Want to open my own Salon in the fall

[JesseDavidNailDesign]

Hello everyone,

So, with my 30th birthday fast approaching, I have decided I'm ready to take the plunge and open my own salon. I will also be relocating to a bigger city at the same time. Basically one more summer at the beach, and I'll be ready to go. I already have alot of potential clients and contacts in my soon to be new home. Aside from saving every penny I can, what other "homework" should I be doing in preparation.

No one in my family has ever owned a business, so they're really only good for discouragement :irked: But I believe in myself and my skills and really feel ready!!

Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom and experience.

Jesse

 

[persianista]

I bought my first salon at 30, it's the perfect age. Lots of experience but still enough youth and enthusiasm.

 

[JesseDavidNailDesign]

I bought my first salon at 30, it's the perfect age. Lots of experience but still enough youth and enthusiasm.

Very nice, I see from your other posts that you've been quite successful. Did you take over an existing salon, or start from scratch?

My goal is to have money for :

• about 3 months rent/utilities ( not including security deposit, and 1st month to get in, I plan on leasing my space),
• products for a month or so of services,
• furniture, paint
• state fees
• insurance

Does this seem reasonable? What else am I missing?

And by "potential clients", I mean people who already see me when they're on vacation and have been telling me for years, they wish I was available for them at home.

So many questions! Sorry to ramble...Can anyone recommend any books specifically on running a salon?

 

[hollydolly]

Make sure you have some money aside for advertising Leaflet drops around your local areas always work well, I would do this while your getting set up so when you open people will know where you are,even inviting people to an opening evening when your set up could start good word of mouth and get you some clients =] and also its best to research Business rates and an average cost of your overheads so you can have money for those too!
Good Luck xxx

 

[hollydolly]

Oh, and make sure you check your lease carefully!! xxx

 

[persianista]

I bought existing salons. Less risky!

 

[JesseDavidNailDesign]

@hollydolly - Advertising- yep, left that off my list. I think a beautiful website is the most important - and a phone book listing. Everything else (newspaper ads, etc.) seems like looking for a needle in a haystack. I also plan to use social networking alot. And I will check the lease.
As far as the leaflet thing, I personally don't respond well to them. I plan on getting out and trying to meet as many people in my new neighborhood. And I will always have a business card, because you never know!!

@persianista - I would love to eventually expand to a chain, by taking over existing salon. I know who I'll be asking for advice from when I need to be cut throat :green:!

I get the feeling the hardest thing will be staff. My boyfriend will be my receptionist. And I have one other technician in mind, who has been a friend for along time, and who I trust. Other than that, I just don't know.

 

[persianista]

Hey! I'm not cut throat! I pride myself on honesty and integrity in business.
I started out nice too, you just wait, a few years of salon ownership and you will be as grizzled as me!!!!
I achieved a chain by being single minded and working exceptionally hard, not by trampling over people. I just come across harsh when I type........x

 

[JesseDavidNailDesign]

I'm sorry, that came out wrong! I didn't mean like "preying on weak salons". I just always appreciate the advice you give here because it's direct!

 

[hollydolly]

social networking sites work really well, I have just done my own group on Facebook and Ive had 4 spray tanning parties booked and 5 hair clients so in my experience that works! And I like the personal approach so getting out there and meeting people seems like a brilliant idea

Good Luck xx

 

[persianista]

Well I do kinda prey on weak salons, but that's not cut throat, the previous owners are usually very glad I came along! I buy existing salons because;
1 Someone else has taken the risk of the location being right for a salon
2 we have cashflow from day 1
3 I can usually revamp and add value to a salon
4 I can be lucky and inherit staff
5 I found a salon formula that pretty much works and it means I can acheive economies of scale within the group.
So nothing nasty or underhand, I just find salons that are tired and unloved and bring them back to life.

 

[xgxexmx]

social networking sites work really well, I have just done my own group on Facebook and Ive had 4 spray tanning parties booked and 5 hair clients so in my experience that works! And I like the personal approach so getting out there and meeting people seems like a brilliant idea

Good Luck xx

hey how do you create your own group ??
gemma x x x

 

[hollydolly]

If you click on the 'Groups' tab on the left of the facebook page, at the top of the groups page theres an icon saying 'create a group' add all your friends and get them to add their friends and so on

xx

 

[Susie H]

Hi hun, firstly, good luck with your new venture. I must say, unless you are very sure of your client base, I would want more then 3 months money to back me. Double that but I'm cautious :lol: and I don't have anyone else to fall back on.
Anyway, you need to sort out what your utilities, electric etc are going to cost you and don't forget to speak to the tax man, before you take the plunge. It's amazing what you can claim back when you first start, but only if you know it's out there:lol:

 

[persianista]

Susie, He's in the states! I think their rules are different from ours.

 

[JesseDavidNailDesign]

Hi hun, firstly, good luck with your new venture. I must say, unless you are very sure of your client base, I would want more then 3 months money to back me. Double that but I'm cautious :lol: and I don't have anyone else to fall back on.
Anyway, you need to sort out what your utilities, electric etc are going to cost you and don't forget to speak to the tax man, before you take the plunge. It's amazing what you can claim back when you first start, but only if you know it's out there:lol:

Thank you Susie, I want to be cautious, just not so cautious I never do it, IYKWIM, but I can try to put more money away for an emergency fund.
As for utilities, most of the places I'm looking at include utilities in the rent.

I wasn't sure if I'd need an accountant, unless I decided to employ other people. It's not a bad idea though, to see about any other tax benefits.

The only tax write-off I know of here, is you can claim any lease payments you make for equipment. But I still feel like owning my equipment will be better in the long run. Or, am I wrong here?

 

[ConnectSEO]

A good website is imperative because it's what clients will see. Equally important is that the website rank well in Google.

When constructing your website, make sure that:

1) It's in a format indexable by Google (NO Java or Flash)
2) The content is segmented (hair one page, nails another, etc.)
3) Do your research on keywords that generate traffic in your geographic locale and optimize your pages for those terms:


https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
* I'm not sure what it looks like outside the U.S., but make sure you set the country to check as the UK (or whatever country you're in)

4) Do homework on the seasonality of high traffic search terms with Google Insights

Google Insights for Search

* The #s that this site spits out are a %age of the total internet population that google estimates in the geographic locale that you're searching.

If you have further questions, feel free to contact me. I've done work for a salon in Washington, DC and they've got top rankings for the terms that they target. This particular salon spends nothing on advertising because clients find them through the search engines and consumer review sites.

 

[JesseDavidNailDesign]

A good website is imperative because it's what clients will see. Equally important is that the website rank well in Google.

When constructing your website, make sure that:

1) It's in a format indexable by Google (NO Java or Flash)
2) The content is segmented (hair one page, nails another, etc.)
3) Do your research on keywords that generate traffic in your geographic locale and optimize your pages for those terms:


https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
* I'm not sure what it looks like outside the U.S., but make sure you set the country to check as the UK (or whatever country you're in)
4) Do homework on the seasonality of high traffic search terms with Google Insights

Google Insights for Search

* The #s that this site spits out are a %age of the total internet population that google estimates in the geographic locale that you're searching.

If you have further questions, feel free to contact me. I've done work for a salon in Washington, DC and they've got top rankings for the terms that they target. This particular salon spends nothing on advertising because clients find them through the search engines and consumer review sites.

Thank you, I'm actually about three hours from DC in the lower Delaware Beaches. Looking to relocate to Wilmington. I will definately keep those things in mind when I'm thinking about my website!