Becoming a home hairdresser: how to get started?

Hairdressers provide aesthetic and hygienic care for their customers. They must master all hair care methods, as well as haircutting, to perfection! Shampooing, cutting, blow-drying, coloring, highlights and other treatments are all part of their daily routine.

You can work in a trade show, on your own account or as an employee, or freelance from home. Many professionals want to set up on their own, and go into their customers' homes. This new way of organizing your work allows you to manage your time more effectively, to travel regularly, and to provide an additional service to your customers.

Freelancing also means you can better manage your customer portfolio, your day-to-day organization and your work-life balance. Would you like to take the plunge?

Here are all the questions to consider before taking the plunge!

What qualifications and training are required?

To work as a home hairdresser, you need to have specific skills, recognized by a diploma.

You must hold a CAP in hairdressing, a Brevet Professionnel (BP) in hairdressing, a BTS in hairdressing, or an equivalent qualification approved by the national register of professional certifications, at a level at least equal to that of the CAP.

How do you choose your legal status?

We recommend that you choose one of the following legal forms:

• EIRL (Entreprise individuelle à responsabilité limitée). As the name suggests, the entrepreneur is only liable for the amount of capital he or she has contributed to the company. His or her personal assets are protected in the event of bad business, and cannot be used to recover any debts.
• EURL (Entreprise universelle à responsabilité limitée). It offers the same advantages as the EIRL, but its manager is considered a self-employed worker. It benefits from a specific social protection scheme, less effective than that of salaried employees.
• The SASU (Société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle) is particularly flexible. Its day-to-day operation is set out in the articles of association. The Chairman of the SASU is covered by the general social security system.
• The micro-entrepreneur status status is particularly easy to set up, manage and wind up. Your social security contributions are calculated on the basis of your gross sales. This is capped at €176,200 for sales and purchases, and €72,500 for services.

How do you register your company?

The vast majority of home hairdressers choose the micro-entrepreneur status, to simplify their administrative, legal and tax procedures. This is without doubt the simplest and most flexible status to manage on a day-to-day basis.

To register your micro-business, you need to go to the official government platforms www.lautoentrepreneur.fr or guichet-entreprises.fr. All you need to do is fill in the form with your businessaddress, your contact details, your choice of health insurance provider and your preference for payment in full discharge of income tax.

Once you have submitted your application, it will take between 4 and 6 weeks to receive your SIRET number, sent by post to your company's head office.

If you choose to set up a sole proprietorship under another status, you must :

• Complete the corresponding CERFA M0 form
• Chooseyour head office address
• Block the share capital in an escrow account at your bank. A certificate of blocking must be attached.
• Draft your company's articles of association, if applicable. They must be certified, signed and supplied in 3 copies.
• Publish a legal announcement in an approved newspaper. A certificate of publication must be attached.

You will receive your Kbis certificate within 4 to 6 weeks. This document allows you to officially start your business.

How do you build up your customer portfolio?

Developing your customer portfolio is a priority, to ensure the success of your launch. There are a few best practices to consider carefully:

• List your business in all professional directories and online databases
• Don't forget social networks (Google MyBusiness, Yellow Pages, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), clearly specifying your geographical area of travel.
• Use word-of-mouth advertising to reach retailers in your catchment area.

Finally, there's a valuable element that is all too often overlooked when it comes to facilitating the success of your project: using the services of a domiciliation company.

A domiciliation company offers legal domiciliation services to individuals and legal entities. Approved by the local prefecture, it provides its customers with a registered office as well as a postal, commercial and administrative address.

Choosing your own home means you have to publicly disclose the address of your home, threatening your privacy. At the same time, you won't have to rent commercial premises, and can improve your local SEO ranking on search engines, thanks to your headquarters' keywords!

You can also reduce your tax bill by choosing a commune with a low CFE (Contribution Foncière des Entreprises) tax rate.

With SeDomicilier, you can obtain your certificate of domiciliation in less than 5 minutes, in a 100% online process. What's more, all your services are then available in a personalized, secure virtual office!