6 Tips for starting a hair salon business
These 6 tips to starting a hair salon business can help make the difference in success or failure of your new beauty shop. We did not mention the obvious, which is taking out Salon Insurance to protect your business. That apart, each point below has a unique reason for being included on the list and are presented so that you can understand them.
1 The essential business plan
This is the most important part of your new venture into creating a self sustaining revenue stream. A new salon will not just become a success unless it follows the right business model. This plan will be the written path you take to ensure the longevity of your new business venture. This should include both short term and long term goals.
There should be lists generated of where the funds for the new business venture will be located, your raw materials and supplies sources along with a marketing strategy. There should also be a list of fixed and variable costs.
2 Handling the finances
The money flow is the key to being successful. By figuring out how much is needed to start up the new business, then know the daily costs of keeping it open are essential to know. One must also be capable of borrowing the funds needed when necessary. The startup costs will include rent or mortgage, insurance, inventory, employee wages, equipment and supplies. What most new business owners are not willing to accept is that once the business opens, most are not profitable until one year down the road.
3 Location
The location for the new hair salon can make or break your business. A good location will have plenty of foot and car traffic passing by on a regular basis. It would also be helpful to be next to or in proximity to a successful business with a good amount of foot traffic like a grocery or convenience store. Women frequent those types of establishments, and you will get noticed.
4 Getting customers
A business is only successful if people know about it and use their services. A hair salon in the past would only use word of mouth as their marketing strategy. Today that is just not enough, but that is still needed. The newest way is to use social media to help draw in new customers. One strategy is to take pictures of your customers before and after to clearly show your work as a hairstylist. When the clients show their friends of them on a social webpage, the new salon will get noticed. Take time to understand the customer base and if they are unhappy, offer them a free treatment.
5 Start off small
Starting a new hair salon begins with a lavish dream of what is desired. This is great, but it has to be realised that is the goal, not how it will begin. Operations begin slowly and small, then over time build upon it. If the business starts out too big, the overhead costs will be enormous and could cause the business to fail if revenues do not match expenditures.
6 Review
For all businesses, success comes from keeping costs down while not compromising on the service being provided. Every month, look at the expenditures and see just how they contribute to the business. Every cost must prove to be beneficial to your business. If there is no benefit, then it is wasted money and should be eliminated.
In conclusion
Opening any new business has inherent risks. These 6 tips for starting a hair salon business can help in avoiding the risks and can help lead the business venture to be successful. What must be remembered at all times is to provide a high quality of service while maintaining low operating costs. Lastly when you deal with the public you should conisder taking out sole trader public libility insurance to prorect your busines agains tclaims