Is there a place in the hair care franchise market for Kids Hair Salon Franchises?
There are many discussions on the hair care franchise industry as a whole as being a good place to put your franchise dollars. The most commonly thought of opportunities are the family low cost salons such as Great Clips, SuperCuts, and Fantastic Sams. The niche market that has seen rocketing growth lately is the men's hair car segment with Sports Clips, The Board Room, Spanky's, and more. But what about children - is this a valid hair care segment?
The Kids Salon Business is for Adults and Here's Why -
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The hair care industry is recession resistant, the areas that have been hit the hardest in the recent economic downturn are the high end salon services. Childrens Salons do not cater to this segment and therefore have not been as affected.
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Parents want and sometimes really NEED a professional who understands and knows how to deal with children's needs and fears when it comes to hair care.
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This niche is underserved and there is room for this salon specialty in many locations.
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As the Mommy Network is one of the best places to get information if you have a business that operates within this network your cost of advertising is drastically reduced.
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There are three types of salons: High End (these the client follows the stylist), Low End (these are walk in salons where clients are not loyal to particular stylists, nor the salon, it is all about convenience), Booth Rental (these salons the stylists actually rents the space, makes their own appointments, etc.) Kids salons don't fit any of these typical models, clients come for the atmosphere as well as the stylist. When a stylist leaves clients typically remain a client of the salon. Clients will also drive further to treat their children to the more friendly atmosphere.
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Margins tend to be high in a well managed salon as customer retention is high and advertising and incentive spending is low.
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The parent age group is the largest dollar consumer base in the nation, this lends itself to offering other products and services pertaining to kids within the salon itself.
The Flip Side of the Kids Salon Industry -
As there are many positives to doing business in the Children's Hair Care Industry. There are several issues to consider as well.
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As this niche is resession resistant it is not resession proof, owners must assure customers that they are getting great value for their precious dollars spent, services must be priced reasonably enough to retain clients.
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Care must be given when choosing a market for this concept, as it only caters to a certain age group, if there are too many kids salons in one area they will not be able to succeed.
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The Mommy network is a great place to be, but if you are not giving good service then this network can back fire on you as well.
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The atmosphere must be clean, orderly, and up to date as this clientele demands it.
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When choosing what other products or services to offer customers careful consideration needs to be given as to the costs vs. benefits of those offerings.
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As the age group is limited a kids salon needs to widen its appeal by making sure that it attracts both boys and girls and to as wide an age group as possible.
If you are considering a kids salon franchise it is definitely an adult decision! There are benefits of a franchise over doing it yourself. There are around 7 different systems in the United States and all are just a bit different. Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids, Cartoon Cuts, Cookie Cutters, Snip Its, Cool Cuts for Kids, Pigtails and Crewcuts, & Sharkey's Cuts for Kids. Of course we believe that Shear Madness is the best one - it may be small but the number of years in business and the caliber of awards won is among the BEST!
