Thinking about starting a nail salon? Getting started doesn’t have to be a mystery! Read on to learn everything you need to know.
Owning a business can be an extremely fulfilling and liberating experience. But it comes with its fair share of stress, commitment, and sacrifice.
When it comes to starting up a business of any kind, it’s important to be realistic and grounded about its success, and what it takes to make a great business. Not everyone is cut out to be a business owner or entrepreneur. But if you have to the gumption, know-how, and work ethic, starting your own business could be one of your greatest life achievements.
So, if you’re thinking of opening a nail salon of your own, this guide should help you get started.
Table of Contents
1. Draw Up a Detailed Business Plan
Before you dive headfirst into opening a nail salon, it’s important to assess how much you know about the industry and the job itself. The best way to learn is to actually work in a nail salon as a nail technician. Take note of how the salon operates, and what it takes to make it a success. Think critically about what you’d do the same or differently in your own salon.
In order to start any business for scratch, you need a business plan. You should also do some market research and determine success and failure rates of salons in your region.
Understand why small businesses fail before you commit to the task of starting your own business. Then, when you’re ready to commit to your business plan, make sure you avoid these reasons for failure.
Your business plan should contain detailed information about what your business does, the type of customers you will serve, as well as the overall goals of your business.
You will also need to include a detailed financial breakdown of startup costs, running costs, backup funds, and future predictions based on revenue. The first stages of starting your own business can be summarized as follows:
- Create a thorough business plan
- Estimate start-up costs and strictly adhere to this budget
- Obtain enough capital to start your business
- Secure local, state, and federal licenses and permits to operate
- Secure a health department permit where necessary
If you are a complete novice at creating a detailed business plan, it may worth investing in professional help in order to secure the start-up capital you need.
Things like location, salon services, staffing, and digital advertising will come later on.
2. Determine the Earning Potential of Starting a Nail Salon
After you’ve created a business plan, it’s time to crunch some numbers. What are you likely to earn as a salon owner and is this type of business actually profitable? If you invest some of your own money into the business, what is the return-on-investment (ROI) like?
The reality is that earning potential of a nail salon hinges on location, your prices, and work habits. The good news is that there is room for growth in this field.
On average, a nail salon owner can expect to make $40,000 – $75,000 per year. However, it all depends on your overall business goals and the scalability of your nail salon.
3. Establish a Realistic Start-Up Budget
Before you kick-off your business, you’ll also need to carefully establish a start-up budget. This step is a real eye-opener for all potential business owners as you’ll need to be realistic about the all costs associated with opening a business.
The start-up costs of a nail salon vary depending on numerous factors. This includes your salon rent and your location, permits, license fees, and start-up supplies and inventory. You’ll also need to factor in staff wages, salon décor, and more. Other important costs that shouldn’t be overlooked include:
- Business liability insurance
- Employee payroll software
- An advertising and marketing budget
Try to be as detailed as possible when creating your budget. The more costs you include, the better prepared you are for the reality of what it costs to start your own business.
4. Choose Your Location Wisely
The location of your nail salon can be make or break for business success. Essentially, your location determines the amount of foot traffic that passes your business. Apart from business marketing and advertising, location is one of the best ways to draw in new customers.
What’s also important to consider is your local competition. How close is the next nail salon to yours and what do they offer that you don’t? If you have nearby competition, think about how you can differentiate your salon from theirs. Some of the best locations for a nail salon include storefront properties and shopping centers which offer decent visibility and foot traffic.
5. Decide On Your Range of Services and Products
The type of services and products you offer is a great way to set yourself apart from your local competition. So when you’re deciding on what your salon will offer, do so with your competition, budget, and staff capability in mind.
Don’t forget about your location, neighborhood, and the demographics of the people you’ll be serving. Ultimately, you want to cater to your local customer and the treatments that best suit them, too. For example, if your salon is based in a more family-oriented area, it’s best to offer basic, generalized services at modest prices.
Aside from the nail services you offer, it’s also worth considering whether your salon will sell products. Remember that this incurs an extra cost on your part in terms of stock and stock rotation.
You’ll also need to do your homework on local vendors who offer fairly-priced products to suit your salon. This also takes extra time, effort, and funding.
6. Advertise Your Nail Salon
Once you have all of the above steps sorted, it’s time to invest in the marketing of your business. Nowadays, digital marketing is your go-to. While traditional means of marketing can be successful, it’s not always specific enough and the metrics are virtually untraceable.
Invest in professional marketing services if you just don’t have the time or knowledge to do it yourself. Yes, it may be another cost to factor into your budget. But successful business marketing is crucial for your start-up.
Some of the best means of local business promotion include Facebook ads, YouTube ads, Instagram marketing, email marketing campaigns, Google ads, Yelp ads, local flyers, business promotions, and referrals.
Learn How to Build True Business Success
Starting a nail salon, just like any other business, takes guts. But more so than this, it takes knowledge, time, and patience to make a true success of it.
For more tips and articles on starting your own business, as well as business or marketing plan templates, explore the rest of this website for start-up success.
