Why a hair salon? Despite the financial crises that some countries are facing, this sector seems to be the least affected. As a result, personal care, beauty and health services continue to be in high demand in the market.
This is why it has become a trending business not only for beauty professionals but also for large businessmen who have decided to invest more and more in hairdressers, barbershops or beauty centers, whether they are their businesses or franchises.
How to set up a hair salon
At Maven Business Plans, we are aware of this opportunity that your business has in the market, and that is why today we want to give you some steps to take into account before opening your hairdressing salon:
Business plan
Like any other entrepreneurial idea, a basic recommendation to start is to design a business plan that allows you to analyze the market, determine a business model, build a financial plan, and define a work team and the strategies to be executed to ensure profitability.
The hair salon business plan is a document in which you will capture all the previous ideas, that is, your expectations regarding the business.
Having all this allows you to know, from the beginning, whether the business is worth it. But, likewise, for its execution, it is important to clearly define the business idea and its differential point: what aspect makes or will make you stand out from the competition?
Points to develop in a business plan
1. Executive summary. Briefly explain what the company is about, what services it offers, how that market behaves, and the financing plans and financial projections.
2. Description of the company. Describes the company, its mission, vision, structure, location, members, objectives, and the market needs to which it will respond.
3. Market analysis. The market will determine the viability of the business, so it is important to do a preliminary investigation that shows you if your business will have the demand you expect and if the level of competition you will face is possible to combat.
4. Product or service. Will your services benefit your clients? If your answer is no, it’s not a good idea for a business. You must give a detailed description of what you are selling. The current situation and how your place will solve or improve that condition.
5. Operation and management. It is about describing the organizational structure and those responsible for each process to be clear about the responsibilities and functions of each one.
6. Marketing and sales plans. How do you plan to sell your products? How to introduce your business in the market? Having these clear strategies is essential to start; if you do not know much about it, get advice before launching into the market.
7. Financial plan. In it, you must include the initial costs and financial projections.
8. Annex. These are the profiles of the founders, the legal permits, the copy of the rent of the place and other papers that you consider important to file.
Work team
The recommendation is that the number of professionals always depends on the demand that you have in the business. Therefore, pay close attention to the selection of the human team because the success of your business also depends on it.
Initially, you can have three hairdressers and increase the staff as the earnings allow it. Remember that almost everything works like a mathematical formula of costs vs. profits. Offer other services such as manicures or waxing. You must include these professionals from the moment you promote the service, in which case, you can reduce the number of hairdressers and add a manicurist.
Budget: initial investment
Estimating the initial investment is a complicated task since it can vary due to many factors: whether the hairdresser is a franchise or its own, the amount of money that you are going to allocate to the furniture, the rent that you are going to pay for the premises if you are going to include a marketing plan previously, etc.; However, to budget the initial investment, you must take into account the following:
- The expense for the legalization of your business (activity license and/or registration with the corresponding entity according to your country)
- Rent of the premises and public services (for at least two months + the deposit that they ask for)
- Furniture
- Salaries first month employed
- Purchase of inputs -products and machinery- (for example, shampoos, dyes, dryers, irons, brushes)
- Advertising
Marketing to promote the opening of your hairdressing salon
Implementing a marketing strategy that helps you attract potential customers and generate more sales is indisputable for your business to take off. For this, you do not need to make television commercials or anything extraordinary that leaves your bank account at zero, and there are very cheap and even free ways that you can read on our blog “How to promote my beauty center for free?”.
If you are days away from opening your business and you have not developed a marketing plan, follow these simple tips:
Analyze the market:
Define who your competition is and what they are doing well (even visit them incognito to identify their good practices and apply them better).
Make the opening of your hairdresser on top:
Invite influencers and offer them free services in exchange for speaking well of your business; You can also include super low prices for the first visits or offer a free course on hairstyling, makeup or whatever you can think of to attract potential customers to your business and indirectly sell them your services.
Maintain direct contact with your customers:
Use social networks, email and even WhatsApp to answer any questions your customers may have before or after visiting your business.
Send your clients email marketing campaigns:
Newsletters, birthday offers and invitations to events, among other ideas, are perfect for retaining and building customer loyalty. For this, always, when making a reservation, ask your clients for their personal information (name, email and telephone). This will help you to form a solid database that will later be ideal for implementing certain marketing strategies.
Don’t forget traditional marketing:
Flyers, notices or business cards are very useful ideas to publicize your hair salon. Do not hesitate to complement the ideas given above with the traditional ones.
We hope everything goes well for you in your venture, and remember that with our software, you will find the best option to retain your customers and manage your business.
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