You may have clients and a hard-working team, but that doesn’t mean your salon business is enjoying optimum health. However, thanks to a new initiative from Business Link, you can give your business a check-up with its nifty new tool. Developed in association with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and the British Bankers’ Association, the Business Health Check will allow businesses to assess whether they are fighting fit or in need of urgent remedy.
The online tool requires business owners to answer a series of detailed questions on the issues that affect their cash flow, such as wage bills, stock, administration and sales projections. The results are collated into a report on the business’s overall health, highlighting problem areas and potential risks as well as areas that could be improved.
“Whether they are starting up or looking to expand, businesses should always make managing finances and cash flow a priority,” said portal editor for BusinessLink.gov.uk, Jonathan Hollow. “The Business Health Check tool shines a spotlight onto areas they need to focus on, making them aware of the problems and helping them avoid financial pitfalls.”
 Log on to www.businesslink.gov.uk

Salon experience a luxury
Providing an ‘experience’ rather than just a haircut in your salon has never been more important, according to new research.
A study, commissioned by design agency Coley Porter Bell to understand how consumers perceive luxury, showed that more than half of the respondents rated an experience, such as personal pampering, as the ultimate luxury – even rating it over material goods such as cars and designer clothes.
With everyone wanting a little luxury in their lives, make sure you’ve got something to offer your clients to prevent them from searching for their luxury elsewhere.

The rules surrounding employee maternity leave may seem endless but help is at hand thanks to Business Link.
The national support network for businesses has devised a new interactive tool on its website to help business owners understand their obligations to their employees and to inform them of their entitlements. The tool covers everything from absence to maternity leave.
“Many small businesses have had limited dealings with pregnant and new mothers, which can lead to a degree of ambiguity for employers and employees, “ said Business Links’ website editor Jonathan Hollow.
“By handling and planning maternity issues in the correct manner staff will feel more comfortable and businesses will save both time and money.”
To try out the tool log on to: www.businesslink.gov.uk/maternity

Hundreds of salons are missing out on the chance to save themselves money by applying for Small Business Rate Relief.
According to the Local Government Association (LGA), half of the small businesses in England that qualify for the reduction in rates have not applied to their local authority to take advantage of the discount.
The LGA claims that there is £400m left unclaimed in England. Take-up rates are highest in the North East where nearly 80% of eligible businesses have applied for relief. However in the North West, the area with the lowest take-up, only 25% of businesses are taking advantage.
“Small businesses up and down the country are facing immense difficulties keeping their heads above water,” said LGA chairman Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart. “Hundreds of millions of pounds is sitting around waiting to be claimed by hard-pressed bosses of small firms. When local businesses are facing rising costs it is vital that they apply for the tax relief they are entitled to.”
Sir Sandy advised businesses that they had “nothing to lose” by contacting their local council to check whether they qualify for Rate Relief.
 To read up on Small Business Rate Relief see www.mybusinessrates.gov.uk

Women who have children, a husband or partner and go to work are less likely to report ill health than women who stay at home, according to a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The research says women who have been homemakers for all or most of their lives are the most likely to say they have poor health, followed by single mothers and childless women. It also discovered that superwomen with hectic lifestyles are less likely to be obese in their 50s than long-term homemakers, unmarried or childless women.
Margaret Nabbach is typical of many female hairdressers; she looks after two children as well as running two salons, and the M&M Hair Academy, in London. She feels that getting out of the house has helped her health. “Having a routine every day makes sure that I get everything done. Between the kids, going to the gym and going to work leaves me no time to think about my health. When I think about it I never get ill, so keeping busy must be good.”

If you’re not sure what the Age Discrimination legislation, which came into effect in October, means for your business and employment practises then new guidance by the Advisory, Concilliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) could point you in the right direction.
The guidance – Age and The Workplace – covers all the key issues of the legislation, including training, equal opportunities, recruitment, promotion, performance, appraisals, sickness pay, conditions, benefits, redundancy, benefits and retirement.
The guidance can be downloaded for free from the ACAS website at www.acas.org.uk
or from its publications order line on
08702 429090.

It’s lonely at the top, so they say, but it need not be that way. If you’re running a salon and feel that you are carrying the worries of the business on your shoulders alone then a new online forum could be the answer to your isolation.
www.mywatercooler.co.uk is a new, free support network from small business insurer MORE TH>N BUSINESS, providing a place for small businesses to meet online and exchange ideas, thoughts and expertise with other members of the small business community. The site took its name from the meeting place of choice for office workers who, according to MORE TH>N BUSINESS, spend more than 18 million working hours per day chatting. However, this time is seen as well spent, as head of MORE TH>N BUSINESS Mike Bowman explained: “It may look like a loss to the economy, but in reality a bit of gossip and banter is essential for staff morale, wellbeing, keeping abreast of social affairs and for generating ideas,” he said.
www.mywatercooler.co.uk aims to enable small business owners to:
 Swap skills and services – for example, get a recommendation for an accountant, solicitor, etc
 Share problems and solutions
 Create informal business networks
 View regular podcasts from experts in small businesses
 Make new contacts
“We have developed the site to help bridge the gap between working as part of a large team and working in a small business,” concluded Mike.

