how to write business plan for beauty salon

Free Hair and Beauty Salon Sample Business Plan PDF

Elon Glucklich

6 min. read

Updated February 7, 2024

Looking for a free,  downloadable hair and beauty salon sample business plan Word doc  or  PDF  to help you create a business plan of your own? Bplans has you covered.

Keep in mind that you don’t need to find a sample business plan that exactly matches your business. Whether you’re launching an upscale, full-service salon in a bustling city or a neighborhood barbershop, the details will be different, but the bones of the plan will be the same.

Are you writing a business plan for your salon because you’re seeking a loan? Is your primary concern building a clear roadmap for growth? Either way, you’re going to want to edit and customize it so it fits your particular company.

No two salons are alike. Your business model will be different if you’re renting space to independent hairstylists, rather than taking on employees, for example. So take the time to create your own financial forecasts and do enough market research so you have a solid plan for success.

• What should you include in a hair and beauty salon business plan?

Your hair and beauty salon business plan doesn’t need to be hundreds of pages—keep it as short and concise as you can. You’ll probably want to include each of these sections:

• Executive summary
• Company summary and funding needs
• Products and services
• Marketing plan
• Management team
• Financial plan

One of the things that makes a salon business plan different from some service-based business plans is that you might decide to offer a combination of products and services.

Maybe you’ll sell shampoo, beard oil, or other cosmetics and beauty products, in addition to offering services like haircuts, manicures, or massages. If that’s the case, make sure you include your ideas for upselling products to customers to increase the value of every appointment you book.

Here’s an example of a salon business plan outline.

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• The 7 elements of an effective hair and beauty salon business plan

1. Executive Summary

The  executive summary  provides a high-level overview of your business plan. It should outline the objectives of your hair and beauty salon, such as to offer high-quality services, to expand the client base, or to break into a new market.

Your salon’s mission statement should describe its purpose and what sets it apart from competitors. For example, you may aim to offer a personalized experience for each customer or provide eco-friendly hair and beauty services.

The keys to success are the factors that will help your salon thrive. These may include a prime location, hiring experienced staff, excellent customer service, or a unique product and service range.

2. Company Summary and Funding Needs

The company summary offers a detailed overview of your salon, including its legal structure , location, and history. Also, it highlights your salon’s funding needs if you are seeking financial support.

Clearly state how much funding you need, what you will use it for, and how it will benefit the salon. For instance, you may need funds to renovate the premises, purchase equipment, or boost marketing efforts.

3. Salon Products and Services

This section should detail the products and services your hair or beauty salon will offer. These may include haircuts, hair treatments, manicures, pedicures, massages, and beauty treatments.

If you plan to retail beauty products such as shampoos, conditioners, or skin care items, include this information too. Highlight any unique services or products that differentiate your salon from competitors.

4. Salon Marketing Plan and Analysis

Your marketing plan should outline the strategies you will use to attract and retain customers. These strategies might include social media advertising, loyalty programs, partnerships with local businesses, and special promotions.

Additionally, you should conduct a thorough market analysis. Understand your target customers, their preferences, and their spending habits. Identify your competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, and how you can differentiate your salon.

5. Salon Management Team

The management team section provides information about the salon’s key personnel. This could include the salon owner, managers, stylists, beauticians, and other staff members. Highlight their roles, responsibilities, qualifications, and experience.

If you plan to rent chairs to independent stylists rather than hiring employees, describe how this arrangement will work and the advantages it offers for your business.

6. Financial Plan and Forecasts

Your financial plan should present detailed financial projections, including revenue, costs, and profitability. Include a cash flow statement, income statement, and balance sheet. This section should clearly demonstrate the salon’s potential profitability and financial viability.

Also, outline your pricing strategy. How have you priced your services and products, and how do these prices compare with competitors? What are your wage costs, and how will they affect your profitability?

7. Appendix

The appendix includes any additional supporting documents that complement your business plan. This might be market research data, lease agreements, employee contracts, or licensing and permit documents.

While not always necessary, the appendix can provide valuable context and proof to support your business plan’s content.

• Crafting a Successful Salon Business Plan: Key Considerations

Understanding your target clientele’s needs is crucial to writing a hair or beauty salon business plan that you can put into action. To ensure your business plan is the foundation of a growing operation rather than just checking boxes, ask yourself whether you’re taking these considerations into account.

