Business Question???

[champagne]

Sole trader with a rented salon can most certainly take a wage in the first year, it is possible, Ive just done it....

It was hard hard work & the salon has been my life.......but it is sooooo possible...

However.....I wouldnt have bet my monthly mortgage payments on it......There can be very quite weeks x

Good luck xx

 

[persianista]

I should sack all my staff and just work alone!!

 

[nixnewcastle]

haha maybe hun. I've considered taking someone on as i cant answer my phone when i've got clients in and sometimes have to turn work away cause i cant fit it in. I agree the figures do look a bit too good to me

 

[champagne]

I supose it all depends on what you want out of life....

For me I am happy to go into my own salon, do the treaments I enjoy doing, pay what I need to pay and the rest becomes my wage, I have a minimal outlay, so profits are higher.

I have had the high flying career/business and all the stress that goes with it & its now not for me....

Being on your own in a salon has its disadvantages but it also comes with alot of advantages..

If I had gone into this when I was much younger I may be thinking differently lol lol

But the answer is the same ... yes for a sole trader it can be done and you can have a good wage xx

 

[bombini]

OK So the minimum you need every week is £210 right ? I know £42 per day sounds easy peasy but for a new business in a VERY competitive industry I don't think it is.

My main concern would be if the other therapist is bringing all her existing clientele thats great for her, but what about you ? How busy is she fully booked all day every day or only a couple of hours a day ?

I remember doing my business plan thinking it was going to be a doddle as I only needed to do a couple of facials a week just to make my rent but it so didn't work out like that. Clients are either coming from another salon or new to having treatments. Realistically how many woman are going to leave their current salon to come to you and again people that have never had treatments are not suddenly going to start booking en mass for facials.

Im sure as your friend will tell you it takes years to build up a loyal clientele its not something that happens overnight which is why so many salons fail in there first couple of years as they don't have a back up fund of money after the first couple of months.

Im sure you will succeed as you are doing your homework before you start whereas a lot of people don't actually even think about this stuff until they have opened there salon and by then it is far to late.

If you only scrape by on the minimum each week how will you pay for everyday living costs, bills, car etc not to mention things like clothes & hair ?

 

[kirsty_]

ok so forgetting the wage as sounds like that is a long way down the road - do you make enough in your first few months to cover the business costs? how long does it take to tick over nicely. i'm willing to put my savings into it to pay etc but dont want to be borrowing and getting in debt. i am very enthusiastic and ambitious and really want to make this work, i am very passionate about anything i put my mind to, so if i put everything into it, how long does it take to start seeing the appointment book filling up nicely?

 

[leonnib]

ok so forgetting the wage as sounds like that is a long way down the road - do you make enough in your first few months to cover the business costs? how long does it take to tick over nicely. i'm willing to put my savings into it to pay etc but dont want to be borrowing and getting in debt. i am very enthusiastic and ambitious and really want to make this work, i am very passionate about anything i put my mind to, so if i put everything into it, how long does it take to start seeing the appointment book filling up nicely?

ive been open since june/july and its only now its taking enough to cover my rent.. but i started up with a brand new shop and no clients etc.... we are still not busy so still waiting to see about the appointment book lol....

but its slightly different for you as you have clients and so does the other person... so you are really at a good starting point from how it sounds...
and if its what you really want id go for it.

but you have to be prepared for it to go really well when you first open or take a while to build up.

 

[champagne]

The thing is this: Everyone will have had a different experience.....You have to be able to cover your overheads at the very least to start with, I had no clients but it built up very quickly, like I said before would I bet my mortgage on it? Me personally no....

But

If you dont try you will never know, you could be really busy or you could be so quiet you cant earn.

Me personally have never looked back xx

 

[appy]

i have been owning my own salon for just over a year now and apart from the first month i have (touch wood) taken home a wage every week and manage to put savings to one side aswell. I deffo wouldnt say i make a killing but i make a good wage to support my family but i do alot of hours which is hard sometimes. You tend not to get so excited about the really really good weeks because other quiter weeks can balance them out but like i say i make a good living. I had built up a client base from when i rented space near by and when the chance came up i took up the lease of an exsisting salon that was selling up, i didnt buy the business just took up the lease. This for me was the best thing i ever did with the rented space i only had enough clients to do part time but the new salon is better located and i have tripled my clients. I did have money for initial start up but now anything i need i make sure i save up first so i have no debt and could walk away tomorrow. My monthly bills mean i have to put aside £250 per week and this covers everything plus a little bit extra left. I was petrified at first but its worked out fantastic. Im not the most expensive in the area (i have 3 salons within 1/2 mile) but im not the cheapest, i try to give the customer loads of service whatever they are spending, i make my gift vouchers really fancy at no cost to the customer so i sell loads of them, and when that client comes i always keep them (so far so good). I hope you take the jump it was deffo the best thing i ever did...

 

[champagne]

Thats very very similar to me, I have 2 salons near to me also, but didnt have much to start up .....my over heads are slightly less than yours.....

