Why You Deserve a Salary
If you’ve got a nice cushion of savings, you may not need a salary right now to pay your bills. But that could change, so it’s best to prepare for the day when your funds run out. Getting into the habit of paying yourself, even just a little bit, will give you money for personal expenses when things get tight or the economy gets worse. If your business happens to fail one day, you would have gotten something for your efforts by paying yourself and saving money for a rainy day.

Giving yourself a salary can have tax benefits for certain business entities, as it reduces your company’s profit. Talk to an accountant to find out what benefits your tax type (LLC, partnership, corporation) has with your salary.

Other benefits to paying yourself include:

• You can save money for future business efforts or for personal use
• You will work harder to increase revenues and your income
• Investors see you are committed to growing your company

How To Build In Your Salary

Plan your salary from the beginning. When you set up your budget, include at least a small weekly, bi-weekly or monthly salary for yourself. If you’re seeking financing, having your salary built in is key, as it will increase the amount you ask for from investors. In this case, determine how much you need to live, as well as what you’re worth.

If you’re bootstrapping, start by paying yourself a modest salary, even if it’s just a few hundred dollars a week. This can increase as your profits grow. You can also pay yourself through employee benefits such as health insurance, 401K investment or loans.

Things To Know

If you’re not making enough to pay yourself, consider raising your prices to better reflect what you’re worth.

You’ve achieved something great by starting a business. As an entrepreneur, you’re willing to take risks to grow your business. You deserve to be paid, just like any of your employees. Invest in yourself just like you do your small business.

By Susan Payton | Docstoc

Small Business Advisor

Sharkey's Cuts for Kids

Striving for an A+ Workforce = Increased Bottom-Line

Striving for an A+ Workforce = Increased Bottom-Line

Maybe I should have entitled this article STOP SPENDING YOUR MONEY ON MARKETING AND START TRAINING YOUR EMPLOYEES.

OK, not to confuse matters but I do think marketing your business is super important but if you are not training your employees you won’t be able to retain the clients you marketed to in the first place. Then it becomes this vicious cycle.

I can’t say it more, well-trained employees are vital to your salon or spa’s success. Studies have shown that the most successful, and productive employees are those who have received ongoing training. They’re the cream of the crop, often having the strongest interest in the company’s future. In an ideal world, you would be able to hire people who already possess all the skills needed before coming to work for you. But I say, “That’s a pipe dream.”

So, that’s where training comes in. Not only does training arm your employees with needed professional and technical skills, but it also shows that you are invested in them and interested in bringing them with you into the company’s future. This helps keep workers motivated and involved.

Training is often considered optional at many salons and spas because it is thought of as an expense rather than an investment. While it’s true that training can be costly, it's a long-term investment in the growth and development of your people - who ARE the ones bringing in the money.

To successfully gain an A+ workforce and increase your bottom-line follow these 5 helpful tips:
1. Determine your needs. As you probably don’t have unlimited time or funds to implement an employee training program, you should decide early on what the focus of your training program should be. Determine what skills are most pertinent to address current or future company needs or ones that will provide the biggest payback. Ask yourself, “How will this training eventually prove beneficial to the company?

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

a. Do I want minimum wage stylists for "my" service business, and why are they satisfied working for me at minimum wage?

b. Will I lose my minimum wage employees for .25 to a Subway or a McDonald's?  After spending months training them?

c. Do I want to hire stylists graduating from Cosmetology school and have them "experiment" on "my" customers?

2. Promote a culture of learning. In today’s economy, if a salon or spa isn’t learning, it’s going to fall behind. Communicate your expectations that all employees should take the necessary steps to hone their skills and stay on top of their professions or fields of work. Make sure you support those efforts by providing the training needed to accomplish this goal.

3. Choose quality educators and materials. Who you select to conduct the training will make a major difference in the success of your efforts, whether it’s a professional educator or simply a knowledgeable staff member. Having the right training materials is also important — after the training is over, these materials become valuable resources for trainees.

4. Make it ongoing. Select a training time and space that’s conducive to learning. Choose a time that you can be consistent with, like before or after salon hours. And don’t limit training solely to new employees. Organized, ongoing training will maintain all employees’ skill levels, and continually motivate them to grow and improve professionally.

5. Measure results. Without measurable results, it’s almost impossible to view training as anything but an expense. Decide how you’re going to obtain an acceptable rate of return on your investment. Determine what kind of growth or other measure is a reasonable result of the training you provide. You’ll have an easier time budgeting funds for future training if you can demonstrate concrete results.

Rewarding employees through certification and other incentive programs, tying training directly to company objectives and choosing the right methods for training are key factors in ensuring that the investment you make in employee training actually contributes to your bottom-line results.

Take a look at your business- Are you doing your best to have a trained and able workforce?

Sharkey's Franchising Company

SharkeysCutsForKids.com
Tel: (203) 637-8911
Skype: SharkeysCutsForKids

We would love to hear from you!

Sharkey's Cuts For Kids
Westport, CT 06880