Are you exasperated with stylists who show up late, demand more pay, don't take a lot of pride in their chosen field of work, complain about not getting enough hours, and neglect to educate their clients on products? The list could go on and on. But one thing is true. The perfect employee or stylist doesn't grow on trees, nor do they just come walking through the door (except maybe once or twice in your career…if you’re lucky). So, it’s up to you to mold the staff you have into the “perfect employees”.

In situations where most employers would fire an employee, instead try to lovingly coach, educate and mold them into being a perfect employee. Remember, these are stylists - most of whom are “fabulously free spirited and amazingly creative”. What they are not is business minded, or thinking much past their client and themselves. So by providing them with a little understanding of your job as the owner, as well as clear boundaries, you give them a balance they may not naturally have.

Here at Shear Madness Franchising (Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids Salons) we have come up with 4 easy strategies for our franchise owners to use.

1. When employees show up late and their client has been waiting: Don’t chew them out or make them feel bad. Instead remind yourself that with most stylists their thought process is “its ALL about ME”.  So take this opportunity to make it ALL ABOUT THEM and coach them on all the reasons they are holding themselves back. Tell them that by making their clients wait unnecessarily, it makes them look unprofessional. It's also impolite and most likely reduces the amount of tips they receive, as well as potentially ruining the chances of that client ever rebooking with them again. Remind them that because their client’s time is valuable too, showing respect to a client will undoubtedly build a greater client base. Then be sure to let them know that because you believe they can do better - you'll expect better from them in the future. Also, make sure that it's known that poor attitudes and behaviors refelect negatively on the salon as a whole, and that damaging the good name of your business simply can't be allowed. Then smile and give them a hug. 

2. When employees complain because they aren’t making enough money: We’ve all had this employee before. The one who doesn’t want to work hard and believes that it’s someone else’s fault they aren’t making more money. Usually they are simply uneducated as to what it takes to be successful. So if you want the perfect employee, coach them on building their own client base and provide them with specific suggestions on how they can do this. Gently remind them of the “color class” they missed last month and how that new technique would save time by allowing an additional client to be booked per day. Be loving, be kind and never make them feel bad about their work. Educate them, coach them and build them up, and they will become the perfect employee.

3. When employees give you ultimatums: What should you do when an employee or stylist corners you and says, “I’m going to leave if you don’t pay me more”? First off, don’t cave in and give it to them. Instead, schedule a time that day to meet privately. Then educate them on why the business pays in the manner in which it does. Remember, they cut hair and do not run a business, so give them a few examples of what all needs to be covered by the salon to remain in business. Show them “on paper” how gaining just one more client per day would translate into more money for them over the course of a year. Additionally, perhaps talk about how many more clients they have now vs. when they started, and share with them what marketing efforts you have in place to bring in more clients. Then remind them how they may have kept a client waiting for 30 minutes the other day, and how she didn’t re-book for her next appointment. Reminding them of that client they kept waiting puts the fault of not making more money back where it should be - on them.

4. When employees are upset because they need more hours: First, remember that you are the owner and will think a little differently than they do. You are all about the numbers and what it takes to run your business, and they are all about being creative and cutting hair. So it’s important they understand that your job is to grow the business with the funds that you have. For example, if you have stylists on payroll when there are no clients in the store, then most of your resources are being burned up in payroll instead of marketing. Coach them on how to build their own request base so that when the slow season comes and hours are sparse, they’re still busy and getting the hours they need.  Then you can gently ask them, “didn’t you just ask Saturday if you could be the first to leave if we were slow”?  

We have many more business tips and strategies that cover everything from employee retention, to marketing, to product sales, and more! As a Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids franchisee, you could have access to all those systems and strategies.

If you've never really thought about a franchise opportunity and would like to know a little bit more, you can download our Franchise Buyers Tool Kit - it's a great resource that helps you understand what a franchise is all about!  Just click to register and the kit will be emailed to you!

Starting your own business can be a serious and daunting task. With so many things to consider (and pay for) it's always a significant bonus to be able to find free resources that aren't just smoke and mirrors - but are truly helpful. Following is our list of 20 free resources for business that you might find beneficial as you work to grow your business. We hope they help you like they have us! (note: This post is an update to our popular "20 Free resources" post that we shared in January of 2012)

• 1) Shortstack.com: shortstack.com helps design great Facebook pages that include contests, sweepstakes, videos and custom forms.

