Starting A Salon: What Not To DoNovember 7, 2019When people discuss their prospective ideas of entering the beauty industry and starting a hair salon, most people give advice that looks like this: use the best and most credible equipment, hire skilled and compliant staff, ensure customer satisfaction, keep the prices low for a start—and the like. People will probably suggest rentals and rates, services and celebrity endorsements. Everybody seems to brim with ideas on what to do and how to do it—few will educate you on what to do and how not to do things. Which is where we come in: to advise you on all the cuts, trims and styling that need to be implemented on a salon in its nascent stage of development. The Lucrative Salon Savannah It’s easy to come to terms with why someone would take the decision to jump into the beauty industry: because it’s one of the most rapidly growing gigs in the world. A simple way to understand just how lucrative and productive the salon industry can be is to look at the numbers. One might think that an average person might not need more than 2 haircuts a year—but the numbers tell us that in the first half of 2018 some 59.05 million Americans have had 4 haircuts (and even more!). One might think that the only thing growing in the salon industry is hair that is required to be cut by hairdressers—but the numbers tell us that in 2017 the salon industry grew by 5.16% and generated a total of more than 55 billion dollars. The hair industry, then, appears to grow as fast as the hair on your head, but it’s not always rainbows and sunshine. There are ups and there are downs, there are do’s and there are don’ts, and it’s that part of the issue that we’re concerned with today. The Bottom Line: Turning a Salon Into a $$$alon When you take your initiative when starting a salon business with the sole intent of making it lucrative and productive, you’re basically aiming for one thing: ensuring that the salon is financially rewarding, and ascertaining that it earns you more income than your expenditure. While some might think that diving into the capital world of marketing ideas and solutions is a phase that comes only after the salon has been set up, it is actually more profitable to have this intent in mind from the very beginning. Accordingly, all the decisions that you will take during the first phase of launching the hairy business will lead to the fulfillment of one purpose: warranting that the salon is a smashing success. Provided next, is how you need to work the scissors for that smashing cut that you’re aiming for. The Seven Seals of Salon Success Mistakes are like sneezes: everybody is liable to be afflicted by them once in a while, and they come at the absolute worst moments in your life. However, unlike sneezes, you can control—or put in better words, reduce—the number of mistakes that you make while setting up your salon business. These are the seven deadly sins of salon setup: Extensions: Extending a Hand to an Inexperienced Technician Many salon owners and aspirants believe that the only requisite for them to have stellar technical work done on their salon is to offer big: a percentage that is exaggerated and high. Their catch? That the technician can be someone less experienced or skilled, but that with enough money they might work wonders. The problem with this is that no amount of surplus money is going to teach a technician the skills they need to get things running right. Work that demands and requires a professional hand should be left to professionals. How, then, do you rope in a great service that offers you their professional and skilled technicians for the job? You convince them with your plan. You ensure that your plan appeals to them and make a point of convincing them that your business is going to be a definite success in the future. Give guarantees that will work: that your salon is credible, that it is sure to be a long term success and that it will be teeming with customers once it is set up. Sell them your idea instead of buying them for their services. Salon services that understand the worth of a good idea will, of their own accord, want to work for you, so dive straight into that shark tank. Layers: The Wrong Location in the Wrong Neighborhood Just like a skilled hairdresser should know the exact boundaries in the territory of hair that need to be trimmed, so must a salon owner know exactly which location is going to serve them better. Do the right research and study the demographic of a location before settling for it. Decide if it’s in an ideally central location in the city (in case you’re aiming to attract customers from all over the town), if it’s easy and safe to get to at any hour of the day, if there’s a dense population of residents living around it, and so on. Generally speaking, outlets that are situated near shopping centers bring more customers in owing to increased visibility. Additionally, an eye-catching layout and sign board are always a great way to hunt for customers who would otherwise miss a nondescript salon. Make sure your sign displays all the services that you offer and that it is designed to catch people’s attention. By doing so you’ll ensure that (a) people know of your presence, and (b) they know which services you offer without having to visit you or look you up on the internet. They’re just passing by in their cars and taking all this information with them which is sure to pop up in their mind the next time they’ll be in need of a haircut. Blunt Cut: Ignoring Business Once you set up a salon you’ll need to remember that the salon isn’t just a place where you’re cutting people’s hair and doing little else. A salon is a business establishment adding to a greatly and rapidly growing beauty industry. While you need a good deal of creativity when setting up the gig, you’ll need consistency and dedication to maintain its business status. If you have a sizeable number of clients coming up to your establishment and not a whit of profit in the process, know that it’s not the creativity department that you’re lacking in but that you’re ignoring your business. Marketing and advertising are two mega elements of running a business—any business, but salons in particular because you need to be constantly visible to people—that should never be ignored. At the Fringe: Passing on Ads An ad will always add to your visibility and productivity. A big blunder made by many salon owners is that they overlook the importance of being present in the yellow pages. While it is true that most customers these days use the internet for looking people up, some of your older clients might need to look up your address every now and then. Pro-tip: Try opting for a salon name that begins with an earlier alphabet, preferably A. This will ensure that you appear earlier on in the listing and people are likelier to scan the first few pages. Another great tip is to get yourself listed under all the services that you offer: whether it’s hair and nail or beauty or skincare. The more places you’re listed in, the higher the chances of your visibility. Trimming in the Wrong Places: Advertising Adversely Advertising in the wrong places is just as injurious as ignoring advertising completely. Ideally, advertise in places where there is sure to be a large concentration of people regularly—such as a church, or in a shopping center. Advertising on the cover of, let’s say, a milk box, is never going to get you any customers. Cutting Down on Computer Savvy Greatness There is no law that ostracizes Luddites. It’s great if you on an ideological level prefer to go Ted Kackzyanski on all technology, but it sure won’t earn you any points. Especially in a world that is highly computerized and depends on algorithms and complex programs and systems to run efficiently, you’re the only one who’s going to lose. Computers are great at what their name says they are: computing. Making databases and tracking client preferences, busy seasons and successful past packages, maintain a mailing list and sending out newsletters—all can be done in a flicker with the resource available at your fingertips. As a result, your visibility increases, and you have a better understanding of how your business works. Based on these results, you can better manipulate your future decisions. Rough Dry: Blowing Off Employee Woes Last but never the least; it’s your employees who make who you are. They earn you your income. They’re not only your workforce but your partners in the business for as long as they’re serving. Don’t ignore them, don’t dismiss their problems, and definitely don’t make them feel so dejected/underpaid/overwhelmed/unappreciated that they consider either leaving you or lose interest in their work. Styling it Right—Right from the Start If you’re interested in setting up a salon gig or want to dive into the lucrative beauty industry, you’re at the right place for ideas and advice. If your goal is to generate more revenue and increase the capital that you gain from your salon business, then the preparation for assured success of the plan has to begin from the phase where you’re beginning to set up the salon. You can benefit from the many creative marketing ideas and workable solutions provided by Salon Income Booster, sure to propel your business to the heights of increased revenue. There’s even an e-book to help you get better acquainted with the nitty-gritty of the salon industry, and there’s more information to be had on our blog. Making it big in the salon business is all about starting right and ensuring that you’re steering clear of the long list of don’ts mentioned in this blog. Remember: a business well begun is already half successful.