FEARLESS BEAUTY

Learn both the specifics of setting up a hair-sales business and the larger ethos of entrepreneurship in this self-help book.

Moran, co-host of the Hair Biz Radio podcast and founder of Private Label Extensions, a wholesaler of wigs, extensions, and cosmetics, offers advice to people planning to open a retail hair-sector business and anyone else with the startup bug. Much of the guide covers basic mechanics, including legally establishing your business, opening bank accounts, registering a domain name, and building a website. The author also discusses higher-level business issues, such as whether to carry inventory and deliver products yourself or farm those tasks out to drop-shipping companies, the niceties of crafting a name and logo—avoid eccentric spellings that potential customers won’t remember, he cautions—and which advertising platforms to use. (Facebook ads are “the only advertising worth paying for” when your business is starting out, he asserts.) And he reminds readers of the importance of consistent performance, especially in communicating and engaging with consumers. He recommends handwritten thank-you notes to customers and massive blogs with weekly 1,000-word posts to keep readers returning to your website. Moran goes on to explore some deeper mental and emotional aspects of starting a business. He suggests that budding entrepreneurs closely observe and analyze other businesses and constantly ask, “How did they do that?”—whether “that” is an eye-catching display or an attractive lighting scheme. Most of all, he contends, startup entrepreneurs need to set actionable goals, make detailed plans, have realistic expectations—anticipate endless hours of work before you even quit your day job—and learn to live with and overcome the inescapable fear of doing something new and risky. The author brings a wealth of hard-won experience to the subject from his own business successes and failures, and he deftly conveys it to readers. His prose is lucid, straightforward, and replete with aphoristic distillations of wisdom. (Those seeking feedback on their businesses’ performance from friends and family should “be careful of false validation, the tendency of people to shield those they love from uncomfortable truths.”) The result is a lively and judicious how-to that will give readers a superb introduction to the rigors of the marketplace.

A useful, informative startup primer blending nuts-and-bolts knowledge with cleareyed motivation.