• 2) Hootsuite.com: Used by the White House, Time, and Fox, hootsuite.com is a leading social media dashboard.  Use hootsuite to manage multiple social profiles, schedule messages and track brand mentions, etc.

• 3) anymeeting.com: This site can help keep your business moving forward with little money spent.  You can hold meetings, sell tickets to your webinars, share your screen, record those important meetings, collect information and follow up.  All for free (which includes free support).

• 4) IBOToolbox.com: For independent business owners, this is the fastest growing business network.  This site has a collection of amazing tools that are designed to get your business exposed.  “IBOToolbox is a ‘safe haven’ to build your business”  --Paul Williams, IBOToolbox Creator

• 5) SMEtoolkit.com: SME Toolkit helps you learn the basics of starting your own business with some thoughtful questions to ask yourself. For example: What do you want to do and how are you going to go about doing it?

• 6) Freeconferencecall.com: Free conference calls are simple and easy to use.  All you need is an email address and a name to receive an instant account.

• 7) mozy.com: With your new business venture; you will want to protect your critical business data, financial records, photos and even music.  Mozy ensures your digital life will be there when you need it.

• 8) Zoho.com: You can focus on your business while Zoho takes care of the rest.  These apps will help you get more sales, get paid, support your customers and make your business more productive.

• 9) google.com/calendar: Keep track of meetings and appointments in your personal or business life.

• 10) Expensify: Expensify imports expenses and receipts straight from your credit card, submitting PDF expense reports by email and reimbursing up to $10K online! Completely digital expense tracking and reporting.  Free iPhone/iPad, Android, Blackberry and WebOS apps. Seamless QuickBooks integration.

• 11) googlealert.com: Generates leads, monitors competitors and safeguards your reputation.  The web’s leading solution for monitoring your professional interests online.  Track the entire web for your topics and receive new results by daily email. GigaAlert was formerly known as Google Alert.

• 12) Vyew.com: Vyew allows you to meet and share content in real time anytime.  Upload images, files, documents and videos into a room.  Users can access and contribute at any time.  Sign up is Free.

• 13) Wrike: Free Project Management will rock your team’s productivity with a combo of task list, spreadsheets, Gantt charts and Activity Stream in 1 app.  Wrike brings all data in one place making project management fast, easy and enjoyable.

• 14) Fresh Books Cloud Accounting: Fresh Books is the fastest way to track time, organize expenses and invoice your clients.

• 15) CloudHQ: CloudHQ will replicate, sync and backup all Google Apps, files and emails with other cloud services such as Box, Dropbox for Business, Evernote for Business, SkyDrive, Basecamp, and more.

• 16) Dropbox: Securely share, sync and collaborate with Dropbox. Dropbox is the secure file sharing and storage solution that employees love and IT admins trust. 

• 17)  www.vitaminCM.com: This website lets you choose from 50 Free Apps to run your small business like a professional.

• 18) Hubspot: Hubspot's all-in-one marketing software helps you optimize your website to get found by more prospects and convert more of them into leads and paying customers (free trial).

• 19) Wordpress: Create a free website for your business.

• 20) Gmail: With 15GB of free storage, you won't need to delete emails to save space!

If you’re thinking about joining the ranks of successful franchise ownership you might look before you leap! We at Shear Madness Franchising (franchisor of Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids) have put together a list of ten things that might help you decide if you’re ready to take that next step into this rewarding – yet challenging - opportunity.

1. Are you financially sound? Take a look at your financial resources, and make sure you’ll have enough to not only invest in starting up your business – but run it for 3 to 6 months.  And then consider that your income will be very small, but should grow slowly for the next 2 to 3 years while your business is becoming established.

2. Do you value business integrity? As a franchise owner, you’ll have a lot of eyes watching you. From your employees, to your customers and neighbors in the community, being a good example for others to follow will not only help you succeed in the long run – but also helps others succeed too.

3. Are you task oriented? Are you a task-oriented person who understands the benefit in following a set of guidelines dedicated to the successful operation of a franchise? After all, there’s a reason why your favorite Hamburger Franchise doesn’t sell taco food!

4. Are you a team player? Franchise owners are great team players that enjoy working with people. Running a franchise means not only fostering a great environment for your customers, but for your employees, other franchises within the franchise family, and even the folks who are working hard on your behalf at your franchise corporate headquarters!

5. Do you want to delight your customers? Delight customers with efficient services and promptly returned emails and phone calls. And don’ forget to smile, say “Thank You”, and let your customers and employees know how much you appreciate the work they do!

