Starting Your Own Home Salon Service
If you have salon experience and love trimming hair, then you may be ready to get started. If you do not have any salon experience, but do have a flair for hair design, you should experiment on friends and family first. Also, many local schools or colleges will offer cosmetology classes at a fairly low price. Once you complete most of these classes, you will obtain a certificate of completion that you can display in your work area.
If your home or apartment has an area that you could turn into your work station, it is a good idea to start out there. With many businesses, it may take a while to develop a profit and find a strong customer base. If you are operating out of your home, you do not have to pay rent or purchase additional utilities. The best locations for first starting a salon would be in a basement or a heated garage area. The start up cost for this type of business will vary and basically depends on which type of services you wish to offer and how large you wish your business to become. The average start up cost of a salon averages around $10,000; however, the cost can be more or less depending on your desires.
To target your potential clients, place advertisements in local newspapers and hang fliers or business cards on community bulletin boards. You can also ask your friends and family to hand out business cards to their network of friends or co-workers. You will obtain many clients by advertising; however, in this type of business, many people will use your services because they were referred to you by someone that they know. Your rates should depend on the surrounding competition and what they charge. It may be a good idea to research what competitors are charging for the same services before establishing your rates.
When you first decide to open your business, you could have a meet and greet style grand opening. This would also be a good time to offer coupons or give away free gift certificates for your services. You may also want to think about offering daily specials for each day of the week. A good example would be to have a family cut day, where you could do haircuts for the whole family and charge a set flat rate. To be a successfully salon operator, you must have an outgoing personality, be skilled, and extremely organized. You should also keep up to date on all important fashion trends and be sure to purchase hair style books for your clients to look through while they are waiting.
As with any business opportunity, it is extremely important that you follow local and state laws before you officially open your own salon. A salon business has the potential to become extremely profitable, if operated in the correct way. Once you are ready to expand your business, you should consider offering other services. Tanning, facials, pedicures, hair removal, and nail treatments are all services that most salons offer and so could you.
