Hi Geeks,

I opened a hair, nails and beauty salon 3 months ago.. We are doing really well, we are busy (touch wood!!) and so far, so good generally. I am learning new lessons every day, some very expensive ones! Had a nightmare with a very bad so called solicitor who registered the business name but it now turns out, he didn't bother to check if there were any others.. & guess what - there was, in the same postcode!!! So now have to rebrand, but I'm being positive about it now - onwards & upwards.
So I haven't had the best of starts in some ways, but I must admit there are days when I think omg, I can't do this - I'm not cut out for this - I don't know where to start. I have 6 staff now who are all fab, but it is just all so pressuring.

I will hold my hands up and say my main problem is that I am just the most unorganised person in the world, its like, I know what needs to be done and how to do it - but its just having the time to do it and making sure it gets done! I'm just finding it hard work and doubting my abilities to cope with such pressure and responsibility - does any one else ever feel down about stuff like this and what makes you feel better and does any one have any tips on how to be more organised?!?

Laura X

1. buy pretty notepad and pen.
2. jot down "To Do" lists.
3. award yourself a prize when you have ticked 5 things off (cup of coffee, break, 10 mins on geek).
4. At the end of the day, transfer all of the things that you havent done on the next day's To Do lists.
5. Tip: add things that are really easy to do and mix them up with more difficult ones.
6. Ask a member of staff to remind you about your To do list.
7. Delegate some of your list to members who have nothing to do.
8. Ensure you get all clients email addresses and start a mailing list.

Hi a to do list could be helfpull a daily and weekly one listed in order of importance. also set out a time that u will do each thing a try stick to it as best as poss. x thh x

its the only thing that keeps me organised, even such things as

1. do banking
2. ring client about appointment
3. sort out receipts for this month
4. check stock
5. put petrol in car
6. order gift vouchers

Hi Laura,

I can remember I was sooo stressed out when the salon opened and it took me a few months to get into it. I feel for you - some days I just wanted to hide away.

It's a lot of responsibility having your own place and staff, even now, five years down the line; hardly a week goes by without some sort of problem.

Hippy chick's right, write list and keep a diary. Do not try to be a perfectionist at everything, even scribble down your thoughts and break problems down into manageable pieces. Ticking the jobs as you do them is satisfying that means your getting through them.

Use your staff to help you. Delegate jobs, perhaps one person is responsible for retail stock and one for professional products, one person to do rotas, one person in charge of cleaning etc. Most staff will like a sense of responsibility and this could means you can get on with more important stuff. Sometimes the staff would mess things up and I would think I was better just doing it all myself, but I would be running myself to the ground. Keep training them to how you want it done, until they get it right.

Setting up systems takes time, but have a system for everything.

You'll probably have loads of ideas of what you want to do, but something’s may be able to be on hold for a while.

Hippy chick mentioned getting everyone's email address - this is so right. Do it right from the start, even if you don't have the time to be doing a newsletter at the moment, it will come.

What about setting certain days for doing certain things i.e. Meetings on a Monday, Tracking stock on Tuesday?

Someone once told me not to touch a piece of paper twice. This has helped me a lot. When I open the mail, if it needs dealt with, filed, paid, binned, I do it there and then.

I am certainly not a born organised person, but I getting there.

xxx

I think that accepting this enormous change in your life takes a while. I have a "stock" day, bank day etc. I also do lists. Keeping on top of paperwork makes me feel in control.
You will find the tasks get easier as you get used to doing them, and also as you get used to the bigger workload

I agree.... 'To Do' lists are invaluable. I've worked in many different industries but one thing I've never changed is my 'to do' list. I use an A4 page-a-day diary and every morning, I carry over the things I didn't do 'yesterday' onto the to do list for 'today' and tick them off as they're done. By using a diary, you can also enter things that need to be done in the future as you think of them so as not to forget them when the appropriate date arrives.

I've always found that I feel so much more organised when I can see what I have to do and know I havent inadvertently forgotten something because it's all written down.

Good Luck x

Thank you so so much everyone for all your fab advice!! I am doing a sheet right now as I speak to set tasks for staff to help me with and responsibilities. I appreciate all your guidance and to know other people feel like this sometimes helps that I am not alone and a complete nut case!!

Thank you,

Laura.

Start this now with staff so that they work with you and don't resent the fact that suddenly you are expecting them to do what they perceive as "extra" jobs.
Set up a cleaning rota, a stock rotation rota, ensure that your record cards are tip-top and that you have email, mobile and home/work phone numbers.

In quiet times get your staff writing clients addresses on envelopes so that when you do a mail out the envelopes are already done.

and get an A4 diary and do your to-do lists in their, include any appointments for bank, etc, VAT-free days for your suppliers, etc.
Start putting all your important phone numbers in the back of the diary also.

As the main job is P.A. I have to be organised! As everyone has said, the A4 diary is invaluable. Also, if you have a computer, Microsoft Outlook is a really useful tool. You can set up alarms that pop up when you need to do something, set up tasks on there, as well as keep all your client contact information if you ever want to do emails.

Ive incorporated a lot of what I do in my day job into my mobile beauty business and try to keep both as organised as possible.

You will never forsee the unforseen though - so there will always be something to throw you off track!

Good luck with the salon though, it sounds like its all going really well!

xx

Completely agree with the lists-i have them everywhere-lol.
I opened my business last year and yes i had days when i thought 'what the hell have i let myself in for'!
I'm exceeding stubborn though and there is no such word as 'can't' in my vocabulary so i just muddle through and do my jobs one at a time.
It may seem daunting when there is a lot to do but it's nice to see little ticks by the side of the jobs so you know you are getting somewhere.
It's no good getting stressed about it as you'll make it worse. I know that's easy for me to say as i'm generally very laid back anyway.
I remember someone saying to me 'you worry and then you die, so what's the use in worrying'! This is so true and even when i've been faced with major problems i never get stressed about it as it's not going to help one little bit, so if you find it's getting too much then delegate!
I can actually take days off now as i know my staff are more than capable of running my business when i'm not here but i've only just started doing that. It really does make a difference if you have staff you can trust as you can then take the odd day off to recharge your batteries and go back to work all fired up and ready to go!

I agree with everyone here, lists are the way to go!

LONG LIVE THE LIST !

Although I love technology and I'm fairly good with it.....built my own sites etc, I find the only way to be organised is to have a written list.

I write a list as it comes to mind and then number them at the side in the order of importance or I write the times down next to them that I should be doing them at.

Oh the pleasure of scoring through each thing as I do it.

If I were you, I would delegate. get your staff to do some of the admin as it's the admin that takes the time.

Well done for not giving up when things got tough at the beginning. xx