6. Are you resilient? Enthusiasm, optimism, and the ability to bounce back when a difficult business challenge presents itself are all key to being successful as a franchise owner. Apathy, a low incentive to succeed, or constant worry will hinder the growth of your business.

7. Do you have a marketing mindset? Franchise owners enjoy finding unique ways to promote their business in their communities. From taking part in parades, local sporting events, and much more – there’s many opportunities within your community to get the word out about what your business offers!

8. Do you love to learn? Are you someone who enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, attending seminars and talking with others about how to better run a business? 

9. Do you enjoy networking? The more you share and build each other up, the better! Franchise owners who work with other franchises and communicate what works and what doesn’t will have a competitive advantage over those who don’t!

10. Are you a person of focus? Don’t fall victim to being a jack-of-all trades, and a master of none. The risk here is that by spreading yourself to thin, you’ll limit how effective and productive you can be - which may result in poor products or services. Zero in on achieving perfection!

One thing to remember is that when an individual buys into a franchising opportunity with Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids, they won’t be going at it alone. Our team excels at being a partner who wants our franchise owners to succeed! If you’d like to learn more tips on how to achieve success from our team of business experts, click the below banner.

Franchisees should feel like they are being served by the franchisor.  Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids understands that the road to becoming a successful business involves many unique challenges. Our franchisees have taught us that being a great franchisor is important to the success of the individual franchisees.  Here are a few things that we have discovered that our franchisees really appreciate.

1. Great Customer Service: Quickly deliver your quality product with a smile! Time is a valuable resource to your customer. Delight them with efficient services and promptly returned emails and phone calls. And don’t forget to smile, say “Thank You”, and let your customers and employees know how much you appreciate the work they do!  As a franchisor we realize that a franchisees time is just as important!  And just as our salon customers' deserve prompt answers our franchisees deserve prompt answers from us - the franchisor!

2. Optimism: It’s important for business owners to always be optimistic about the future. Attitude will quickly infect your employees and ultimately impact what the customer receives from your business. If a customer believes they aren’t getting a great product or experience from your business, they may look elsewhere.  It takes a while to really build a succesful business of any kind - we understand this!  There are always going to be ups and downs in any business.  We are constantly on the look out for successful marketing techniques to pass along to our business owners.  Optimism and success by others is contagious!  We share store results with all owners so they are able to encourage one another.  Every store has the ability to be a success!  We know this and help provide that optimism in both intangible and tangible ways!

3. Think Different: Think "Outside the Box". This may require a business owner to get out of their comfort zone, but your customers will be drawn to products and advertising that looks different from what everyone else may be doing.  Franchisees buy a franchise because they want to know "how to do it" and they expect that the Franchise IS doing it differently than everyone else!  A succesful franchisee will always ask the franchisor when they are thinking of doing something outside the box!  The franchisor most times has experience with that idea and can guide a franchisee to either do it better - or maybe help them avoid a costly mistake!  Franchisors that reward those franchisees who have thought of something "outside the box" and have a system in place to share this information is much appreciated by all franchisees within the system!

4. Team Building: Good franchisors don’t just hire another employee to do a job – they find people who are excited to be part of your team. These employees will help build your business through delivering great products and services, and caring about your customers as well as you as a franchisee! Franchises typically do not have many employees in their home offices - so those that they hire need to be carefully chosen.  

5. Focus: A good Franchisor will not allow you to fall victim to being a jack-of-all trades, and a master of none. The risk here is that by spreading yourself to thin, you’ll limit how effective and productive you can be - which may result in poor products or services. Zero in on achieving perfection! A good franchisor will help you with this - if you are thinking too far "outside the box"  the franchisor should alert you to this!  Every idea may have merit, but doing them all well is usually not possible.  

6. Do What You Love: A Franchisor chose you as a franchisee because they see something in you that brings strength to the business.  Building a business around what you enjoy and a good at gives you a greater chance for success. The franchisor may pull you back in and remind you of why you were chosen for the task!  They will also help you get better at those skills that may need improving.  AND they may improve the entire system based on what knowledge your strengths have brought to the system!

7. Don’t be a loner: Successful Franchisees and Franchisors realize the value in sharing!  You are NOT in it alone as a franchisee.  Franchisees appreciate built in systems, meetings, conference calls or other systems that the franchisor has put into place to allow them to communicate and learn from other franchisees, employees, and the franchisor. There isn’t anyone out there who can knows everything. Being able to seek out those individuals who enjoy being expert advisors and mentors within the system is valuable.  As each store becomes more successful it helps everyone within the system.

