Salon Start Up Guide: Everything You Need To Know About Starting Up Your Salon

Taking the ultimate plunge into the business world and setting up your own salon can be the greatest, yet most daunting, time of your life. From signage to staffing, there’s always a million and one more things to do to achieve your dream salon.

When you decide to set up your very own salon, research and organisation are both key to keeping your cool and ensuring you make the best possible decisions for you and your future business. This week, we take a look at the steps you’ll need to take when starting up your salon.

Water & electrics

Once you’ve got your premises, you need to ensure you can guarantee the very basics for your salon. When it comes to styling, you can’t survive without water and electrics. So, one of the initial steps to take is to check your water pressure within your new building. This can be done by your local water company.

You will also need many more electric points than a regular retail store. Make sure that you have this properly analysed by an accredited electrician and consider not only where your front desk will be but also each of your stations, where plugs will be required.

Structural work

If you plan to hang any of your equipment, for example, hung hair dryers, then you’ll need to have the wall structures assessed by an accredited builder. The last thing you want is to complete your décor and then the walls turn out to be unsafe for your fixtures and fittings.

Design & décor

Planning the layout of your salon is crucial and you will most likely have to keep it for quite a long period of time, so you want it to be right. Get professional help with planning if possible and consider the positioning of everything from the backwash sinks to the coat cupboard.

When it comes to furniture choices, you’ll need to decide early on what kind of style your salon will have. Are you appealing to a traditional audience? Or will you be the trendiest salon in the area? Also, remember that your chairs and seating areas will have large amount of passing traffic, so durability sometimes needs to come ahead of prettiness or you might end up having to replace sooner than you’d like.

Displays & products

When you’ve chosen your salon’s product brand, you’ll want to promote the products your clients can buy in the best possible way. Therefore, choosing displays that don’t clutter the salon but offer a great selection and view of the available products is essential. Check out Capital Hair & Beauty for a wide range of options and also remember to get salon insurance from an expert, just like us!

3 pretty ladies with champagne taking a selfie

Plan your launch

After the months of prep to get your salon ready to open, you might just want to open the doors and get going. However, holding a formal launch with invites and discount vouchers (usually with some cake and fizz!) is a fantastic marketing opportunity that should not be missed. Remember to invite all the local shop owners in your area, who will then encourage their loyal clients to come for a visit and increase your word of mouth marketing. Advertising on your social media pages and even with a good-old-fashioned poster in the window will all drive traffic through your brand-new doors.

Don’t get stressed and bogged down with the details of opening a new salon. Follow the steps, ensure you make the best decisions with your intended client base in mind and remember to have fun. Opening your own salon will be one of the most exciting days of your career, so remember to enjoy it!

What are your top tips for setting up your salon? Share yours with us in the comments on Facebook and Twitter.

Salon Saver also provides insurance for salons. For further information, please visit our Salon Insurance page.

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