When setting up a hairdressing business, you have to take into consideration a number of things that will have a huge impact on whether your business succeeds or not. Of course we shall assume that you already have one of the most important ingredients, passion for hairdressing. This we presume is what led you to go through hairdressing school and is what now is motivating you to set up your own business.
We shall also assume that you have done a proper business plan so that you can clearly see how much you need to spend over a certain period of time and how much returns you can expect from the investment. Beyond these basic things, here are a couple of things that you need to keep in mind as you plan out your business.
Location is key
Where you situated your hair dressing business will determine many other things about how you will run your business. Setting up in a high end area might sound lucrative because you imagine that you can charge more, but remember that property prices and rent as also likely to be just as high as well meaning that you might end up making very little profit. In such areas, there also will be other competitors who followed the same train of thought and set up shop there.
When scouting for location, keep in mind the cost of renting/buying the space, the kind of clientele likely to come to your premises and down to minute detail like the availability of parking. If your clientele are likely to drive to your premises, no one wants to waste time circling around block after block looking for parking. It is a good idea to ask a couple of people who represent the kind of clientele you hope to attract if they find your location suitable.
Recruit the right people
The quality of your staff ranks up there with location on the list of factors that are critical to the success of your business. Ensure that you have the basics covered; that they are qualified and licensed to operate as hairdressers in the state of Ontario. This means that they hold certification from a credible hairdressing school in Ontario or elsewhere. Beyond the certification, ensure that they have the right personality to treat your customers well. Are they warm, welcoming, patient and genuinely interested in serving your customers? Those things are often just as important as their technical abilities and often determine whether you have repeat customers or not. Spend as much time as possible recruiting the right staff.
Correct branding and positioning
Choosing your branding means more than just choosing a name. It means deciding how your brand will sit in the minds of your clientele. Are you a fun, hippy kind of shop? Are you all about glamour and style? The choice of how to position your brand will have an impact not just in the name you choose but also your decor, your furniture, your staff uniforms and many other things. It will also determine how you communicate with your clientele and how you advertise. In other words, choosing a brand for your hairdressing business is far more than just picking a name and closer perhaps to deciding the personality that your business will have. Spend time on this as well as it has many implications for your business down the road.
There are many other things to consider when starting out in your hairdressing business. You will need to decide the kind of equipment to have as well as ensure that you have proper licensing and so on. However the things noted above are often overlooked or little time is spent on them. Often when that happens, it leads to costly mistakes down the road.