The beauty service market in Australia is growing steadily but surely, as reports IBISWorld. The global beauty and anti-aging market is looking even better as it was worth $999 billion in 2015 (Statista) and has gone well over a trillion by now. This data means that the prospects for opening a beauty salon or spa are quite good. However, like all small businesses, these ventures fail at an alarming rate. To ensure yours succeeds you’ll need to equip and staff it right, develop a fantastic customer service program, and choose a very good location for the business.
Rent will be one of your biggest expenses but it’s essential to open a beauty salon in a place with lots of traffic. A popular mall or shopping area are the best choices as you need to attract people who are out there and ready to spend money. The location must also be easy to reach so all the customers who make an appointment don’t have to go out of their way to make it.
As such locations are rightly considered ‘hot’ for businesses, rent payments are very high there. This is where you need to decide whether to open a bigger salon at a less popular spot or a ‘hole in the wall’ but at a hotspot.
Small but best is definitely the right choice. Getting a good start is essential for a beauty business as this is when you establish your brand and build up a base of loyal customers. Once your business becomes famous, you’ll be able to move to a less popular place with more space as the customers will come to you. And if you really hit it off, you might not even need to ‘downgrade’ your location, just move on to a bigger shop.
The Internet is filled with horror stories of how a visit to a beauty salon can result in anything from lice to hepatitis, just like this one in DailyMail. It’s true that lack of adherence with sanitary regulations can lead to a disaster. However, that’s also why a clinically clean look of your salon can attract more customers.
Your main task is to make people feel comfortable about entrusting their bodies in your care. To do this you should create a light interior with surfaces that are easy to sanitize. You also should get professional salon furniture. As these tools are designed for efficiency, they will not only give your salon a respectable look but allow you to provide the highest quality of service. They are also designed to be easy to clean and can resist damage from the chemicals used in salons.
Another benefit of going small when starting a beauty salon is that you’ll need only a few essential tools. So your initial costs won’t be exorbitant.
For your beauty business to succeed, you need to build a strong brand. Hiring a famous stylist might seem like a good idea to attract people to your salon when you start. However, this will work against you long-term as you’ll be basically building a brand around that name.
You have to be the one leading, so win over your clients with the quality of service instead of hype. Having a team of inspired and talented professionals who strive to realize themselves will help you achieve the desired result. If one of them happens to shoot out like a stylist star, you’ll get your share of notoriety even if they go solo, by advertising that it’s with you that they learned how to be the best.
If you want to get some hype, best go with customer loyalty programs and pleasant extra services, like offering a glass of wine with every manicure.