4 Things to Do Before Opening a Salon
You finally feel ready to step out and open your own salon. You’ve gained the experience you need in the business to feel confident and ready to build your brand. However, this is all still need and you may be very nervous about the investment you are making. You may feel nervous that you aren’t going to succeed. Take a breath. You know you are ready, and the business side of things you may not fully know yet, you can easily learn. Here are four important things to do before opening your salon.
1. Connect with a mentor.
There is a significant difference between being a hairdresser, barber, or nail technician and running a successful salon. The first thing you want to do is find a mentor in the business; someone who has successfully transitioned from working in a salon to owning a salon.
Find someone who you feel comfortable talking to and who wants to see you succeed. Having a mentor is critical to success because it will give you someone to go to with questions and concerns. It’s someone who will cheer you on and pick you up when you start thinking you made a huge mistake.
2. Make sure the building is ready for business.
Your building needs to be practical, functional, and comfortable for you, your staff, and your customers. You may never have dealt with a commercial HVAC system before, so it is important to have it inspected by an HVAC technician to ensure it is in good running condition. You may decide to get a new thermostat to ensure you have good control of the temperature inside to make quick adjustments when needed. You also need to make sure the areas have proper vents since you will be dealing with a lot of moisture and different chemicals. You don’t want to risk mold or mildew growth.
3. Order all the equipment you need.
After you decide what services you are going to offer at your salon, you will need to order all of the needed equipment for those services. Equipment will include nail salon chairs, nail table, footrest, armrests, dryer chair, bowls, reception desk, facial equipment, manicure table, barber chair, and a pedicure chair to begin with. You need to make sure you order durable salon furniture that is also visually appealing to create the usable space you want.
The exact equipment you will need with vary based on services, so you need to decide if you are going to offer manicures, pedicures, lash services, hair cuts, hair color, barbershop services, tanning, waxing, or anything else that may work into your vision for your salon business. Beauty salon equipment is not cheap, and you are going to make a significant investment in your business, so shop around first to make sure you are ordering exactly what you want for your technicians and your customers.
4. Order the supplies you intend to use.
Once you have all of the salon equipment ordered, you will need to start ordering supplies. Choose vendors that are reputable and offer high-quality hair and nail products. You want your customers to know you only offer excellent quality products that will make them feel and look amazing. Check with your suppliers for things like a minimum order quantity, free shipping, manufacturer’s warranty, and shipping options. As the salon owner, you’ll get new product alerts when they are available, and you’ll be able to work with your vendors to get the products you need at an affordable price.
When opening a nail salon or hair salon, you want to decide if you are going to run a high-end salon or one that is more affordable for most people. This will determine a lot of your business decisions. In a high-end salon, customers expect more from things like nail salon furniture and accessories. You have to give top priority to customer satisfaction, color options, and the appearance of luxury.
