Proven Small Businesses You can Start – Hairdressing
Hairdressing
Running a hairdressing salon or barbers will primarily involve cutting hair, speaking to customers and managing staff.
Both you and your employees will need to be qualified in cutting hair, the normal starting point is the NVQ Level 2 in Hairdressing qualification, which would be required to work as a junior stylist in most salons. You will also need to be able to manage the ordering of equipment and supplies (e.g. Scissors, combs, hair products), as well as having a friendly nature to deal with customers.
You will need to choose a location with a good passing trade and lots of potential customers; however many of these will already be taken by the numerous hairdressers already in existence. This means you will probably need to pay high building rental costs to get a prime location. Inside your hairdressers you will need pleasant decoration, along with good chairs and mirrors; this will help improve the atmosphere and encourage regular customers.
Opening a hairdressing salon or barbers is often a next step for those that have been successful at freelance or home hairdressing, having a shop location will imply a better quality of service; and will be more attractive to customers.
A key decision you will need to make is who your hairdressers sells to; hairdressers and salon are usually either men’s, women’ s, or unisex. A unisex salon will have more potential customers, but is likely to mean you need extra staff to cover the wider range of potential styles and services they may want. Women’s h aircuts and styling generally cost more, but are less frequent, and require a higher standard of service.
Profits from hairdressers will depend on the price you charge, which should relate to the quality and experience of your staff. In most salons aimed at women, customers pay a basic rate for general staff, but have the option of paying more for a more experienced staff member. Men’s and unisex hairdressers tend to attract a lot of passing trade, while women’s hairdressers usually work using pre-booking. Hairdressers (particularly women’s and unisex) often advertise in local papers and business directories (e.g. Yellow Pages or Thompson Directory). Word of mouth can also help bring extra customers, particularly if both the service and atmosphere is good. There is a lot of competition for hairdressers in most areas, and it may not be easy to succeed; but with a good quality service and reasonable prices it is possible to create a strong profitable business. If your business has been established for over one year and has a PDQ terminal this company, Ashley Retail Finance, can help boost your profits with business cash advances to help with business costs
Pros
- Operating from a shop implies better quality than home-hairdressing.
- There are always a large number of potential customers (I.e.: Almost everybody in your area!)
Cons
- There will almost always be lots of competition; there are likely to be hairdressers in most good locations already.
- Profits are relatively small unless you can charge a high price based on ability.
- Skill Level
- Medium to High
- Start up Costs
- Medium
- Training
- Mainly long courses
- Experience
- A huge advantage, usually gained during training/qualifications
- Equipment Costs
- Low
- Location/Office Costs
- High
- Transport Required
- No, unless you wish to offer home hair services
- No of Staff (incl. you)
- 2-6 +
Article Index
- Proven Small Businesses You can Start - Introduction and Retail Shop
- Proven Small Businesses You can Start - Call Out Services
- Hairdressing
- Proven Small Businesses You can Start - Accountancy
- Proven Small Businesses You can Start - Painter and Decorator
- Proven Small Businesses You can Start - Laundry Services and Laundrette
- Proven Small Businesses You can Start - Take Away and Restaurant
- Proven Small Businesses You can Start - Dry Cleaning
- Small Businesses You can Start
- Proven Small Businesses You can Start - Marketing and Public Relations
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