OPENING/REMODELING A SALON

Planning to open or remodel a salon?  Here are my top 5 Tips!

1. Know accurately how much your project will cost.  Don’t set yourself up for failure.  Make a budget that fits your business plan and pick the best equipment that fits your budget.  Don’t try to make your budget fit your tastes unless it’s during the business plan stage.
2. Trying to fit 10 lbs. in a 5 lb. bucket.  Salon owners often look to cut costs by reducing square footage while retaining the number of work areas.  Sacrificing Stylist and customer comfort can cost you employee and customer satisfaction, and profits in the end.
3. Choosing your workstations and equipment after the space is chosen or the layout is complete.  Be aware that different work stations and environments require different amounts of space.  If you have something specific in mind from the beginning, make it known to the professional designing your space so they can plan accordingly.
4. Allowing your team to make decisions for you.  We all have people close to us whose opinions are valuable and you should listen to them.  It’s equally important to let them know that after careful consideration of their input, you will have to make decisions.  You can’t please everyone and trying will only put you in a reactionary mode which benefits no one.  This is especially true when remodeling an existing salon.
5. Not planning your work and working you plan.  Once a project starts, it’s easy to get sidetracked by day to day issues.  To avoid “getting stuck in the weeds”, start your days by reviewing your plan and go back to it regularly.  You want to make sure that your day to day decisions are made based on the broader plan.  Why have a plan if you’re not going to follow it?

As you can see from my opinions, research is very important to me but that’s only 50% of the game.  At some point, you have to balance difficult decisions with flexibility.  After all, no one said being an entrepreneur was easy.