Open A Salon

Side Bar: Opening a tanning salon is just as hard, maybe harder, than any other salon start-up. I hear a lot of people talking about opening a tanning salon because you 'just have to put in some beds and that's it!' That is so far from reality that it's funny. For information on how to open a tanning salon read this. I
digress...

How To Open A Salon Part 1:

As a first step, you need to have a proper business plan on paper so that you can show it to investors, lenders (like banks and other
financial institutions) and/or business partners.

This shows that you have done your homework and have the paperwork to work from in place. The people investing in your business and loaning you the money will base their decision on an important criterion.

It's also good to keep you focused and on point rather than flying by the seat of your pants.

It shows that you are serious about starting a salon or spa business and have already put in some efforts towards the end result. The more detailed your plan and the more work you have put into it, the better are the chances of success in getting the initial funding.

A hair salon is a specialized business, needing specialized equipment. So it is expensive to start with. You will either need to rent a place or buy it. You will have to buy all the equipment - and this does not only include chairs and mirrors - but hundreds of other items. You will need electric points, plumbing points and shelves to show off the products and a good ambiance.

Most importantly, when you hire hair stylists and other workers, you need to have a few months back-up money to run the salon, pay salaries and other overheads.

The importance of hair stylists, employees, and independent contractors:

As this business means directly interacting with clients, it depends a great deal on client satisfaction. Returning clients are the core of your business. In order to attract clients to your salon, you need to have good and qualified hair stylists.

If a hair stylist is already working elsewhere, he or she should be provided enough reasons to leave the job. This can be in the form of incentives or commissions. If you have a good ambiance and think you can attract the right clientele, so much the better.

Often high end or good hair stylists have loyal clients who may move salons for them. So you have to keep this factor in mind when offering salaries and incentives.

You should also look into the qualifications of the hair stylist and see that he or she fulfills the required licensing criteria.

Expenses are always put into two different categories. There are fixed expensive and variable expenses. The fixed expenses with be your overheads and include rent and/or taxes, utility bills, interiors, maintenance work on the equipment in the salon, initial investment on products and salaries.

The variable expenses will be actual usage of products, advertising, incentives, laundry bills, discounts given to clients, beverages and snacks for employees, petty cash expenses and other possible outflows. As products get over, they will need to be restocked, so that also comes as a variable expense.

You have to give an idea of your expected inflows in your business plan. Obviously, the inflow should be higher than the outflow, otherwise how can you make a profit? To this end, you can have a tentative price list of the services you are going to provide and how many clients you need in a day or a week to show a healthy profit.

The price list should be realistic and include the cost of the products, the cost of the salaries and other overheads that you are providing.

Hair Salon Forms: When you open your salon, if you use hair salon forms, it can help make your work easier. These can be computerized or manual. Just keep in mind that some forms have to be physical and manual.

Some manual forms are:

• Bills
  
• Invoices
  
• Receipts
  
• Credit memos
  
• Time cards
  
• Warehouse receiving forms
  
• Work orders
  
• Repair orders
  
• Estimates
  
• Sales slips
  
• Contracts
  
• Appointment letters
  
• Price lists of products
  
• Price list or menu of services

Some computerized forms are:

• Invoices
  
• Statements
  
• Purchase orders
  
• Time sheets
  
• Appointment schedules
  
• Estimates
  
• Billing details
  
• Proposals

• Price lists are very important as they can allow the client to select the services and the products without having to ask too many questions and feeling embarrassed. The more detailed the price lists the better. Some hair salons also may charge extra for services by designer hair stylists - this should be clearly mentioned.


• On the flip side salons may charge less for styles or cut by apprentices or students, so you should allow the client to make the choice.


• Invoices should be tailored to your salon's requirements. They may include purchase and sales receipts.


• Business forms include legal forms, business documents, forms for taxation and even gift certificates. Then the hair salon business, being service oriented, needs appraisal forms for the staff members. If you schedule regular appraisals, this will also keep staff members on their toes. Employee violations forms will help you legally if there any violations by any employee. It will also help inculcate a professional atmosphere in the working of the hair salon.

The various beauty, nail, tanning, spa, or hair salon forms , whether physical or computerized only help you run your hair salon business in a better, more professional manner, so that you don't fall short.

Salon management is key to the success of your salon in the short and long run. A good salon manager will make the difference because they will see that the employees and clients are well tended to, and things are orderly.

If you staff is happy, your clients have a better experience.

On the flip side, if your manager is not on top of employees and clients, your salon will suffer because people have many choices and they will choose to go somewhere else.

Training at the beginning and continuing training throughout the year is going to result in a better manager and a more productive staff.

Get this free Salon Management Mini Course now. It's very good and you'll see instant results in your salon or spa!