Starting a salon, help!

[aayspa]

Hi lovely people.

I am currently a mobile therapist but sick of carrying stuff about, wasting time travelling and not having a proper salon to set the atmosphere,

So, thinking of starting up a small salon, just me to start with, but no idea where to start!

Any help/advise would be greatly appreciated

Many Thanks

xxx

 

[Victoria1984]

Do you think you will be able to retain current customers if you change?

 

[dellaznailz]

Wow, that's a big question lol

Do a few realistic research bits first. Where do you want / need to be?

Is there anywhere suitable available?

Calculate deposit, rent, insurance, utilities, business rates, phone, Internet access, parking charges. Be realistic, it all adds up I'm afraid.

How are you going to fund it? Self, loan etc. you need to be able to cover at least a year without profit. How will you finance it if you are I'll? Will you need staff?

See what I mean? Not trying to put you off at all but it's a huge jump from mobile to salon ownership xxx

 

[aayspa]

I believe most of my mobile clients will follow me to a salon. I only have a few that are dead set in having treatments at home and a few that physically cant get there due to illness/disability and i plan to still visit those in my "spare time" as couldn't let them go. I treat a lot of people with MS etc and they are the most lovely clients, I couldn't stop visiting them

 

[aayspa]

Wow, that's a big question lol

Do a few realistic research bits first. Where do you want / need to be?

Is there anywhere suitable available?

Calculate deposit, rent, insurance, utilities, business rates, phone, Internet access, parking charges. Be realistic, it all adds up I'm afraid.

How are you going to fund it? Self, loan etc. you need to be able to cover at least a year without profit. How will you finance it if you are I'll? Will you need staff?

See what I mean? Not trying to put you off at all but it's a huge jump from mobile to salon ownership xxx

I know where I want to be as I am in between a cluster of villages where all my clients are mainly based and they are not prepared to travel to the local town.

I have found somewhere in the area that is possibly suitable and have a viewing booked for the morning. I know how much the rent and rates are but how do you calculate utilities etc and estimate how much business you will have?!

I have a reasonable sum of money coming my way from an accident at work and the rest would have to be loaned from the bank. My mum is on hand to help with reception etc and can do bits and pieces until ready to pay her a full time wage.

I know its a huge jump but its something I want and am finding it hard to be mobile carting couch about etc as due to my accident I now have a rather injured shoulder and back. Hopefully a salon life will put less stress on my back although much more on my mind! lol

x

 

[Annemarie]

if you can afford it and its something you really want to do, (which it sounds like you do) then go for it. Live your dream but be prepared to put the hard work and long hours in. Good luck. :biggrin:

 

[Mooey]

How big is your client base? You want to build up a nice strong client base first before getting a premises. I started out mobile, then went on to set up a room in my house, now renting a space within a salon and building up a client base so I can eventually get a premises. I'm up to 180 on my client database but still don't believe this is enough to see me through. Remember it is a huge leap and there will be many overheads as Della pointed out - so I would try to do it in stages to lower your risks

 

[Elaine143a]

I plan to still visit those in my "spare time" [/QUOTE]


You'll prob find honey, that once you get a salon you will have NO spare time - not only for clients, but for social life, family or yourself!

Dont wanna rain on your parade, as if this is something you really want, then go for it, but just be prepared for the worst. You may well be too quiet to be financially viable, or too busy and stressed to visit those well loved loyal clients. Hopefully you'll be too busy, so then you'll start thinking about taking on staff - a whole new ball game full of other difficulties.

Salon ownership can be a wonderful thing, but there are MANY pitfalls along the way and you need to be prepared for them.

Soz if this sounds negative, it's not meant to be, just want to be realistic and advise you accordingly xxx

 

[aayspa]

Thank you all for your comments, you have pretty much scared me to death lol only joking, its nice to hear the realistic comments as so easy to get caught in the moment.

Had the viewing yesterday and with a bit of tweaking could present the perfect little village salon, big enough for a treatment room, spray tan room, mani/pedi area with reception and retail space, a kitchenette and of course a loo!

Has plenty of FREE parking too which is great.

Rent is reasonable and rates are currently free on the building until March 2013 although this could be extended as it has been the last 2 years but even if its not its still a nice grace period while getting started.

Now, how the heck do you do a business plan? Any ideas? I really don't know how to or where to start with estimating the amount of business that will come through the door month by month.

How much water and electric do you use in your salons? (small salons please, i'm not gonna be running a 20 room spa)

How long did it take you to start making a profit?

Advise on all these kind of areas would be much appreciated!

