How To Upskill Yourself During Down Time? 22 Free, Low-Cost And Paid Resources That Are A Click Away [Small Business Entrepreneur Edition]

Low-cost, paid and free resources for small business entrepreneurs impacted by COVID-19. This is an evolving resource and we’ll add more to this article every week!

It’s surprising how the world and the life around us have changed so quickly in the last few weeks.

To say it’s been a strange start to 2020 would be a bit of an understatement, and it looks like we won’t be returning to normality just yet.

In testing times like these, you need to take the right approach—an approach that helps you kick vulnerability out of the door, yet prepares you for the things once the situation calms down.

One way to achieve this is by using the downtime to upskill yourself. This way, when this mayhem ends (and it will!), you’re absolutely ready and much stronger to get on the ground quickly.

So whether it was getting to learn the chops of marketing, social media or learning new ways of styling or coaching that you always wanted to learn, but didn’t have time for—now is the time.

In this post, we share the ultimate list of virtual resources—online workshops, podcasts, and remote sessions, specially curated for small business entrepreneurs, that will help you maintain your best life and your business during this downturn.

The Ultimate List of Free Resources for Salon, Spa, Barbershops and Other Small Business Entrepreneurs
During this period of downturn, we’ve seen business coaches, institutions and even experts offer their services for free. We bow down to the power of this amazing community 👏

While most of us are at home practicing social distancing, this is a great opportunity to learn from them. Here’s a list of 21 free resources that are amazing:

For your ease, we’ve split them into categories. So hop on to the one that attracts you the most:

Business Growth

“How do I grow my business?”—Is that the question that’s always been on your mind? If the answer is yes, it’s time that you reserve a few hours and deep dive into these free resources from the comfort of your home.

1. Grow my Salon Business Podcast by Antony Whitaker

Antony is a multi-award-winning stylist-turned-educator, motivator, business coach and best-selling author, with over 30 years of experience under his belt. In his podcast he speaks to thought leaders in the hairdressing industry, discussing insightful, provocative and inspiring ideas to help you grow your salon business.

Looking to grow your salon business? Browse through this list. There’s also a special episode covering COVID-19.

2. Get Your Business Online by Chris Green, Charlie Williams, Oli Hearsum

A group of digital marketers and strategists, this trio has taken upon them to help small business entrepreneurs during this time of crisis. If you’re looking for free advice on growing your business digitally (online is going to be key going forward), get in touch with them.

3. The Finance Femme Podcast: Build a Profitable Business with Kendra James Anderson

If you’re a high performing woman (or man), you know that building a profitable and thriving business is always a challenge. In this podcast, Kendra James Anderson shares business tricks and tips, and the occasional life hack – to help you get higher profits in business and more time to live life.

4. Investing 101 by Tonya Rapley

In the stock market, a fraction of a second can mean the difference between a profit and a loss. If you’ve always wanted to invest in stocks and didn’t know the right way, this is the time to learn (and save for the future.) Tonya Rapley, a financial business coach will teach you the basics of investing in stocks.

This session is sponsored by Robinhood and if you do take this as a bonus you get one free share of stock like Facebook, Snap, or Fitbit. Learn more at britco.robinhood.com.

Plenty of other classes for you to check out on https://classes.brit.co/

Business Management

With business come a few challenges, that not many may discuss—business management is one of them. If you’re a salon, spa or barbershop owner, who always wanted to master business organization or a business coach who wanted to learn skills to get more clients quickly this section is for you.

1. Free Trello Board For Business Organization- Abagail & Emylee

Abagail & Emylee from Boss Project have rolled out not one, but two exciting resources for small business entrepreneurs like you. The first resource is the free Trello board (linked above) for business organization! In their own words, this board will “show you exactly how to break down your Oprah-sized goals into totally doable chunks.”.

There’s a video tutorial plus 11 other boards that can help you here.

The second free resource is that helps your run your business on autopilot.

2. Teach Summit by Teachable

This resource is for coaches who are looking for actionable steps that help them scale and monetize their business in 2020. You get to learn tips and tricks to grow an audience, scale your business, and brand your expertise. Bonus, it’s absolutely free!

To grow your business you need to be able to tap on trends early on. These two free resources from Booksy will give you a preview into how your clients are booking your services and what they really expect from a service-based business.

3. The Entrepreneur’s Survival Pack by UniTel Voice

A staggering number of salons and spas are bootstrapped with no external funding. This leaves very little money on the table that these entrepreneurs could use to market or advertise their business. In this guide, the authors have tapped into over 20,000 entrepreneurs to dig out amazing resources that entrepreneurs like yourself can benefit from. This includes tools to scout for competition, build awareness about your shop, attract customers, and a lot more. If you are on a shoe-string budget to run your business, this is a guide that you absolutely need.

Business Insights

Grab a pen and paper and make notes, because these resources are full of insights that will help you steer your business in the right direction.

1. The Client Experience Survey- What Clients Expect from Salon, Spa, Barbershop & Wellness Business

In our endeavor to constantly help you excel at your business, we surveyed 2 million clients in North America to explore what they *really* expect from service providers in the hair, beauty, and wellness space.

Click on the link below to find the trends that will equip you with key insights so that you can steer your business to profitability in 2020.

2. Top Booking Sources for Salon, Spa, Barbershops & Wellness Business

What’s the preferred channel for online booking for your clients? Do they prefer booking your services through a website, through social media or another channel?

Knowing this information is critical as it will help you optimize these booking channels, build a better business experience and book profits.

Marketing & Social Media for Small Business Entrepreneurs

Being stuck in this crisis has taught us one crucial lesson—an online presence for your small business matters. Yes, despite a brick and mortar setup, you need to have a solid website and social media presence.

Below are a few courses and programs by entrepreneurs and platforms that can come in handy at this time.

1. Upskilling Courses by Jenna Kutcher

Jenna Kutcher is a podcaster and educator and her real aim is to help entrepreneurs grow profitable, passionate, authentic businesses. Jenna has a curated list of courses that will help you champion Instagram, email marketing, Pinterest and even photography to take your social channels to the next level.

If you’re a coach who always had dreams of launching their podcast, Jenna has a dedicated course that can help you plan a step process to plan, create, launch, promote, scale, and monetize your podcast in 30 Days.

2. Champion Social Media with Olivia Smalley

Need a mini-tutorial in creating Insta worthy content? Learn it from Olivia Smalley right here!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9mPQXeD3a8/

3. YouTube Creator Academy

Successful small business entrepreneurs have decoded the benefits of YouTube. Having a business account on YouTube will help you boost your visibility and set you as a thought leader in your space. Know what it translates into? More revenue for your business.

Chuka Torres, of the Rich Barber fame, is proof enough!

If this is an idea that you’ve been dabbling with, Youtube creator academy is the right place to start. It has tons of tutorials on getting started and the way forward.

4. Free Website for Coaches by Kylie Malcolm

It’s hard to get a coaching business online and with that thought in mind Kylie Malcolm offers a free-giveaway each month. Entries open the 18th of each month and close the 25th of the month with a winner announced via email and on social media within 5 days of the entry close date.

Sign up for it now!

Core Skill Development

If you’re a barber or hair and beauty entrepreneur this section is for you! Take a peek into demos, online workshops, and ebooks that will help you master a cut or a style in the comfort of your home.

1. Awesome Barbering Tips from Victory Barbers

From articles to videos to even live session recording—tutorials from Victory Barbers are full of takeaways.

2. Demo on up styling, braids or styling prep by Jenny Strebe

To keep your creative minds busy, Jenny Strebe has launched a live Demo on up styling, braids or styling prep for the next 30 days.

3. Free Braiding education by Alison Valsamis

Alison Valsamis is offering free braiding education for the next 15 days. Grab it before the offer goes.

Health, Fitness, Soundingboard, and Mindfulness

With the lockdown having a sane mind and body is more important than ever. We want you and your family to have a healthy body and mind during this crisis. That’s why we’ve included resources from businesses like you—the ones that are under lockdown and truly understand you.

1. COREntine daily live stream by Keoni Hudoba

Keoni Hudoba, fitness guru is offering his #COREntine sessions live on Instagram every day. No more excuses to move those muscles. Give your day and a good start with his session.

2. Personalized Advice by Olivia Smalley

Looking for personalized advice or need a sounding board during this crisis? Olivia Smalley has stepped up in this dark hour to support you with all your questions. Kudos to you Olivia

3. Business, Boundaries+Bravery by Nina L. Kovner + Gina Bianca

A brilliant initiative by Nina L. Kovner and Gina Bianca this one! Check out this podcast where Nina shares her thoughts around navigating the anxiety, fear, and uncertainty around COVID-19 for salons and small business owners.

4. Free Meditation Playlist by Kelli Mason

Mindfulness, meditation, and music—the three m’s that we all need at this time. Set intentions, decompress and drift your mind towards positivity with this resource by Kelli Mason.

5. Hope Floats by Jessica Shakir

Jessica Shakir a hair and beauty artist and an authenticity coach. Together with some other outstanding women in business, she has teamed up for a free virtual session a 7-minute sermonette on hope to encourage small business entrepreneurs.

Interested? It’s happening this Wednesday, March 25th, 2 pm PST / 5 pm EST

Wrapping it Up

~Behind every cloud is a silver lining~

It is a testing time especially for small business entrepreneurs like you and you’re feeling vulnerable, remember it is only human. We sincerely hope that these resources empower you and help you take the first step to strengthen your future business goals.

Remember, an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.