Question for beauty salon owners

[Alexandra_k]

Hi there, at the age of 40 I qualified as a beauty therapist last year in both Cibtac and Cidesco and went straight onto working in a salon for 6 months, after a change in my career. I left shortly after as there were huge problems at that salon (a long story) and went onto other work, non beauty related. I had to find work fast and to be honest, I have found it hard to get another beauty job in a salon. I have been told I don't have as much experience as others who have applied.
My husband has a fantastic business background and we started making serious plans to open a salon. I was a bit scared at first, although I want to have my own salon, I wanted a good few years experience under my belt first.
We have already done work towards a good business plan. I am definitely focused but also cautious because I don't have that 3/4 years experience behind my belt and a business is something new for me. Equally I have good business acumen and ultimately know that this is going to take a lot of hard work to be successful as it will not happen overnight.
My husband doesn't know anything about the beauty side and my concern is that there are so many up and coming treatments that I won't be experienced enough to carry through with everything. Equally, I have researched product lines and already been in contact with Decleor. I am very happy with them as they are aromatherapy based and this suits me very well. They offer a great package and training and I am willing to work hard to do all training with them.
On a serious note, to those of you who have your own salons, did you feel the years experience was a definite necessity or would a lot of hard work and determination match for this. I'm not trying to 'cheat' years of experience, I just have had a career change from being in an unhappy job and had a dream to open a salon from the start of my training. I have good qualifications and 6 months experience, where I was trained by Clarins.

 

[Elaine143a]

have pm'd you (private message)

 

[shelldavis]

Hi I opened my salon 3 weeks after qualifying? Never worked any where else a shop came up in my area & I took the plunge? I've never looked back have a fab business now on my 6th year & just opened a Dermalogica web shop! Go for it I say it's the best thing I ever did x

 

[Becki2003]

I opened my salon straight after qualifying too. Wasn't going to, but the job I had lined up fell through so when this old closed salon came up for rent I got it for a bargain and started work. I worry all the time that I'm not as good as the other salons, but that just makes me work harder and learn quicker. I don't think it's an easy route but it is possible. I've been open 18 months now and love it. It's by no means a success yet but does pay its own bills and I'm building up a good regular client base. Good luck with what you decide to do xx

 

[vitality]

If you a still scared you could start a smaller venture such as renting a room, going mobile or becoming home-based.

Many salon owners aren't even qualified in beauty but still do well because they are very business minded, hire good staff etc. so there is no reason why you can't succeed without experience but it may make it more difficult as you are still learning the trade as well as dealing with the business side of things.

Disadvantages of opening a salon with little experience like yourself would include:

- No clientele- Our industry relies on loyal customers and you would initially be putting a good lot of your capital into marketing to gain new clients. When I just qualified it took me a lot longer to gain loyal clients- probably due to less confidence, slowing timings, other experienced therapists were better etc.

- Mistakes being made will affect your business reputation- I have 7 years experience in beauty and I'm glad I had salon experience in various businesses to pick up tricks of the trade, get my timings up and learn from my mistakes. I'm not saying I don't make mistakes now but rarely, and if I do I am confident in rectifying them and nothing surprises me anymore.

- Different ways of doing things. All the treatments I carry out are completely different to the way I was taught at college. Examples would be more superior massage techniques,using cover pink for gel enhancements, different method of painting nails (both colour and french), eyebrow and bikini waxing including skin prep, cuticle removal and both eyebrow and lash tinting techniques. When I was newly qualified I felt proficient in all treatments but looking back the real learning is with good experience.

-Lack of experience with different products and equipment- it is easy just to go with the big names in the industry but I find with the right products to go with my expertise make such a difference. There are a lot of tans out there that are popular but I find too orange, dries the skin too much or doesn't fade off nicely. There are certain nail polishes I don't like because of the brushes or consistency, even certain beauty couches don't position the way I want for my clients or nail desks that look nice but are not practical.

- Lack of knowledge may make it difficult to hire the right staff- I have worked places where the owner is inexperienced or not qualified and have hired girls who they thought were amazing but were actually working a quite a poor standard. Ignorance is bliss!

I know some of these are not vital to the success of a salon but are just a few of the perks with having experience.

Advantages of you opening a salon would be:

-Your age- Clients definitely trust post 30 therapists more probably due to the life experience, better conversations, assume that they will make more of an effort etc.

- Your husband is business minded- so he will pick a good location based on various assessment methods, will understand the target market and put strategies in place to gain and retain them, he will understand the financial aspects of starting and running a business in order for a healthy cash-flow particularly in the critical first year.

- Your passion- If you are very passionate about your business and the industry your clients and will pick up on that. Your passion will help to motivate your staff and create a good atmosphere and business culture.

- If you rely on your business as your sole income you will probably work harder to pay the bills and grow your business which may ultimately result in success.

Please note these are just my opinions based on experience

 

[MrsHBeauty]

I didn't have any experience when I opened my salon, it's been a hard slog this last year (double as hard as you can imagine) only now am I having a bit more time off, but still not taking a penny from the business, if I worked as a therapist in my salon I could take a wage but I'd have to loose a member of staff and compromise my time with my children. We aren't working to full capacity with 1 room and a nail station. We aren't in a great location, we are on a side street off of the high street.

I have learnt from my mistakes, which may have been to the detriment of my business, I never intended to work in the salon as a therapist. I want to be front of house, and general manager overseeing my staff etc. I want to lead the business not be in it. I love what I do but my passion is for business not being a therapists.

I have a fantastic therapist who works for me she has shown me the ropes, even though she has no salon experience either. We do things completely different from when we opened and I honestly think we provide the best treatments in town (after some research). Now to spread the word.

You will have obstacles in place but if you've a had good training you will be able to deal with it, would it be easier with a few years salon experience? I'm not too sure, your skills as a therapists will prob be better but your skills as a salon owner and manager not nessasarily. I like the fact I have never worked in a salon (I even do d private training) I have no tarnished view on how things are done. I know how I want my salon to run, how much I want it cleaned, I have a different view on customer service. My salon probably isn't like many others in the way we do things.

Good luck with it all x

 

[Martin Duffy]

I set my salon up with about 10 years experience but I have worked in salons where the owner had no experience and some where they had loads. To be honest if you have someone with good business acumen that is half the battle, some people can be open forever and never develop that!

As for the worry about treatments, if you go for good training and keep up to date with what's going on the industry through this site, magazines and shows you'll have no issues that either. I use Decleor in my salon (I'd give up beauty therapy before I'd stop using Decleor!), and it was with Decleor that if I trained not long after I qualified and I have to say the high level of training they gave greatly improved the level of service I offered. Years of experience alone doesn't necessary improve service output, ongoing training and perfect practice do that!

So long as you are aware of the pitfalls of any business and have sufficient funds then I'd go for it!