One thing to remember is that when an individual buys into a franchising opportunity with Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids, they won’t be going at it alone. Our team excels at being a partner who wants our franchise owners to succeed! If you’d like to learn more tips on how to achieve success from our team of business experts, click the below banner...

You might also enjoy reading: 

• Huffington Post: Business Tips from 7 Highly Successful Entrepreneurs 
• Entrepreneur: 10 Tips for the First-Time Business Owner
• NBC News: 12 tips for business success
• About Money: Rules for Small Business Success

Running a business comes with many different resposibilities and expenses. It seems we are immersed in an ever changing climate of internet, technology, and social media. It can be overwhelming to keep up. Not surprisingly, many businesses have sprung up to help us overcome these challlenges! These businesses know the struggles of the little guy and offer valuable services or technology for FREE! And don't we all love that 4 letter word? So, here we have it..

The 2013 Favorite 30 FREE Resources for Businesses

SlideShare Extremely versatile and effective way to get presentation slides out there on the web, so your ideas can be found and shared by a wide audience.

Pinterest Create boards, share content, get inspiration. Provides instant sharing option on Facebook and Twitter, embed the code to your website, and more!

Wix is a FREE publishing platform that helps you design and creates beautiful websites, Facebook pages, and mobile sites with just a few clicks. Use our drag & drop editor to easily create your own website. No coding or design skills needed!

Square Up Accept credit card payments anywhere with your iPhone, Android, or iPad with this app and card reader. Payment fees per transaction are optional.

Wave Free Online Accounting, Payroll, Invoicing, Personal

Paper doodling app for Ipads allows you to draw, take notes, and more! Additional brushes and add ons are available for purchase.

Evernote is an app that saves your ideas, things you like, things you hear, web URLs, videos, images, and more.

CardMunch Take a picture with this app and a business card is converted to a contact in your phone automatically. It also shows you LinkedIn profile information and connections you have in common!

Lookout Mobile Security app can remotely wipe your phone or mobile device if it is lost or stolen.

Survey Tool Businesses can run email surveys that are easy-to-use and instantly start collecting results. All email surveys are 100% customizable including the 35 ready-made templates on Survey Tool.

You Send It The free lite version allows you to send files up to 50MB!

ShoeBoxed  Organizes your business spending and can create a digital library of all your receipts!

SBA.org offers a HUGE library of resources, tools, forms, links, and support for small businesses. Help with everything from writing a business plan to finding venture capital.

Device Driven  is free online photo editing software for those who don't have photoshop!

Marie Forleo is AWESOME! This fantastic website is full of videos, funny blogs, great photography, and helpful articles to inspire and motivate people (especially women) in business. Marie Forleo is part marketing genius, part mentor, part bulldog, and 100% Woman. Check her out, you'll love her too.

Meetup Groups are everywhere! Search your city for your interests to find a meetup group! It’s free to join and you’ll meet some great people with similar interests to yours. Great for networking, education, or just making friends!

IttyBiz website offers free E-books and marketing courses for small businesses. Great blogs, tips, advice, and consulting services are also available.

SEO: The Beginners Guide Free E-Book SEOMOZ.org offers this awesome free e-book on Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to help your website get found by the search engines.

Bookyards Download 30 Free E-books for business. Interesting collection.

Score has tons of free templates and tools for businesses.

Manta is a website that's a powerhouse of information on over 24 million businesses in the U.S. so it's great for market research when for B2B sales. Sort by industry, social media, business revenues, number of employees, locations, and more. Helps you define your market and you don't need a paid subscription.

LogMeIn is a great app for windows or mac users that enables remote access to your desktop computer from your mobile device or any other computer over the internet. Easy to use, 100% FREE!

Parcel is a nifty little app that can track all your postal shipments on your iOS device, without wasting time checking all the different websites.

Bump app lets you swap contacts and other content with nearby mobile devices over a Wi-Fi network. All you have to do is select what you want to share and "bump" the two devices together.

FormMobi is a free mobile app with the optional upgrade of $9.99 mo. Personalize forms (or build your own), draw CAD sketches, add photos, audio, and more. Then store data in the cloud or export it to any format.

Tripit is another free app that allows business travelers to keep track of all their trip arrangements in one place. The app also gathers weather updates, maps, and directions to make traveling a breeze.

Direct Corporation  Search if a company name is available. Incorporation, trademarks, logo design, websites. This is a powerful website with lots of tools for businesses that are growing, want to grow, or are just getting started.