Thank you in advance x

 

[persianista]

If it was just me in my salon, with no staff costs, my overheads would be about double the rent, plus rent. So if your rent was 150 a week, your total overheads would be around the 450 a week mark.
This varies from week to week, so your cashflow forcast in your business plan would need to show how you would iron out any cashflow issues.
Eg, if you buy a load of stock to start, and pay for it over 6 months, how would you buy more stock during that period?
As for income, I knew what my personal clientele generated, and worked from that. New clients were a bonus.

 

[aayspa]

Your overheads are double your rent? What are you including in this?

 

[kazcasa]

Can you not rent a room somewhere before jumping into a whole premises? That way it is easier on your body than mobile and you dont have all the overheads.

 

[Lynne Baker]

Your overheads are double your rent? What are you including in this?

Insurance
Stock
Heat
Light
Streamline machine
Laundry
Advertising
Web hosting
Phone
Broadband
Networking subscriptions
Cleaning
Printing costs for marketing materials
Accountancy pro rata


And that's just off the top of my head!

 

[persianista]

Your overheads are double your rent? What are you including in this?

Rates, utilities, card machine, bank charges, prs, ppl, insurance, building insurance, licence, client refreshments, laundry, marketing, stock,equipment servicing/renewals, magazines, pat testing, trade waste, accountancy, consumables, phone and broadband, software, web hosting, printing, etc

 

[jojo@tranquil]

Hi aayspa,

Just thought I would say, being in a village location has both huge pro's and con's ! My salon is in a village about 2 miles from our nearest town, it has free parking which clients love, also so much quieter, private, no one see's them walking back to the car with no make-up or a red lip !
As yet I havent paid any business rates as you get double relief for small business and village location.
On the downside you don't tend to get walk ins and passing trade so advertising needs to be well done, which can be very expensive, although I get a lot of business through my web site and of course word of mouth.
Having a salon to run is a huge thing and very time consuming, however you must feel you have enough business to get going, be positive and go for it.
I don't know how your mobile prices compare to salon prices but just really think about costings of treatments and if your mobile clients will be willing to pay more ?
You will probably need to up your prices from day 1, just make sure you give value for money (not huge discounts ) eg give a lovely hand massage while a lash tint is on, give the best you can and you will build a solid client base.
At the moment my utilities are included in my rent so I am not sure on that side of things.
Be prepared to pay yourself a minimum to start you will want to build up a reserve in your business account ....there is always something to pay for !

I am moving premises in the next few months to a larger village salon ( if I get planning permission luckily my family are helping pay for the cost of renovation, this is very scary , also I will be employing someone.

Ooh for got to say why not look for alternative therapists to use the salon when your not there , such as evenings I sub let to a few people and it works well.

Good luck
JoJo x

 

[Beautific]

:hug:

I believe most of my mobile clients will follow me to a salon. I only have a few that are dead set in having treatments at home and a few that physically cant get there due to illness/disability and i plan to still visit those in my "spare time" as couldn't let them go. I treat a lot of people with MS etc and they are the most lovely clients, I couldn't stop visiting them

Hi there,
My little salon has just come to the end of its second week and we are doing fantastic, however the few mobile clients I had have been lost due to no time to go to them and working six days to fit all my existing clients aswell as new ones.
I wish you all the best in whatever you decide, It is hard work compared to the last two years I have spent renting a space in a salon but also very rewarding :hug:

 

[Chrysalis]

Hi I went for a salon before I had a client base, back to front really. However this method increased my client base massively. I had my commercial salon for 3+ years and established a huge client base so that when I had had enough of the salon ties and changed to log cabin in my garden with no further overheads my clients have moved with me even though I've moved to a different town. I initially rented out the spare space in the salon which kept me going for the first year whilst I got established, there were issues with some of the therapists but I dealt with those too.
I found that clients who didn't want a mobile or home based service liked the salon and grew loyal to me then had no problems adjusting to my new set up.

I worked on the premise of year one your ploughing money into business year two its looking after itself year three its looking after itself and me. And that has been true. Good luck take the plunge otherwise you will always be wondering.

 

[aayspa]

Thank you so much fellow geeks, your comments really are appreciated.

I am determined to take the plunge and am prepared for the hard work.

Who do you use for your insurance policies?

How much are your water bills?

How much electric do you use including heating?

Just trying to get some rough figures together.

Have priced up most of the equipment, I know the rent, no rates atm its just the other bits I have no idea of as don't have the problem being mobile of bills coming in except website, petrol, laundry etc

x

 

[Studio One]

Try babtac for insurance very reasonable.

 

[aayspa]

Try babtac for insurance very reasonable.

Yes I have looked at Babtac, £199 for the year, thought this was a very good price. Everyone saying to include Babtac in monthly outgoings so thinking maybe I'm missing something and this should be more expensive? Does anyone else use Babtac and find its enough cover for the price?