Decisions to make when opening a salon –
So you are thinking about opening a salon. Before you run out and find that perfect space for your new salon there are several things that you might want to think about first. These are important considerations and your local demographics and salon competition may help you answer many of them. If you haven't considered those items, look there before answering the following!
1. What Kind of Salon do you want to run?
- Full Service
- Women
- Men’s
- Children
- Family
2. What services do you want to offer?
- Hair Services
- Just Hair Cuts
- Nail Services
- Facials
- Massages
- Hair removal
3. What Demographic do you want to serve?
- High end
- Moderate
- Discount
What Structure will your salon use?
- Booth Rental
- Booth Employee Model
- Hourly Employees
- Commissioned Employees
- A combination of the above
5. How many stations will you need for your salon?
- How large an area will you need for the services chosen?
- How will you be attracting customers to the salon?
- What will be the salon floor plan for the type of salon you are opening?
6. Where should you open your salon?
- Do you need walking traffic to be successful?
- Do you need cars to see you from the street?
- Are there enough potential customers in the area that you are considering?
- How much rent is too much to pay to be successful?
- How do I get someone to find me a good location?
- What are your demographic criteria for your location?
7. How are you planning to market your salon?
- Word of mouth – how will you generate this?
- Newspaper ads
- A great website
- Google Adwords
- Couponing companies
- Magazines – which ones are the best
- Guerilla Marketing
8. What will you do for a computer system in the salon for appoints, keeping track of customers, stylists, etc.?
These are the basic questions that must be answered before you can make a complete business plan and get started. A wrong answer can cost you a lot of wasted time and money. There is a way around making all these decisions alone!
A Salon Franchise may be the Answer -
This is why joining a franchise system is such a great possibility. Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids answers all the above questions for you – not only that but we walk along beside you every step of the way. Some think that an initial franchise fee may be expensive, but for the aggravation, time and money it can save you it is really a great buy!
I guess this blog is turning into a plug for us – but we have spent the time and money and years testing and developing the BEST answers to the questions above. And those considerations only apply BEFORE you open your salon. After it is open there are many other things to be decided on. We have those answers to and are always on the lookout for improvements! With a group you can accomplish so much more than on your own.
A website that is optimized and continually updated is only one thing that must be done in a business these days. In our franchise system we have taken those items that are tedious, important, and time consuming and either do them for you or make them much easier!
Look through this website to learn more and download our free toolkit that explains more about things to consider when opening a new business of any kind!
