Starting your own successful salon is super exciting but can also be daunting. Don’t worry – we’ve put together seven top tips to make sure you hit the ground running! Read on to get the edge now…
1: Get to grips with business
Do you know what happens behind the scenes, off the shop floor? If you’ve worked as an employee, chances are you won’t have first-hand experience of looking after the accounts, marketing or insurance. Make sure you’ve brushed up on these in business courses to fill any knowledge gaps.
2: Create a salon business plan
Every successful salon has a plan of action to outline where you’re going and how you’ll get there! It’s important to write up this plan to figure out your marketing strategy, how you will finance your salon, and break down your running costs. We also have plenty more ideas for your plan to make sure you’re exactly on track.
3: Find what you specialise in
What will make people come to you over your competitors? Starting your own successful salon will mean figuring out what makes you unique. Whether it’s a specific treatment, aesthetic or package services, make sure it’s something you excel at through training or previous experience.
4: Get insured
It’s important to cover your staff against unforeseen circumstances in your salon. Start by carrying out a risk assessment to find anything that could cause harm, then look into what insurance will help prevent them. Whether it’s for property, liability or personal injury, we have all the details you need for each type of insurance. If you’re an NHBF member, you can then benefit from 20% off insurance from Conversure!
5: Hire the perfect team
The next step to open your own successful salon is to hire the perfect team. Find out what skills you need on the team as well as staff with compatible personalities. This doesn’t have to be a chore either, not with our interview advice to find those perfect candidates!
6: Train staff
Once you have the perfect team, it’s essential to boost their knowledge so you’re all singing off the same hymn sheet. Staff training is such a key part to opening your own successful salon, so make sure you and the team are up to date with current trends, salon policy and your software. If you use our scheduling solution – Salon by Premier Software®, we plenty of webinars available to help brush up your knowledge, as well as a wealth of YouTube videos.
7: Attract clients and share their feedback
Starting your own successful salon hinges on enticing clients, so make your marketing attractive. You can help this with regular posts on social media and our tips on how to create an attractive website. Once clients have their service, remember to send an SMS requesting feedback through review platform, salonspy. This can then be shown online to influence others into visiting your salon.
Using Salon, you can take the first steps to starting your own successful salon by publishing posts for social media, sending SMS marketing, and of course booking. For more details, check out our Salon overview video or book a free presentation today.