How to start a salon

As with any business, a business plan is necessary to start and run a successful salon. This business plan should include:

• The right location. Location and placement are critical to the success of any business. There is no point in having a salon in a quiet area where it will be seen only by resident living in that area. A successful salon needs to be located where there are regular passers by and be central to where other businesses operate. This will provide it with a much larger catchment area because the location will likely have people frequenting from much far field than if it were located in a quite residential area.

• A relaxing atmosphere. Salons thrive on an environment that is safe and relaxing. Many clients of a salon return to the salon solely because of the relaxing experience they had.

• Clean and safe facilities. Cleanliness is a particularly important element as well. Be sure your towels, footbaths, and other equipments are washed, clean and odor-free. Your clients must be able to trust that the products and tools that you use on them are of top-notch quality and safe. You cannot afford to put your clients at risk from infections, as it could damage your reputation.

• Offering a wide range of services. This will give you a distinct advantage over those who offer only one or two types of services. Many people prefer to get their hair done at the same place they get their manicure, pedicure, waxing and even tanning if possible.

• Hiring qualified and trained personnel. Cosmetic procedures performed by untrained personnel may cause health problems to the clients. Experience may give a salon the ability to render safe, quality treatment, products and styling. People that want to start a salon businesses are hair stylists themselves, but if you do not posses the all-round skills of a stylist, you should consider bringing someone in from the start that does posses those skills. If the salon is busier than anticipated, you may need several people to be part of the staff.

• Have you worked where the financing will come from? The initial cost of setting up the salon such as buying all the tools and decoration can set you back well in excess of $10,000, but likely to be much more, probably in the region of $20,000. After that, there will be costs associated with rent and overheads, which could of course come from the revenues, generated by the business. In most cases, you should have a contingency plan that should provide the money to cover for rent and overheads from another avenue just incase the income from the business does not initially cover these expenses. The financial plan, balancing profit and loss to support the expenses of the aforementioned location, services, and salaries of qualified personnel.

• Keep your clients satisfied. If a client is happy with the results, he or she will come back to your salon. Also, remember your best marketing tool is word-of-mouth . Satisfied clients can then inadvertently help advertise your business to their friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances, causing a quick reputation. Conversely, a poor experience may cost you the business of the person who had the poor experience, and all their friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances.