Setting up a new business can be a fun and exciting experience if
you are prepared for the challenges that you will almost certainly
face. If you have decided that you want to open a new hair salon, then
there are a lot of things which need to be considered, including the
name of your salon, what additional services you are going to offer, how
much you are going to charge and where is the best hair salon location.
Choosing the best location for your salon is actually one of the most
important things which you need to do, because the cost of your location
will probably end up influencing the prices charge.
The first
thing you need to work out is roughly how much you will be able to spend
on the annual rental costs of your salon. Visiting a commercial letting
agent to discuss all of your location needs and your budgetary
requirements can be very useful at this stage, as the letting agent will
be able to show you what is available. If you visit a letting agent in
person, it can actually be a lot better than simply browsing through
commercial properties on the internet, because the chances are that they
will have some great options available to you which have not been put
live on the website yet. Talking to a letting agent in person will also
give you the opportunity to ask as many questions as you want and they
may even be able to arrange viewings for you that very same day. You may
even be able to negotiate prices.
The best hair salon location
can actually depend on your intended client base and how you intend to
market your products. How big your salon space is will often be dictated
by the area in which you choose to set up your business. In city centre
locations, larger spaces will usually be prohibitively expensive for
first time business owners.
Renting a commercial property in the
town or city centre, will be much more expensive than renting a location
on the outskirts of the town, or in a more residential area, however,
you may be able to attract more upmarket clients. Having a city centre
location is not necessarily as important for a hair salon as it is for
some other sorts of business, because hair salons do not rely on passing
trade and walk-in clientele as much as shops do.
If you choose to
have your salon closer to a built up residential area, your rental
costs will be much cheaper. Targeting your marketing towards people who
live in that housing area can encourage people to believe that your new
hair salon will be the best hair salon for them - consider flyering the
area with discount vouchers, or offering a discount to people who can
prove that they live within that area code because this will help to
draw in local people.
Never choose a location right next to a
major road, even if it does seem very cheap. A big road will be
distracting to your stylists and will not help your clients to relax and
enjoy their experience. The vibrations from the passing traffic can
also cause damage to your salon equipment.