Starting A Salon or Spa Business
Who, What, Where, When & Why
When we work with a client that is just beginning their research to create the plan to start a new Salon or Spa Business we always start with the Who, What, Where, When & Why.
Who? Will you be going it alone or do you have a partner or partners. And if you do have partner/s how well do you know each other? Have you created a business operations agreement between you that spells out who does what and who is responsible for what and how you will share the financial responsibilities of the business during start up and beyond.
What? What type of legal structure will you choose? Partnership, C Corporation, S Corporation, LLC, Sole Proprietorship. Each option have their advantages and their disadvantages. And each has different legal, tax, and financial implications. Be sure you do a lot of research and that you get counsel from both a CPA and an Attorney that are knowledgeable about the Salon & Spa industry.
Where? As the saying goes… Location, Location, Location. Visibility, easy access, and foot traffic are important to consider when researching to secure a space for your new business. And of course you need to have a plan for the space including the types of services you will provide, what size of space you need, and what your future plans for expansion are.
When? Once you have decided on the location for your business spend some time researching the community and find out what the plans are for any road work, building remodels, community events, and other types of changes that could have either a positive or a negative affect on your grand opening and the few months shortly after. It is a very sad thing to have a huge building complex remodel start shortly after you open your doors to find that foot traffic in the area drops by 70% for the 4 months the building is under construction. On the good side, timing your opening to occur during a huge community celebration allowing you to include your grand opening announcement in their marketing can increase the growth right at start up.
Why? Possibly the most important question to answer is why are you choosing to open your own Salon or Spa business. So many times we find that the impression that owning your own business is easy and maybe even glamorous was the reason, which is often the reason those same businesses fail. Owning your own business takes a lot of work, a lot of planning, and a great deal of time and effort. Be sure you have considering all that is involved before you decide.
After you have carefully examined and researched all of the above then we strongly encourage you to create a written business plan that details everything encompassed the results of your decision making and your plans for the start up and ongoing operations of the business. The process of creating a written business plan moves you out of the perceptions and ideas about it, and requires you to become very factual and detailed about it. You will learn a lot in the process, you will uncover topics you have not considered or will change your mind about.
We would love to help you start on the right path leading from start up to success. Your first coaching call is complimentary so give us a call and let’s talk about your plans to start your new business.