Many people that contact me are “romantically” attracted to our concept. They love the idea of a cute, fun and brightly colored place to take kids for a great haircut. Or I hear, “I love children, so I was really attracted to this." Now I am not saying that having an interest in our franchise concept because of your interest in working with kids is a bad thing. As a matter of fact, I would highly recommend that you invest your money, time and efforts into something that you feel passionate about. But our franchise, like most, is still a business, and will require a certain set of business skills to increase the probability of success. Whether you invest in a yogurt, burger, or salon business, it’s still going to come down to possessing certain business skills to succeed.  Here is our list of the top 3 skills needed to own and run a business:

1.  Communication Skills 
Your ability to communicate with others and “get the message across” about what your business is about to both employees and customers is critical. Everything in life begins with communication, and the ability that someone has to communicate is a big plus. Because time management and organizational skills can’t be taught in an operating manual, someone's ability to effectively execute a business plan becomes crucial. If a potential franchisee is unable to do this, then they may not be able to handle all the moving parts of running a business. Also, it's important to be flexible and adaptable. Rigidity has never worked in business! Now, of course I'm not saying to up and dump a system in favor of your own ideas. You have to follow the system. What I am talking about is the ability to handle a crisis when it arises, to shift gears and go a different direction on a moment’s notice, and to know when to be tough or to know when compassion is needed. Time management and organizational skills allows you to set a goal and reach it.

2.  Understanding the Need for Marketing 

Hooray for FREE Red, White or Blue Hair Stripes! Make this a 4th of July to remember with a great new haircut, and a little patriotic hair flare to go with it! Because right now at Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids, you can get red, white or blue hair stripes in your hair - FREE with any haircut the week of July 4th (at participating locations)! Just imagine how awesome you'll look at your local fireworks show or family picnic!

First Opening Expected in Orange County this Fall. Shear Madness Franchising, LLC of Overland Park, Kansas announced the signing of an Area Development Agreement covering 5 counties in Southern California. The agreement allows for multiple locations to be developed over a number of years. Doctor Andrew Elmasri of Lake Forest, California, a managing partner of California Children’s Salons, LLC and President of CA Anesthesia of Laguna Niguel California signed the agreement with Shear Madness Franchising in early May. The agreement calls for California Children’s Salons to open and develop multiple locations over an extended period of time. “We have a growing demographic of young families in Southern California, and we are excited to bring the unique concept Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids offers to this area,” commented Elmasri. “After visiting with management in Kansas City earlier this year, we feel like the opportunities for positive expansion is a great fit for our area.”

How can you be more effective in creating great marketing content that communicates to your audience what it is that you do as a franchise or small-business owner? In addition to newsletters, creating successful sales emails (or e-blasts) can be an important part of generating brand awareness and letting your community know about a special sale or event, or even serving as a reminder to come by and check out what it is you do. Your customer only has so much time in a day, so you'll want to be sure to write a compelling, effective e-blast that captures attention and persuades to either click the link to your store or come by for a visit in person. Below are five tips for writing that effective email.

When you are looking for a franchise to buy, there's a lot of due diligence that needs to be done. One of the things that I would recommend that you look for is current franchisees who are opening up additional locations. When a franchisee is opening up additional units it tells you a couple of things, number one is that there's a very high likelihood that they are either making money with their first location or they feel comfortable with the support and training that they are getting and the trajectory that they are on to continue to expand. Scalability is one of the most important elements of franchise success and opening additional units is a great sign of scalability. Multi-unit owners are really important in franchise systems that don’t have a 10 or 20 year track record. Everyone knows that McDonalds, Taco Bell and Subway have expandable and scalable systems, but if you are buying into a newer franchise system the importance of multi-unit owners is magnified. A lot of this relates back to the issues that I have mentioned previously, namely a proven track record and the support and training that you receive from your franchisor. With everyone looking for a new and exciting franchise opportunity, looking for franchise systems where franchisees are opening up additional units is a great place to begin your search!