The beauty care budget of the French is constantly on the increase, and many of them visit beauty salons to improve the quality of their skin, perform body treatments or simply enjoy a moment of relaxation with a manicure or pedicure.
Against this backdrop, opening a beauty salon can be a promising business opportunity. However, setting up a business is not something you can improvise.
If you're a beauty expert looking to open your own salon, but don't know where to start, you've come to the right place.
To guide you, here are 5 tips for opening a successful beauty salon.
Market research is the first essential stage in the successful opening of your beauty salon.
This stage consists of carrying out an in-depth analysis of the sector you intend to enter, in order to understand your customers' expectations and assess whether there is sufficient demand for you to set up in the area you are considering.
During your market study, you'll review national figures, customer profiles and trends, as well as the competition and regulations in force. This will enable you to identify which segments are promising, and understand the constraints of the business.
Once you've gathered this information, you'll be able to analyze the opportunities in your desired location, and determine whether your beauty salon can find its place in the local market.
Doing market research takes time and precision, but if it's done properly, you'll have every chance on your side.
We advise you to gather information from sites such as INSEE or ServicePublic to obtain reliable data. You may also wish to consult industry professionals.
Location is obviously one of the most important criteria when opening a business, and even more so when it's a beauty salon.
If you're planning to set up a home-based institute, communicating an attractive head office address will enhance your credibility and inspire confidence in your potential customers. To do this, you can opt for the services of a domiciliation company.
This will also enable you to preserve your personal home address.
Otherwise, whether you're located downtown or in a shopping mall, you'll need to identify your target clientele beforehand, and make sure they frequent your catchment area.
The majority of a beauty salon's customers are women, but that doesn't mean you can't refine your target clientele.
If, for example, you're looking to attract 30-somethings looking for innovative and fast care, you could set up in the center of a dynamic city.
Take into account the flow of passers-by likely to visit your institute, which is also an asset for it.
Your beauty salon's marketing plan will enable you to make a name for yourself, so it's a point not to be overlooked.
It's a good idea to analyze the various distribution channels available to you, and identify the most promising ones for your budget and target market: emails, advertising, flyers, promotional operations, etc.
We also advise you to set up a website to present your beauty salon, and make your treatment menu available to potential customers.
There are many ways to communicate, and thus attract more customers to your premises. Take a look at the methods used by your competitors to identify what works for them, and choose the ones that seem most relevant to you.
It's better to be selective and concentrate your efforts on a few communication campaigns than to dilute your efforts.
If you're opening a beauty salon, you'll need specialized equipment, as well as staff to run the salon on a day-to-day basis.
Think about drawing up a list of operating costs that will be necessary for your business, as well as the number of beauticians the institute will need to maintain the appointment book.
At this stage, it's a good idea to calculate maximum capacity, including opening hours, number of available treatment rooms and average treatment time.
You'll then be able to determine how many employees are needed to keep your beauty salon running smoothly.
We advise you to call in suppliers and draw up quotes to accurately assess the remaining running costs.
Once you've reached this stage, it's time to work on your business plan.
The business plan is a document that enables you to assess the financial potential of your project, as well as the amount of financing required to launch your company.
It consists of two distinct parts:
- A financial section presenting the project's profitability potential and financing requirements
- A written section to give context to the figures and highlight the project's strengths
Not only will this support you in verifying that your business can be profitable, it will also be the essential document for presenting your project to your bank.
If you've never drawn up a business plan before, we recommend that you equip yourself with the best tools for creating one. In particular, you can take inspiration from a complete beauty salon business plan template, so you don't have to start from a blank page.
We hope you found these tips useful. This article was written by The Business Plan Shop, which offers online business plan software that you can try for free.
Written by our expert Paul LASBARRERES-CANDAU
July 2, 2020
