Considerations Before Leasing a Salon Space

Veteran business owners and new entrepreneurs alike know how important location can be to your success. Whether you are opening your first salon, or expanding your business and looking for salon space to open additional locations, you should know the answers to these five fundamental questions BEFORE leasing salon space:

1. Business Plan - Do you have a business plan? This will be a good indication of your business acumen and also be helpful for the landlord to evaluate your business. A good starting point is to search Google for similar businesses and examples of their business plans. There are many business plan examples for restaurants, jewelers, bike shops, and so on.
2. Capitalized - How well are you capitalized? What is your latest credit score? Most landlords prefer something above 700-750. Do you have sufficient funds to cover unexpected expenses?
3. Experience - Do you understand the different parts of running a business, and specifically, a salon? Do you have a strong understanding of operations, buying inventory, payroll, waste management, etc.?
4. Location - Location, location, location. Does the center that you are looking at have the right demographics and psychographics? For example, are you looking to open a high-end salon? Does the community in your area have the spending habits aligned with your pricing? Are there similar salons within a 2-5 mile radius? If so, how will you differentiate yourself?
5. Promotion - How will you promote your business? Don’t assume that just because you have a nice build-out and good product, that customers will just show up. You need to actively market your salon. How are you planning to use social media, resources with the local Chamber of Commerce, traditional advertising such as direct mailers or press? You need to promote your business in a way that will resonate with potential customers. Remember, you want to stand out from your competition.