5 Steps to Be a Good Beauty Salon Owner
Aesthetics Daily – A beauty salon owner is an entrepreneur who needs more than just beauty skills. As well as a creative vision, you need solid business knowledge. You may not immediately do beauty treatments because there are already some hairstylists and therapists.
If the salon owner has a manager, then the job may be lighter. However, you will still be involved in salon operations especially in relation to bookkeeping, finances or relationships with suppliers. Even though you may have a manager, you must still be in full control of the business.
In general, managing a beauty salon is not much different from other businesses. You not only need salon-based knowledge and skills but also other business aspects such as marketing and sales, branding, recruiting employees to managing cash flow.
How to Be A Good Beauty Salon Owner?
1. How to be a salon owner – Get education
Some people go to beauty school to become hairdressers. While others are learning to get a beauty license in the hope of having their own salon someday. If you want to open a beauty salon , you will be wondering how much education should you pay?
The first step you have to do is get a license from an accredited beauty school. At a beauty school, you will get a wide variety of course materials ranging from technical skills such as cutting hair to managerial skills.
Some schools only concentrate on hair designing and techniques. There are also beauty schools that combine practical classes along with business and marketing classes. You can’t start a salon business solely on hair cutting and styling skills. Therefore, you should think comprehesively about all business aspects including how you market your salon in advance.
During education, you don’t just learn technical skills. That’s the right time to absorb knowledge from your more experienced teacher. Make them mentors who will guide you until you are able to open your own salon. Meanwhile, your school friends can become business partners or even your competitors.
2. How to be a salon owner – Get as much experience as possible
Usually, the first chance for many beauty students to gain work experience during their school education. In the final year of school, all students may have several weeks of opportunity to work in local businesses including beauty salons. They will have many opportunities to perform a number of tasks and jobs.
Meanwhile, for those who have left school, experiences are obtained in different ways. You need to know the salon business thoroughly. The best way to do this is by working in the beauty industry.
During your tenure, apply yourself to more responsibilities whenever possible. Thus, you can see different sides of the business. You can seek out the role of a beauty salon manager before actually opening your own salon.
Why is it important to gain experience? Working in the real world, you are faced with all kinds of cases which you must be able to solve. The more cases you solve, the higher your skill will be. You also learn skills, knowledge and how to treat customers.
Many beauty students are qualified with the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in the field of beauty. Make sure your curiculim vitae (CV) stands out from the crowd by showing a commitment to gaining your own experiences.
If you show a good performance and impression for staff, especially employers, they are more likely to give you the job you expect. In this way, you can learn while gaining qualifications that are useful for building a career or a business.
3. How to be a salon owner – Master the skills
In addition to salon-based skills, salon owners need to explore aspects of the business from marketing to hiring staff. All the skills you have will be of great help in advancing business.
Business & Management Skills
You are responsible for setting the stage for creating a culture that attracts the best employees and customers. Create a work environment that is in line with the vision and goals you want to achieve.
Marketing & Sales Skills
No matter how good your services and products are, it will not matter much if people don’t know it. Therefore, you must be aware of various forms of marketing channels that can support sales and attract potential customers, from vouchers, cashback, discounts to loyalty programs.
Leadership Skills
Salon leadership is the art of motivating your salon team to achieve common goals. You must be able to create a harmonious and conflict-free salon environment. Some people are born natural leaders, but leadership can be learned over time.
Financial Skills
Good financial planning starts with understanding how your business works. Fortunately, nowadays you can easily use a number of accounting technologies that can do it all with ease. Accounting technology allows you to do a number of jobs from tracking expenses, managing books, making payments to paying bills.
4. How to be a salon owner – Prepare for investment
Now you feel that you have all the skills and qualifications needed to open a beauty salon. Your high entrepreneurial spirit will strengthen your determination to open your own beauty salon. But before starting to go any further, you start to wonder, how much does it cost to run a beauty salon?
Read also:
5 Steps to Become a Successful Salon Manager
The cost of opening a beauty salon may vary depending on your particular model and business goals. You must determine the type of beauty salon you want to run before you can detail the costs of opening a beauty salon.
Each type of beauty salon requires different equipment and services. Choosing the type of beauty salon should be your top priority in order to estimate the costs you have to spend. You will also notice that there are many things that cost money. Some of the things you have to prepare to open a beauty salon include:
- Certification,
- Licenses and permits,
- Beauty salon equipment,
- Physical equipment,
- Legal consultations,
- Initial inventory,
- Initial supplies,
- Software & POS systems,
- Staff uniform,
- Interior design,
- Insurance,
- Marketing collateral.
Analyze and estimate the budget to be able to achieve your marketing targets. You also have to be familiar with the financial decisions that will determine the future of your business.
5. How to be a salon owner – Manage a solid team
As a salon owner, you must understand that your employees are one of your greatest assets. A strong strategy, marketable service or product and outstanding performance contribute to business success. It is a business process that can be achieved only if you have passionate and dedicated employees.
Your leadership as a beauty salon owner can really be proven when you are able to manage human resources well. The first step you have to take to build a salon team is to recruit high-quality talent. Recruitment of employees is not an easy process. You need a number of selection stages to find the right candidate.
After all, you don’t want to pay employees who are disloyal. For that, you must define several employee criteria to meet your expectations. This may be a long and challenging process. Therefore, make the employee recruitment process as efficient as possible.
In addition to your action plan, you must have a clear vision that is shared with employees. Also share short-term and long-term goals with them. Make employees as trusted partners who will work hand in hand to achieve your business goals.
