Becoming a cosmetologist is exciting for a number of reasons. Cosmetology is a wide career path that can allow you to find high-demand employment, help others feel beautiful, set your own hours, and be your own boss. Let’s talk about how to start a salon business!
With so many options in the world of cosmetology, it’s important to contemplate some important factors before starting your own salon. Here are five things to consider when starting your salon business.
1. Your Goals
You might already know cosmetology is for you. After all, what’s not to love? Turning a passion into a career, helping people achieve beauty, being able to set your own hours, and being your own boss are all great reasons to pursue a career in cosmetology—but consider your unique ambitions as well. Want to start a salon business?
Are you hoping to get started, see clients, and walk out at the end of the day and leave some of the stress of salon management to someone else? Do you want to have control of the setting, music, environment of your space, and curate the perfect experience in a salon? There are a ton of options in the cosmetology world and it’s important to consider what you hope to get out of your career.
2. Your Plan
The first thing you’ll need to do when planning to start a salon business is make a plan. Writing a business plan is an excellent way to condense all your goals, concerns, and ideas for success into one place. While this may seem like a tall order, chances are you’ve already considered some of the important parts of your business plan (like your goals).
Writing them down is a great first step towards getting a solid grasp of where you are, where you want to be, and how you might get there. We’ll discuss some things that you might consider while coming up with a business plan, including your potential clients, management, finances, marketing, and goals.
3. Your Clients
No matter what your cosmetology aspirations are, your clients are critical. Cosmetology is a very client-oriented field and it’s important to consider who they might be when you’re getting started. Consider not only who your ideal clients are, but also what their needs are, how you can best plan to make a positive impression, and how your salon can accommodate them.
4. Your Marketing
You may have clients in mind or a vision of who they might be, but it’s important to know how you’re going to bring in new ones and leave a noteworthy impression on existing ones. This is where your marketing strategy comes in.
It might be as simple as giving your clients the best possible experience and relying on word-of-mouth marketing, or as involved as targeted online ads for your salon business. However you might go about marketing yourself, it’s important to consider your strategy ahead of time. Consider who you hope to attract as clients and what might appeal to those prospective clients.
5. Booth Rental and Salon Ownership
There are a few ways you might start a salon business when it comes to your workspace. Many cosmetology entrepreneurs find a salon owner to rent a booth from, and others dive into salon ownership themselves. There are advantages to both routes, and you might consider which sounds more appealing to you.
Booth Rental
Renting a booth has numerous advantages. For one, working out of an established salon can help give you a running start on finding clients and help you establish your own business. Renting a booth, you can also rely on the salon owner to deal with the logistics of the day-to-day salon operations.
Salon Ownership
Start a salon business of your own, it has its own advantages as well. When you own a salon, you’ll be in total control of your salon experience, from the music you play, to your cleanliness standards, and the products you offer. You’ll also be able to set hours and appointments for whenever you want—unconstrained by the hours of a salon where you’d rent a booth.
While the task of becoming a salon owner may seem steep, there are also companies like Sola, who offer a streamlined way to become a salon owner under their already-established brand, while still affording all the freedoms of salon ownership, like setting your prices, choosing what products to offer, and controlling the layout and ambiance of your workspace.
Conclusion
While becoming a cosmetology entrepreneur is an exciting prospect, and for good reason, there’s a lot to consider as you begin your career as a salon owner. Making a solid business plan, and considering the ways you’ll make your salon business run smoothly are essential steps that can get you on your way to owning a successful salon business.
If you’ve been considering becoming a cosmetologist with the goal of becoming a salon business owner, you’ll also need to make sure you have your cosmetology license first. If you’ve been thinking about taking the first step and getting licensed, it might be time to reach out and get started! Chattanooga college offers an accredited cosmetology program that can help you turn your dream of a cosmetology career into reality.