Right time to open a new nail salon???

[ellasmum]

Hi Guys,

I am looking for your opinions or advice, I am thinking of starting a new salon in my local area, a nail salon only and am currently writing my business plan. Having seen Business link yesterday I have come out with some questions about the overall sanity of starting a business in the current economic climate.
I am asking for you guys to give it to me straight......am I mad to consider it? Am I just wishing for the client base to be there and getting carried away by a dream or is it sound business sense?

I have found a nice shop, will rent the upper floor to my husbands business and provide 3 stations, one for me and 2 for self employed techs. I am in the centre of town and have 9 years on and off in the industry working from home but in a different area (too far for my old clients to travel).

I need to justify to the bank their lending by telling them why I thnk the market is there for me to open up. Also there is only one other nail bar in town which is NSS.

Any advice
Thaks Sam:irked:

 

[jes]

Hi,
Here's a couple of things you need to find out about first (if you haven't already)

Firstly, Does your Husbands business premisses have the required A1 use class, for you to use it as a salon.

Secondly, Banks are really stingy at the moment, so make sure the bank is willing to lend you the money you need.

jes

 

[ellasmum]

Hi Jes,
The building is going to be mine and is A1 beauty use already but there is an ancillary office upstairs which my husband will use for his business but is totally seperate. I have capital to use that cover everything I need but I dont want to tie up my capital and am asking the bank for start up costs only and will match them pound for pound, dont think the finance will be an issue. Its just really looking if there is really market demand once I have invested. X

 

[BobSweden]

Hi Sam,

Here's a few questions I would ask in your situation:

Why there is only one other salon in town? Is the town small? What is the population?

If there is only one salon in town - how will your salon with three techs manage to breakeven? Do you have enough financial resources to wait it out (assume everything takes three times longer than you expect).

What is the profile of affluence? Is is a rich area, middle or poor? In other words, how many potential customers with decent disposable income are there?

Do the potential customers want a traditional salon or will they prefer NSS?

Does the town have a newspaper? How will you advertise and get the word out?

Does you husband support you 100%? It's very difficult to make a business unless your partner is with you.

If it fails, what are the personal consequences? Every business is a gamble - you need to have the money to lose!

You don't need to answer - I just want to give you some other angles to consider.

As for good time or bad time to start - it's difficult to say. Primart is doing really well in this economy because it serves the need for the moment. When the economy is tough people do look for more value rather than just chucking their money away. Note: value does not mean cheap! So it's more important that customers understand that they get more than what they pay for - but if you make great nails and super service - then you can be successful in any economy. IF there is a big enough population, and they enough people who can afford the luxury of nails.

Bob

 

[persianista]

A new nail salon is opening near me, so someone else thinks it is a good time to open one!

 

[CharAnnChe]

Hi there,

I just opened my salon with 2 partners in october 2009, we didnt have a fully established clienetele but we have found that even with the way things are we have still managed to get by and with a bit of effort we are qucikly getting a clientele, we are based right next door to a nail bar and they so far havent been hugely effected by the recession, and since you have been at the business link they also help you to find ways of getting your funding. We got a low interest loan from business gateway and also alot of realistic help and tips to help reach our goals. Its hard to work out whether to start with the way things are but i think that ou should sort out your finances and go for it. Good luck

P.S one bit of advice we recieved was the only people to help make your business is a sucess is you, if you have realistic goals and expectations xx