I too have spent lots of evenings in there till gone 10 working.......but I wouldnt have it any other way...

No debt, no loans .... Just me x

 

[bombini]

ok so forgetting the wage as sounds like that is a long way down the road - do you make enough in your first few months to cover the business costs? how long does it take to tick over nicely. i'm willing to put my savings into it to pay etc but dont want to be borrowing and getting in debt. i am very enthusiastic and ambitious and really want to make this work, i am very passionate about anything i put my mind to, so if i put everything into it, how long does it take to start seeing the appointment book filling up nicely?

I think it was about a year for me but I spent a lot of money taking on Dermalogica and Im a sucker for buying things I don't actually need so when I should of been putting money to one side I was blowing it on expensive things that just weren't necessary !!

I also rented a room in a hair salon so not quite the same as a salon.

Its also worth noteing that if you have a lot of competition then it will know doubt be harder than if there were only a couple of salons in your area. A girl I went to college with opened up a salon in a small town with no other salons in the area and she was literally fully booked within a month so it can be done.

 

[jo1983]

I have just read everyones threads and i'm wondering if any of you done anything unique or different.
Im thinking of renting a room or opening my own shop, but i'm trying to come up with something different to set me aside from everyone else.
What did you all do to survive and beat the competition????

 

[Martin Duffy]

I have just read everyones threads and i'm wondering if any of you done anything unique or different.
Im thinking of renting a room or opening my own shop, but i'm trying to come up with something different to set me aside from everyone else.
What did you all do to survive and beat the competition????

The only thing I did was to consider the local market, choose products & services to meet their requirements & then deliver them professionally at a reasonable cost. A lot of my clients are wealthy(ish) & of the country set, they aren't interested in dermal fillers, nail extensions, nail art & so forth. I thus chose to offer treatments using high-end plant-based skincare (Decleor), natural nail cultivation (Jessica) as many of them garden, look after their own horses or are artists, and St Tropez for fake tan (especially as I have a number of clients who can't go into the sun due to cancer).

The main trick is to offer something different to the competitors without it becoming a gimmick!

 

[kirsty_]

update - its decision time tomorrow, still lots of thoughts going through my mind. all my figures are correct, the girl who will be my partner runs a salon already so i am totally aware of everything. some of your costs mentioned must be for larger salons with staff etc. I'm 90% sure that if we can get a deal with the rental then we are going to go for it. the location of the premises is just fantastic and nothing else compares. Lots of reasons for and not many against......in my eyes anyway. Appreciate some of the encouraging comments, and respect the not so positive also, however i really think sometimes you have got to take a chance and just go for it! Wish me luck everyone x

 

[MrsMacTheKnife]

Good luck, hun - I would rather look back on my life and regret the things that I had done, rather than those I hadn't.

How can you tell I am just about to open my day spa, lol...

Take care, MrsMac

 

[Melanie89]

I hope we get a post about how your desicion went

 

[kimi1101]

I started In aug and since then have been taking a wage which covers my bills etc, and hopefully if everything stays as good as it hap been so far, i will be able to put my wage up to what i had been earning prior to opening up by the end of december. I'm lucky to have a bf who helps me financially which is a big weight of my shoulders. I know if i have a month that i can't take Any money, he will help. Also, i think because i don't have kids, have a mortgage but my flat is rented out so the rent covers it, i just give my bf a bit of money to cover his mortgage and bills etc. I think the later you leave it, the bigger your personal outgoings generally are, So i would take the jump as early as possible. Xxx
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[jes]

the girl who will be my partner runs a salon already so i am totally aware of everything.

Hi Kirsty, I know your business partner is your friend, but you must put a business head on and get some advice and a really good contract drawn up by a solicitor. Especially as she has got 3/4 of the business (one and a half salons) and you only have a 1/4 of it.

jes

 

[jo1983]

The only thing I did was to consider the local market, choose products & services to meet their requirements & then deliver them professionally at a reasonable cost. A lot of my clients are wealthy(ish) & of the country set, they aren't interested in dermal fillers, nail extensions, nail art & so forth. I thus chose to offer treatments using high-end plant-based skincare (Decleor), natural nail cultivation (Jessica) as many of them garden, look after their own horses or are artists, and St Tropez for fake tan (especially as I have a number of clients who can't go into the sun due to cancer).

The main trick is to offer something different to the competitors without it becoming a gimmick!

Thanx martin for the reply!
that is exactly what I am doing at the moment, i'm trying to do as much research as possible to find out exactly what my target market require and if I can find a niche in the market!!!

 

[kirsty_]

hi all - just thought i would update this post to let you know that we have gone for the shop and offer accepted, we managed to get 4 months rent free to start so thats a massive help and will give me the chance to get started etc. I took on board all the comments however decided that it is a risk worth taking and I am determined to be a success. me and my business partner are really excited, have lots of great ideas and both want the same things. we know it will be the best thing we have ever done. will keep my blog updated with whats going on and hopefully some salon pics when we open. thanks everyone for your comments and wish us luck xx