What does Christmas mean to you? A glass of mulled wine by the fire? A sleigh-load of presents, or a few well-earned days off? That’s all well and good but as a salon owner the festive season should mean so much more – it should be a key time of year to boost business with your current clientele and attract new ones.
However, no one likes a Scrooge, so it’s important to add an element of Christmas cheer. Getting the balance right between a friendly, festive atmosphere while raising your profits will be key to make Christmas work for you.

If you think recycling is someone else’s responsibility, you may want to think again. Each year more than 100 million tonnes of waste are produced by homes and businesses in England and Wales, a figure that is set to grow by 3% a year, making it a huge problem and one that everybody needs to address.

Networking is key to business and personal success, but many small businesses are not making the most of the opportunities available to them.
According to a survey by Lloyds TSB Business, about 40% of small business owners do not believe networking will help their business, while 10% do not devote any time at all to networking.
Some 40% of business owners sometimes attend events where there will be networking opportunities, while 15% realise how crucial networking is to their business and devote time to it every week. Of these switched-on people 75% said they had won new customers through networking while 40% have found new suppliers. Others said networking had given them new ideas for marketing and helped with recruitment.
If you’d like to network but are stuck for ideas, more than 50% of the survey’s respondents cited exhibitions as a great place to meet new people, while just under 50% thought conferences and seminars were a good starting point for expanding contacts.
“We’ve all heard the old adage ‘it’s who you know, not what you know’ but for many small firms today, the importance of building relationships is being seriously underestimated,” said head of communications for Lloyds TSB Business, Stephen Pegg.
“Small businesses are often too quick to overlook the benefits of networking, but when they do find the time to nurture new contacts it’s never too long before they realise the part these relationships can play in their future growth and success.”

A number of new regulations came into effect on 1 October 2006. You should be well aware of them by now, but just in case, here is an update.

Age Discrimination
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 protects workers of all ages from discrimination in the workplace.
They:
 End discrimination in terms of recruitment, promotion and training
 Ban unjustified retirement ages below 65
 Remove the current age limits for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights.
National Minimum Wage
The National Minimum Wage has been increased and the following hourly rates now apply:
 Employees aged 22 and over – £5.35
 Employees aged between 18 and 21 – £4.45
 Employees aged 16 and 17 – £3.30.
Work and families
Changes under the Work and Families Act
 Statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance and statutory adoption pay increases from six months to nine months for babies due on or after 1 April 2007. It will also apply to adoption placements that begin from that date
 Mothers will need to give two months’ notice, instead of one, if they want to change the date they return to work after maternity leave
 10 ‘keeping in touch’ days have been introduced to allow mothers to go into work and stay in touch with developments and training, without bringing their maternity leave to an end or losing out on maternity pay
 The administration of maternity payments for employers has been simplified
 The eligibility for additional maternity leave to all pregnant employees where births are due on or after 1 April 2007 has been extended.
Fire Safety
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places a greater emphasis on fire prevention and renders all existing fire certificates void. The new regulations also:
 Require a risk assessment of the premises by a ‘responsible person’. The results must be recorded (for businesses with five or more employees) and any recommendations implemented
 Require staff to be trained in fire safety
 Transfer responsibility for enforcement to the local fire authority.

You may think your website is enough to give you a good online presence, but if you’re not blogging you could be missing out on an additional opportunity to drive traffic to your site and customers through your salon door.
A blog is effectively an online journal and, as the entries are easy to post, they allow you to frequently update your website. However, according to web host, Fasthost, only 3% of small and medium-sized businesses are planning to start a blog on their website.
If you’re not blogging then you are lagging behind in the technology stakes. Blog tracker Technorati says there are nearly 54 million blogs in existence with 75,000 created daily.

Have you ever wondered what annoys your team about work? Research from online learning provider SkillSoft has put together the top 10 irritants from a survey of more than 3,000 workers. They were:
1 Colleagues not pulling their weight
2 Indecisive bosses
3 Lack of support from bosses
4 Pressure from bosses
5 Interruptions from bosses
6 Feeling put-upon by bosses
7 Lack of support from colleagues
8 Bullying behaviour by bosses
9 Feeling put-on by colleagues
10 Bullying behaviour by colleagues
So now you know what annoys them – it’s up to you to put it right...

If you haven’t already acquainted yourself with the new rules on fire safety, you should do so today. The rules came into force on 1 October and render all existing fire certificates void.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Regulations place a greater emphasis on fire prevention. The new regulations, which will be enforced by the local fire authority, will effectively replace most of the existing legislation with a new single risk assessment approach. A ‘responsible person’ – the employer; the owner of the premises; or the person in control of the premises – is required to carry out this assessment and implement any recommendations that arise from it.
Details from the assessment must be recorded if the business has five or more employees. In addition, employees must be trained in fire safety and this training updated when required, and fire wardens appointed to help with evacuations and contacting the emergency services.
Businesses that don’t comply with the new regulations could face a fine ranging from £5,000 imposed by a magistrates’ court to an unlimited fine and/or two years’ imprisonment imposed by the high court. See www.firesafetylaw.communities.gov.uk for more information and a downloadable guide.

If you’ve always wanted to start up in business but thought it would be too complicated, then Business Link’s new guide could be the answer to your entrepreneurial dreams.
The business support organisation’s No Nonsense Guide to Starting a Business is a free publication that will demystify the start-up process and hold your hand through those first tricky steps.