A Complete Guide to Starting a Salon, Spa, or Nail Studio

It's Friday night.

Weekend vibes make you feel like a free bird.

You are walking around the city and a certain advertisement grabs your attention.

It's your favourite actress with perfectly blended makeup, but her hair-style disappoints you.

Creative juices rush your mind, and you think about that specific haircut which will add to her beauty.

If you have an eye for aesthetics and beauty, no wonder you can build something of your own in the beauty domain.

Who wouldn’t want to own a business that ensures handsome profit, creative freedom and time flexibility?

Looking for starting your own salon? This article is a must-read for you. 

You will get the step-by-step guidance and all the other necessary tips and tricks that you need to know. Read till the end to find the bonus tip.

Let us first tell you why we think that you have made the best decision of choosing salon as your business.

Why salon business is the right choice for you

Ever growing business/Profitable business: Did you know that salon is one of the most ever growing businesses? Yes, you read that right, people will cut down on entertainment but not on their aesthetics. The way you look boosts your confidence, especially in the professional world. This is one of the few businesses that won’t face recession. Salon business has experienced a growth of almost 60% in the last 5 years, according to a survey. And it is expected that it will flourish even more in the coming years.
Standard of living of urban population: IT industries have led to a remarkable surge in the standard of living. Professional look is as important as professional behaviour in corporates. Majority of the salon customers are women. Due to the rise in women employment, women are able to afford the cosmetic bills independently thus giving a boost to the salon business. People living in cities get influenced by the beauty standards and become competitive, when it comes to their looks. Even if a person is unaware of the fashion trends, his surroundings motivate him to follow the classy culture. As a result, more and more people visit salons.
Influence of social media: Social media platforms are growing massively over the past decade. Most of the things that people do are influenced by social media. People will watch short content entertainment or informative videos for hours instead of 3 hour long movies. Beauty influencers post content which then inspires the young generation to look stylish and attractive. As a result, more and more people rush to salons. Platforms such as Instagram, YouTube etc. have the ability to form strong opinions in the viewer’s mind.

Creative workspace: From designing the studio to including your own haircuts, this business offers a lot of scope to creativity. From colour combination to the choice of music you want to play, you get all the creative freedom. And cherry on the cake is, you are in charge of your calendar. You can plan your appointments according to your schedule and avoid the discrepancies. Even the people you work with are selected by you. Creativity keeps your brain young and mind fresh. So, if you are the one who likes to be in charge of your freedom, this business is ideal for you.

Pre-requisites

Research

The first thing to consider while planning a salon business (basically any business) is doing a deep research. If your research is detailed enough, half of the work is already done. Known problems are easier to solve than unknown problems. There are various sources through which you can carry your research. Go as far as you can with the research work and the next steps will automatically be easier for you. Few of the ways for researching are listed below:

Internet: Internet is the most precious treasure for collecting any information. And it is easily accessible and easy to use for anyone. Even if you are not a tech savvy, you can easily find various useful articles and surveys on the internet. Most of your theoretical research will be done here. A simple google search will land you to various useful links.

Location

The next important thing to consider is the location. Location decides the type and amount of people that will visit you. 

There are a few factors to keep in mind while choosing the location:

Parking space: This factor applies to almost every business. The people owning vehicles will avoid your salon if there is no or less parking space. Choose a location having ample space for parking.

Calculating the budget

Costs of Licenses and permits: All the required licenses and registration will be listed in the License section in this article. Calculate an estimate of the cost required for the sum of all the required certificates. If you are planning to re sale beauty products, you will require a seller’s permit.

Infrastructure

In order to own a salon, you need to buy or rent the venue. After finalizing the budget, you can start looking for renting or buying the place. Consider investing in something that suits your location, requirements and budget. Interior plays a vital role in how your studio feels. Shortlist some good interior designers for your studio. Or you can use your own creative mind and design the studio, your way. 

License

The last thing to consider before getting started is the list of licenses. Below are few of the licenses for starting a studio. Consult your lawyer and confirm before going forward. Obtaining license is mandatory and if you fail to do so, it can be a punishable act.

GST Registration: GST is a term that everyone knows. You will need a GST registration for each state you are planning to open your business. GST Registration is compulsory for every business or corporation involved in buying and selling of goods or services. You can easily register on the website. A GSTIN number will be obtained once you complete the registration. And you are done.

If you apply for these licenses well in advance, most of the last minute hassles will be avoided.

Getting started

Business Plan

The first step to getting started is making a business plan. If you have a proper business plan, it will help you jot down your offers, growth plan, target clients and competitors. Once you set up your business, your business plan will help you with massive productivity and growth. You will also be able to attract investors gain capital. A business plan should be neatly drafted and well structured. You can use the following pointers as a guideline for writing your business plan:

Write a mission and vision statement: A mission statement defines the goals and objectives of the business. A vision statement defines where you want your business to reach in coming years.

Naming and logo design

The most interesting part of the process is selecting the name and designing the logo. Name is the identity of your salon so decide wisely. Shortlist a few names and then finalize something that is unique, easy to spell, meaningful and relatable. You can take suggestions from your family or friend. A great name can attract a lot of people. 

 A logo should be simple, decent and attractive. You can hire a graphics designer and tell him your requirements. Or you can also design your own logo, this will add a personal touch to your logo.

