Starting A Beauty Salon
If you have had any training in beauty and hair care and are in a position to open your own business, it is likely that it would be a successful running a beauty salon. However opening any type of business takes more than just a good knowledge of the service you will be providing; you also need to have understanding of running a business, being able to manage employees, and also having an excellent concept of what your clients want.
You will also need to know which beauty equipment supplies are absolutely vital to your business, and which you can do without - when you start out finances may be tight, and you do not want to be spending money on unnecessary equipment that will not be used.
Services
If you look around the beauty salons in your area, you will notice that while some of them offer the same services, there are usually different treatments available depending on what salon you choose. Therefore when starting a salon, it is a good method to offer the old favourites such as pedicures, manicures and facials, but also offer some different services that cannot be found everywhere. This way, you are likely to get additional customers; but you must be careful that your services are not too out of the ordinary that nobody has any knowledge of them.
You also need to be competitive with your prices, and research what other salons are charging for similar treatments.
Clientele
The type of clientele you attract will depend largely on the ambience of your salon. Some beauty salons have restful calming atmospheres while others are more upbeat, catering to the younger generation. Deciding on which type of clientele you will target will depend on the type of neighbourhood where you are opening your salon, and also your own experience and demographics. For example if you are a woman in her 40s, you might be better targeting your own age group and offering a tranquil space for busy mums and working women to enjoy time out of the house or workplace and relax. Where is if you're a younger person in her 20s you probably have more idea of what your own age group would like and expect when they visit a beauty salon.
Staff
Just like with any business, the professionalism of the staff in a beauty salon combined with their talents is extremely important. Your staff needs to have a genuine interest in the business and the clients. When first starting out, choosing the right personnel is absolutely vital because having rude or incompetent staff could make or break your business.
Business Plan
Just like other businesses you will need to make a detailed business plan before you decide if opening a beauty salon is the right path for you to take career wise. Starting a beauty salon can cost anywhere between around 10,000 in $100,000, although you can keep costs down by renting your beauty salon equipment when you first start out. You will need to decide whether you will open a new salon from the ground up, or take over an already functioning salon with the intention of improving the business – the latter option may be cheaper in the long-term. If you have a friendly bank manager, it is a good idea to speak with him and ask his advice before jumping in.
