Career Center - How to Start Your Own Salon

Going Solo: How To Start Your Own Salon

It takes a lot of initiative and hard work to become a nail technician or hairdresser. Congratulations! Now that you've developed your skills and built a clientele, you can start thinking about whether or not you're interested in starting your own nail salon or hair salon. Here's a primer on what it's like and how to do it.

Live the Dream

For many in the nail technology or hair design business, owning their own nail or hair salon is the ultimate goal. When you run your own salon, you enjoy much more independence. You can give free rein to your creativity, make more money and do things the way you want. But first you have to do your homework. Starting your own business is an exciting, but potentially risky, venture.

There has been rapid growth in the salon industry over the past 10 years, especially in the nail salon segment, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that this growth will continue. Savvy, committed entrepreneurs can expand their income far beyond what they could make working in nail technology or hair design as an employee or booth renter.

You have two main options to start your own nail salon or hair salon. You can buy a franchise of an established chain or design your own business from the ground up.

Buy a Franchise

When you buy a nail salon or hair salon franchise, you become the owner of one location in an established franchise business. You will usually pay a substantial up-front fee and a share of your profits up to a certain amount. In return, you will get what can be described as a "business in a box."

The parent company or franchiser has already established a proven business model. Systems for product pricing, recruitment, marketing and other essential business procedures have already been tried and tested. In general, franchising enables you to ramp up a business faster and be more confident of success. It may also afford you more time to keep practicing your art as a nail technician, manicurist or hairdresser.

Every franchise agreement is different, but you will enjoy some, or all of these benefits:

• Greater ease getting a loan for start-up money because of franchise reputation
• The reputation and traffic of an already-established brand name
• Advertising and marketing support
• Management and staff training
• Help with salon design and location choice
• Help with supplier selection and potential bulk discounts
• Ongoing advice and support
• Financing assistance

Even with help from a franchiser, a nail salon or hair salon franchise is still your business. Your responsibilities are significant:

• Make sure there's demand for services in your area
• Assess and track your competition
• Order stock, pay wages and maintain the salon
• Keep up with beauty trends
• Offer the latest techniques and treatments
• Make customers feel welcome and pampered

There are many websites dedicated to helping entrepreneurs find franchise opportunities and learn more about the benefits and risks of franchising. Here are a few of the most popular:

• Franchise Gator
• FranchiseOpportunities
• International Franchise Association

Design Your Own Business

Building a completely independent nail salon or hair salon from the ground up is more challenging and risky than buying a franchise. To many entrepreneurs, it’s more rewarding to own your own business. Rather than following someone else's format, you create and execute your own business plan.

There are many factors to consider. Here are some to get you started:

• How will you finance your business? Do you have the personal funds, collateral and/or good credit required to get a business loan?
• Do you want to work with business partners? Working with one or two other people can increase your borrowing power, but you need to be sure that you can work well with your partners over time.
• Where will your business be located? Do you have a large and loyal clientele that will follow you anywhere, or do you need a location where you can get lots of walk-in business? What can you afford to pay per square foot? What about attracting staff?
• What is your competition? Are you sure there's a need for another hair salon or nail salon in the area?
• What is your budget? It's easy to get excited about the perfect salon that exists in your mind, but what's realistic? Set a firm budget for design, equipment, printing materials, advertising and promotions. Don't spend all your money up front. You'll need to keep spending to grow your business over the first year or more.
• Are you protected legally? In addition to your lease, you should protect your business with a partnership agreement (if you have a business partner), employee agreements, policy and procedure manuals, booth rental contracts and other contracts that give you a way out if anything goes wrong. Get advice from a legal professional.
• How will you drive business? Marketing, advertising and smart promotions are crucial to your success. You can have the most beautiful salon and talented staff in the world, but it doesn't matter if potential customers don't know about it.
• Who will manage and staff your business? Unless your business is extremely small, you can't do everything yourself. Be clear about how responsibilities will be divided and how everyone will be compensated.

Now you have some tips on going solo and starting your own salon. Begin your rewarding journey toward becoming a salon entrepreneur! It definitely takes some time and hard work, but buying a franchise of an established chain or designing your own business from the ground up may be worth it for you!

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Sources:
Stylist & Salon Newspapers, 2007.
Beauty Salon Franchises, 2007