Registration

After the naming and logo design, you will need to do the registrations that are already mentioned in the prerequisites. These registrations i.e. GST Registration Trade license, Ownership registration, MSME registration, PAN and TAN registration, Fire NOC, Music license should be done to avoid the non- compliance.

Designing the interior

Interior design decides how a customer feels in your salon or nail studio. Hire a good interior designer and tell him your specifications. Take the creative liberty and think of something that you always wanted for your studio to look like. Make sure to do the optimum use of space. Choose the colour combinations such that you get a feel of big space and good vibes. Hang some related paintings or pictures on the walls. You can paint textures on one side of the wall and complementing solid colours on the rest. This is one of the most interesting steps so take ample amount of time and freedom.

Some of the useful suggestions are as follows:

Keep ample lighting.

Ordering equipment

Once you have listed all the items that you need for your salon or nail studio you should start looking for the vendors. Finalise a vendor who is willing to give you a good discount as well as quality products. It will take around 2 to 4 business days for the ordered items to reach your location. Some of the important things to order are as follows:

Furniture

Hiring staff

After you are ready with the necessary equipment and place, you should start hiring the staff. Your staff’s etiquettes represent the face of your salon. Hire some hardworking, polite people with expertise in the field and positive attitude. The staff should be the people with good communication skills, punctuality, manners and ethics. Consider designing a decent uniform with the name and logo of your business for your staff. Your staff directly represents your business so hire wisely. Make the list of the services you want to provide and hire accordingly. Write a detailed JD (job description) and put it on the social media platform like LinkedIn. 

You can also login to hiring websites as an employer and update the JD. There are various websites such as naukri.com, indeed, firstnaukri etc. 

Drafting the offers and services

Analyse all the possible services you wish to provide and match it with the skill sets of your hired staff. Your offers and services must be in line with the already established salons. 

Imagine you are the customer and think about all the services that you will expect from a salon. Deciding how much to charge for your services can be challenging. Analyse everything behind the scenes and finalise the price.

Providing offers is crucial in order to form a strong and loyal client base. When you get started with your business, not many people will know about you. Offers will help you attract new customers.  Your offer needs to be attractive enough to pull a lot of customers.

After your business is well established, continue giving festive offers like Diwali, Christmas, new year etc. 

Also there are certain periods where the business is slow, you can give offers and improve the situation. 

Software service subscription: Choosing the right software service is vital for the success of your salon or nail studio. A software service subscription will help you with the bookings, billing and customer details. Choose a software service which is clean, easy to use and user friendly. This will save a lot of time and efforts.
Website and business email id: Generate a business email id and use it for your formal business communication. Email marketing is still considered as one of the most effective types of marketing. Can you believe that it is even more powerful than the social media marketing?

Here, you can include all the attachments and add a personalised message for your target audience which is a bit difficult on social media platforms. Most people will skip ads on social media but will read the personalised emails that you send them. Take into consideration the below points before drafting the emails:

Keep the subject line catchy.

There are a few tools available for email marketing. You can use them and build trust among your audience.

Another important step is creating a website. A well designed, easy to use and clean website will help you a lot in growing your business. To begin with, choose a domain name that is easy to remember, most likely, your business name. Now, hire a web- designer or design your own website. Make optimum use of online tools and create a SEO rich, professional website.

Some basic pages that you would include in your website are listed below:

Home page: This is the basic page where you can find all the other navigations. You can add a login page as well.

A business website is like your business’ first impression for new users, so take care and be professional while designing it.

Marketing

salon business is the marketing . 

Some strategies can be implemented quickly, while some may take longer. But implementing these will take your business to the next level. Below are a few ways to market your business:

SMS marketing:  This is one of the most effective techniques of marketing. The most important highlight of this type of marketing is that, target audience are not able to unsubscribe to the SMS they receive. 98% people are likely to read the SMSs.

Tips and tricks

Below are a few tips and tricks you can follow. We have also included a bonus tip at the end of this section.

Motivated employees: Build a motivated and energetic employee class. Most of your business success is dependent on your employees. Keep your employees happy and loyal to your business by providing them incentives, rewards, festive gifts, day offs etc.  Add their bio and photograph on your website and social media handles. 
Bonus tip: Insta friendly space in your salon- We have already talked about the value of social media in boosting your business. You can continue it further. Make some space where your customers can shoot reels and click pictures after the haircut. This will automatically promote your business. After watching the happy clients and beautiful pictures and videos, more and more people will knock the doors of your salon and grow your business.

Things to avoid

There are a few things which should be avoided in order to improve your business:

Avoid ignoring the client feedback: Receiving feedback from your customer is important, but what is more important is improving yourself in accordance to the feedback received. Read each and every feedback and try to improve like wise. Ignoring your client feedback will only harm the trust factor of your salon business. Perfecting your business methods and techniques will help you succeed and improve your business. That’s basically the purpose of collecting feedback.

Conclusion

Salon business is a very profitable business and will help you earn a lot of money while also ensuring creative freedom and time flexibility. If planned correctly, your business will top the charts and make you a successful entrepreneur. If you are planning on opening a salon or a nail studio, do a proper research and give all your efforts and dedication. As you must have heard, ‘Where there is a will, there is a way’. This platitude is worth repeating every time you wish to start something new. If you are still reading this article, you are really determined on starting your salon business. Keep the determination and optimism going and, with a lot of dedication and energy, begin your journey. We wish you all the best.

We have tried covering almost everything related to getting started with your salon business. In the case of queries please reach out to us.

Beautify the town, start your own salon now…