Oh - thinking of starting your own salon business?
You might want to think again before starting! If you interview successful business owners you will find that owning your own business sometimes is NOT what it's cracked up to be! It can be hard work!!! Following are 6 traits that every business owner must have, or chances are he or she won’t have what it takes to stay until the paycheck finally comes in!
Personality type – Are you a competitor? Most of us think we are, but are you? When you ran races in grade school, what were you thinking as that other kids caught up to you? That will tell you a lot about your competitive spirit. Do you always believe that you have what it takes to win, no matter what? Do you doubt yourself and your abilities? In business you MUST believe. You cannot doubt your abilities. You can second think and learn from mistakes, but that is wisdom and OK - it is not doubting your abilities. No business owner does everything right the first time around! And that is NO business owner! There is always going to be a learning curve, and the learning will never stop. There are many salons out there so competition is a given - can you take it? At Shear Madness Franchising we give you marketing tools to compete as well as a concept that is the BEST!
Numbers acumen – Can you evaluate numbers? You may have an incredible business idea, but you may not open it in a place where it has the chance to succeed. You must do the numbers – you need to evaluate all this BEFORE starting. If you have already started and aren’t doing what you expected, it may be that your location or marketing are preventing your success. Sit back and do the numbers. How many customers does it take to make the income you need? How many potential customers are in your market? Are there competitors who will get some of those customers? How many of the potential customers will actually do business with you? How far will they drive, etc, etc. Much of success or failure is all in the numbers! If you aren’t good with these, find someone who is and ask yourself every question you can and try to estimate on the LOW side before you start. A salon franchise system can help you with this!
Are you an Idea person or a Follower and implementer of others’ great ideas? This is an important question to ask yourself. You can be a great business owner with either trait, but the business you choose will change based on the trait that you have. If you are an idea person – then owning your own business and starting it from scratch could allow your imagination to flourish! If you are a great implementer of others’ ideas then you may be a perfect candidate for investing into a franchise system. In a franchise system you can be the best implementer and most successful by doing well in an already proven successful system. If you have great ideas, you could improve on an existing system as well.
Instruction Taker or Rebel? This goes along with the question just asked. However, it is a very important question to ask yourself. Do you look at others’ ideas and think that you could do it better? Or do you appreciate the wisdom of those who have been there before you and know it is best to do it their way? Rebels are innovators and are great candidates for starting businesses from scratch. Instruction takers make incredible franchise business owners. We love great ideas, but within the context of what we are already doing at Shear Madness - it's an opportunity for following a system with room for fantastic ideas!
Immune to discouragement – This is a biggy – if you are easily discouraged you will NOT succeed as any business owner. Yes, there are times when it is wise to throw in the towel. But there will be many more times that the going is just tough, and you'll need to stay the course with the knowledge that you will get through it and be successful! If you are married, you MUST have the support of your spouse and family – sometimes they are the best cheerleaders and can help you through those tough times, because even those who are mostly immune to discouragement can have their down moments.
Support System – This one is not necessarily a trait, but it is something that every business owner needs. Encouragement, and surrounding yourself around those who are positive about your business is a must. A franchise system can provide that "cheering" that you may need to get you over those bumps in your business. Knowing what to expect on a monthly basis and how others' are doing can provide a basis to evaluate your own performance.
A salon franchise may or may not be for you. But, to help you get more information we have put together a toolkit that can help you on your exploration journey. Get it sent to your email here:
