Starting Up Your Own Salon: Steps to Making It a Success

Starting Up Your Own Salon: Steps to Making It a Success

Are you ready to set up your own salon? Starting a business can be exciting, but there’s also a lot to consider and organise if you want to ensure it’s a success.

The majority of start-up businesses fail within their first year, simply because they didn’t adequately prepare for the challenges ahead. So, if you want to ensure your new venture is a success, below you’ll discover everything you need to know in order to start up your own successful salon.

 

Sorting out Your Finances

While with some types of businesses you can get away with very limited start-up funds, with a salon you are going to need a lot of initial capital. How much money you’ll need will depend upon whether you’re getting into mobile hairdressing and beauty, or whether you’re looking to operate out of fixed premises.

Many people do start out offering a mobile service due to the significant cost savings compared with owning a salon. You’ll still need money for equipment, insurance, and travelling, but you won’t have the extra expense of renting a building and all of the overhead which comes with that.

If you do have very limited funds, it could be worth looking into getting a start-up business loan. For this, you’ll need a solid business plan to prove you’ll be able to make the repayments and that the loan will help make the venture a success.

 

Finding the Right Premises

If you are intent on starting up a salon in a fixed location, your choice of property will make a massive difference to your success. You’ll need to consider more than just the cost of the building and insurance. In order to ensure you’re choosing the right location and premises you’ll need to:

• Research competition in the area
• Ensure it’s easy for clients to get to
• Research the target market
• Understand what does and doesn’t come with the building

Checking out the local competition is essential, as not only will it give you a good idea of whether there’s a need for a salon in your area, but it will also show you how much you should be charging. Is there anything you can offer that your local competitors don’t, to give you an edge?

It also helps to research your target market in the area. If it’s a small village location, for example, clients are likely to be older and more budget-conscious. If you’re based in a thriving city, however, you’ll have a much wider client base who are willing to pay that little bit more. Once you’ve identified your target market, you then need to ensure your salon is easy for them to get to.

Finally, understanding what does and doesn’t come with the building is important. Does it have all of the facilities you’ll need or will you be required to complete additional work on the premises?

These are just some of the things you need to consider when choosing the right location.

 

Finding the Best Suppliers

One thing that’s really going to help keep costs down is building relationships with reliable and affordable suppliers. Regardless of whether you’re starting up from a fixed location or running a mobile salon, you’re going to need to invest in the very latest supplies.

The key is to look for low cost, reliable suppliers, those which specialise in the very latest salon equipment at competitive prices. In this type of industry, you’ll struggle to help your clients look their best if you aren’t using top-of-the-line equipment such as hairdryers, scissors and hair styling products.

 

Don’t Forget About Marketing

A sure-fire way to watch your salon fail is to simply sit back and hope for clients to come through the door. Yes, some clients may just wander in if they are walking by, but it’s a massive gamble and you’re unlikely to make much profit if you rely solely on spontaneous walk-ins. Therefore, it’s vital to have a good marketing plan in place before you open your salon’s doors.

There are a lot of different marketing methods available these days, which can prove overwhelming when you’re just starting out. In order to decide which one is right for you, it helps to think about your target market and where they are likely to look for your salon. Will they largely be online, for example? Or, are they more likely to find you by reading the latest local newspaper?

Once you’ve established where you should be focusing your marketing efforts, you can then work out the best way to do it. Many start-up businesses find it more effective to hire a professional marketing company to take over the promotion of the business for them.

Overall, starting up a salon does take a lot of hard work. However, if you take the time to do it correctly, you will significantly improve your chances of success.

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source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2017/05/28/starting-salon-steps-making-success/