Writing for people who run service businesses
Product updates, practical guides and what we are learning from salons, garages, clinics and trades across the UK.
7 articles
Pricing your services without guessing
Most small businesses price by looking at what the shop down the road charges. Here is a better method that takes about an hour.
Running a business,Why marketplace commission compounds. A subscription does not
A one-time fee on a new client sounds small. Its real cost depends on something most comparisons ignore: how fast you are growing.
Running a business,Running your business from your phone
The phone is already in your hand between clients. The question is not whether to run the business from it, but which jobs belong there and which ones quietly get worse on a small screen.
Running a business,Package deals and prepaid credits, done properly
Selling six sessions up front brings cash in and locks in the next six visits. It also creates a debt, an expiry problem and a refund question you should settle first.
Running a business,Moving off the paper diary without losing a week
The paper diary works. That is exactly why replacing it is frightening. Here is the sequence that avoids the fortnight of chaos everybody warns you about.
Running a business,Five numbers worth checking every Monday
Most owners look at last week's takings and nothing else. Four more numbers take ten minutes and will tell you what next month looks like before it happens.
Running a business,When to open a second location and when not to
A full diary feels like a mandate to expand. Very often the second site is the most expensive way to solve a problem that a price rise would have fixed.
Running a business,