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    <title>Home: Message List - I need the step by step process to opening a hair salon</title>
    <link>http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/community/forum/startingabusiness?view=discussions</link>
    <description>Most recent forum messages</description>
    <language>en</language>
    <pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:32:52 GMT</pubDate>
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    <dc:date>2008-06-10T03:32:52Z</dc:date>
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    <item>
      <title>Re: I need the step by step process to opening a hair salon</title>
      <link>http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/thread.jspa?messageID=28149&amp;amp;tstart=0#28149</link>
      <description>Thank you for your advice!</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:32:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <author>kiberry</author>
      <guid>http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/thread.jspa?messageID=28149&amp;amp;tstart=0#28149</guid>
      <dc:date>2008-06-10T03:32:52Z</dc:date>
      <clearspace:dateToText>Jun 9, 2008 11:32 PM</clearspace:dateToText>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: I need the step by step process to opening a hair salon</title>
      <link>http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/thread.jspa?messageID=28160&amp;amp;tstart=0#28160</link>
      <description>&lt;b&gt;CALL MARK A. DIPRETE FOR DETAILS 401-942-3607&lt;/b&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:53:32 GMT</pubDate>
      <author>LUCKIEST</author>
      <guid>http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/thread.jspa?messageID=28160&amp;amp;tstart=0#28160</guid>
      <dc:date>2008-06-10T01:53:32Z</dc:date>
      <clearspace:dateToText>Jun 9, 2008 9:53 PM</clearspace:dateToText>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: I need the step by step process to opening a hair salon</title>
      <link>http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/thread.jspa?messageID=28159&amp;amp;tstart=0#28159</link>
      <description>&lt;b&gt;The step by step process to opening a hair salon, Welcome&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;1. Contact SCORE. SCORE is FREE. and SCORE can help you succeed&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Develop a Business and Marketing Plan&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;2. Plan Ahead.&lt;/b&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
People often ask me why bother with a business plan? Look at the&lt;br /&gt;
lottery as an example. You may get lucky and get the winning ticket,&lt;br /&gt;
but the odds are against you when you rely on random chance. I'm a risk&lt;br /&gt;
taker...but not that much, minimize the risk of going into business and&lt;br /&gt;
maximize your potential for success. Take the time to write a plan of&lt;br /&gt;
how you get from point A to point B. A plan gives you a clear future&lt;br /&gt;
focus and increases your chances of success. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The first rule of a start-up is put some of your own money in the&lt;br /&gt;
business. As the owner you must be willing to capitalize the business.&lt;br /&gt;
The second rule is put as little of your own money as possible in the&lt;br /&gt;
business. Prepare your plan and look for funding for your business from&lt;br /&gt;
multiple sources, which can include a business loan or business line of&lt;br /&gt;
credit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;p /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Don't go it alone. Plan ahead now to build your team. Your team may&lt;br /&gt;
include a CPA and an attorney that you work with as needed. Add a&lt;br /&gt;
mentor from your industry and get a SCORE mentor to help you plan for&lt;br /&gt;
success. No one has all the answers. You get more ideas and information&lt;br /&gt;
by building a success, support team that can help you plan ahead.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;3. Set up Systems.&lt;/b&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
The most basic system every business should have is a good financial&lt;br /&gt;
system. Ask yourself how am I going to generate enough income to&lt;br /&gt;
support myself and my family. Begin here. Put together a personal&lt;br /&gt;
budget, so you know what it costs you to live. Now, you can move on to&lt;br /&gt;
the business budget and sales planning, so you can see how many sales&lt;br /&gt;
you need to break even and make a profit. The start-up expense plan,&lt;br /&gt;
operating budget and your accounting software are vital to your&lt;br /&gt;
success. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;p /&gt;
&lt;p /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;4. Seek out Sales.&lt;/b&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
The daunting question is how do you go about seeking out your first&lt;br /&gt;
sale. Recognize that since you don't have a big ad budget to be seen by&lt;br /&gt;
everyone, you need to target a niche and get connected in your market&lt;br /&gt;
community, be it local, regional or national. You need other people&lt;br /&gt;
selling for you-not employees-goodwill referrals. Get out and talk to&lt;br /&gt;
as many people as you can. Join organizations that would have clients&lt;br /&gt;
for your product or service. Become a visible part of your market, and&lt;br /&gt;
then ask for the sale. You begin the sales process with people that you&lt;br /&gt;
know. Yes, it's okay to start with friends and family as your first&lt;br /&gt;
customers, and then broaden from there.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;p /&gt;
&lt;p /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;5. Aim for Growth.&lt;/b&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
The basic tenant of creating a company is that you own the company. You&lt;br /&gt;
are not just creating a job for yourself. It's less risk and less&lt;br /&gt;
investment to get a job. Building a business is creating a company that&lt;br /&gt;
is more than the job itself. Think about the future. How large do you&lt;br /&gt;
want the company to be in terms of sales, net profit and employees?&lt;br /&gt;
Your answer to each of these questions will influence how you grow.&lt;br /&gt;
There are varying costs and profits associated with growth. It's&lt;br /&gt;
important to make a deliberate choice early about how you want to grow&lt;br /&gt;
your company. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;p /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;6. Leverage Opportunities.&lt;/b&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
Good luck. Good fortune. Good timing. All play a part in business. As a&lt;br /&gt;
business owner, be very clear about your core focus for the business&lt;br /&gt;
and how it serves clients. Your core business is what pays the bills.&lt;br /&gt;
Then, as an entrepreneur you are about opportunity. When you see a&lt;br /&gt;
potential opportunity or stroke of luck measure it against your core&lt;br /&gt;
business focus. Good fortune is great, when it matches your vision for&lt;br /&gt;
the business. Always consider if a good opportunity is the right fit&lt;br /&gt;
for your business. If something looks great, but it's not in sync with&lt;br /&gt;
your long-term plan and budget, think carefully before committing your&lt;br /&gt;
company's resources. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Good luck, LUCKIEST&lt;/b&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:50:54 GMT</pubDate>
      <author>LUCKIEST</author>
      <guid>http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/thread.jspa?messageID=28159&amp;amp;tstart=0#28159</guid>
      <dc:date>2008-06-10T01:50:54Z</dc:date>
      <clearspace:dateToText>Jun 9, 2008 9:50 PM</clearspace:dateToText>
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    </item>
    <item>
      <title>I need the step by step process to opening a hair salon</title>
      <link>http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/thread.jspa?messageID=28151&amp;amp;tstart=0#28151</link>
      <description>I'm trying to start a hair salon business.  I have some money saved but not enough to get started. What is the best way to find funding?  Are there any grants available for my type of business? I know that I need a business plan if I want to apply for a loan but I have the slightest idea of how to write one.I've been doing my homework and now I'm ready to put my plan into action. I just want to go about it the smart way.</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:09:48 GMT</pubDate>
      <author>kiberry</author>
      <guid>http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/thread.jspa?messageID=28151&amp;amp;tstart=0#28151</guid>
      <dc:date>2008-06-10T00:09:48Z</dc:date>
      <clearspace:dateToText>Jun 9, 2008 8:09 PM</clearspace:dateToText>
      <clearspace:replyCount>3</clearspace:replyCount>
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