VYew allows you to meet and share content in real-time or at any time. The software allows you to upload images, files, documents, and videos into a room. Users can access and contribute at any time. Great for creative collaborations with fellow team members, no matter where their location.

Pachow is a quirky and humorous little blog that shares insightful business humor, marketing tips, and helps business professionals get inspired to think more creatively through clever writing and funny videos. Also known as 'practical' right brain rocket fuel.

WebsiteSetUp is a fun and easy way to learn how to set up your own website! It is made for beginners that is always up to date, has a step-by-step guide, platform-specific, and is free! 

Thanks for looking! Have we missed any great ones? Please add your favorites below.
We're having a great day at Shear Madness, you have one too!

Are you or someone you know interested in Opening a Shear Madness Kids Salon Franchise? Now is the Time!! WE are GROWING rapidly and we have franchise opportunities available across the United States!! 

Starting your own business can be a serious and daunting task. With so many things to consider (and pay for) it's always a significant bonus to be able to find free resources that aren't just smoke and mirrors - but are truly helpful. Following is our list of 20 free resources for business that you might find beneficial as you work to grow your business. We hope they help you like they have us!

• 1) shortstack.com: shortstack.com helps design great Facebook pages that include contests, sweepstakes, videos and custom forms.

• 2) hootsuite.com: Used by the White House, Time, and Fox, hootsuite.com is a leading social media dashboard.  Use hootsuite to manage multiple social profiles, schedule messages and track brand mentions, etc.

• 3) anymeeting.com: This site can help keep your business moving forward with little money spent.  You can hold meetings, sell tickets to your webinars, share your screen, record those important meetings, collect information and follow up.  All for free (which includes free support).

• 4) IBOToolbox.com: For independent business owners, this is the fastest growing business network.  This site has a collection of amazing tools that are designed to get your business exposed.  “IBOToolbox is a ‘safe haven’ to build your business”  --Paul Williams, IBOToolbox Creator

• 5) SMEtoolkit.com: SME Toolkit helps you learn the basics of starting your own business with some thoughtful questions to ask yourself. For example: What do you want to do and how are you going to go about doing it?

• 6) Freeconferencecall.com: Free conference calls are simple and easy to use.  All you need is an email address and a name to receive an instant account.

• 7) mozy.com: With your new business venture; you will want to protect your critical business data, financial records, photos and even music.  Mozy ensures your digital life will be there when you need it.

• 8) Zoho.com: You can focus on your business while Zoho takes care of the rest.  These apps will help you get more sales, get paid, support your customers and make your business more productive.

• 9) google.com/calendar: Keep track of meetings and appointments in your personal or business life.

• 10) Expensify: Expensify imports expenses and receipts straight from your credit card, submitting PDF expense reports by email and reimbursing up to $10K online! Completely digital expense tracking and reporting.  Free iPhone/iPad, Android, Blackberry and WebOS apps. Seamless QuickBooks integration.

• 11) googlealert.com: Generates leads, monitors competitors and safeguards your reputation.  The web’s leading solution for monitoring your professional interests online.  Track the entire web for your topics and receive new results by daily email. GigaAlert was formerly known as Google Alert.

• 12) Vyew.com: Vyew allows you to meet and share content in real time anytime.  Upload images, files, documents and videos into a room.  Users can access and contribute at any time.  Sign up is Free.

• 13) Wrike: Free Project Management will rock your team’s productivity with a combo of task list, spreadsheets, Gantt charts and Activity Stream in 1 app.  Wrike brings all data in one place making project management fast, easy and enjoyable.

• 14) Fresh Books Cloud Accounting: Fresh Books is the fastest way to track time, organize expenses and invoice your clients.

• 15) CloudHQ: CloudHQ will replicate, sync and backup all Google Apps, files and emails with other cloud services such as Box, Dropbox for Business, Evernote for Business, SkyDrive, Basecamp, and more.

• 16) Dropbox: Securely share, sync and collaborate with Dropbox. Dropbox is the secure file sharing and storage solution that employees love and IT admins trust. 

• 17) vitaminCM.com: This website lets you choose from 50 Free Apps to run your small business like a professional.

• 18) Hubspot: Hubspot's all-in-one marketing software helps you optimize your website to get found by more prospects and convert more of them into leads and paying customers (free trial).

• 19) Wordpress: Create a free website for your business.

• 20) Gmail: With 15GB of free storage, you won't need to delete emails to save space!