venture that’s in sync with your personality. But for the small business person, setting up a business alone, this only works to a point. At times you’ll need to go far beyond what you feel most comfortable doing, purely because there are few or no staff to share the burdens.”
Their Five Rules are (in brief) -
- Pay attention to detail
- Aim for perfection, not perfectionism
- Learn practical creativity
- Brush up your people skills
- Face failure
They also recommend the book “The Rules of Management” by Richard Templar as essential reading. If you’re looking for business management books to help you as a salon owner, we’d also suggest taking a look at “The One Minute Manager” by Kenneth Blanchard.
"Without doubt the best business decision I have ever made. Just one example, I bought a new machine for my salon costing £20,000 - just using the 
"After 20 years in the beauty trade I applied just one of the ideas in the 
"Since buying 
"I've now been using the material for two-and-half weeks... I have already taken £1403 worth of extra business - and not just bookings - already over £1000 of this is in the bank!!!! ...been completely booked solid all this week and the weekend is looking much the same! This is certainly the best business investment I have made to date."
- Tracy Norton, Diva Health & Beauty At LA Fitness, Sale & Dragons Health Club, Brooklands, UK
"Totally reformed the way I now market my salon. I went from getting very mediocre results where I've been lucky to break even - to spectacular results! The traffic to my salons has increased significantly, and I'm now really confident with