1. Comprehensive Services Offering

In the beauty industry, customer preferences vary significantly, and staying versatile in your offerings can help cater to a broader clientele. Include a wide range of services that cater to different demographics. You may also consider offering unique or specialized services that distinguish your salon from others.

2. Pricing Strategy

Pricing can make or break your salon. Competitive pricing attracts customers, but your pricing should also cover your costs and ensure profitability. Effective market research can help you understand the average cost of services in your area, which you can use to set your prices competitively.

3. Salon Atmosphere

The ambiance of a salon plays a significant role in attracting and retaining customers. Consider factors like décor, cleanliness, and customer service when planning your salon.

4. Staff Training and Expertise

Quality service is crucial in the hair and beauty industry since word-of-mouth exposure from existing clients is a major driver of new business. Investing in ongoing staff training ensures that your team stays updated with the latest trends, techniques, and customer service skills.

5. Digital Presence

Although word of mouth is one business driver, many of today’s customers research online before visiting a salon. Having a strong online presence, including a well-designed website, effective search engine optimization and active social media accounts, can significantly boost your business.

• Download your free hair and beauty salon sample business plan PDF

Download this  hair and beauty salon sample business plan PDF  for free right now, or visit Bplans’ gallery of more than  550 sample business plans  if you’re looking for more options.

There are  plenty of reasons  salon business owners can benefit from  writing a business plan —you’ll need one if you’re seeking a loan or investment.

Even if you’re not seeking funding, the process of thinking through every aspect of your business will help you make sure you’re not overlooking anything critical as you grow.

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Elon is a marketing specialist at Palo Alto Software, working with consultants, accountants, business instructors and others who use LivePlan at scale. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism and an MBA from the University of Oregon.

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How to Write a Beauty Salon Business Plan: Complete Guide

• December 29, 2023
• Beauty & Wellness

Whether you’re looking to raise funding from private investors or to get a loan from a bank (like a SBA loan) for your beauty salon, you will need to prepare a solid business plan.

In this article we go through, step-by-step, all the different sections you need in your business plan for a beauty salon . Use this template to create a complete, clear and solid business plan that get you funded.

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary of a business plan gives a sneak peek of the information about your business plan to lenders and/or investors.

If the information you provide here is not concise, informative, and scannable, potential lenders and investors will lose interest.

Though the executive summary is the first and the most important section, it should normally be the last section you write because it will have the summary of different sections included in the entire plan.

Why do you need a business plan for your beauty salon?

The purpose of a business plan is to secure funding through one of the following channels:

• Obtain bank financing or secure a loan from other lenders (such as a SBA loan )
• Obtain private investments from investment funds, angel investors, etc.
• Obtain a public or a private grant

How to write your beauty salon’s executive summary?

This section should not exceed 1 to 2 pages and provide a brief outline of the objectives and purpose of your business, market analysis & marketing strategies, company structure & key people, financial plan, and financial ask.

Here is an overview of the different points you must address in your executive summary:

Business Overview

Introduce your company and briefly describe your business model. For example, you may provide specialized beauty services only (such as skin care only, or manicure & pedicure only, etc.) or a full-service beauty salon (where you provide all types of possible services related to overall beauty including hair care, facial, skin care, manicure & pedicure, nail care & nail art, etc.).

Again, if you are offering a full-service beauty salon with a specific focus on something like skin care while the remaining services are auxiliary services, mention that, too. Also, provide a brief idea of what problem you are trying to solve.

Market Analysis

Provide a deep market analysis that backs your decision to open a beauty salon. The market analysis will include information like who your competitors are, your strengths and weaknesses, your target audience and their beauty needs, etc.

People & Management

Mention your key partners and why you have selected them along with their relevant industry experience. Also, speak about your staff requirements and the management hierarchy.

Financial Plan

How much profit and revenue do you expect in the next 5 years? When will you reach the break-even point and start making profits? It is ideal to include a chart depicting your key financials such as revenue, gross profits, and net profit

Funding Ask

What loan/investment/grant are you seeking? How much do you need? How long will this last?

2. Beauty Salon Business Overview

This is the section where you will describe your beauty salon business in detail. Try to answer the following questions concisely:

• Why do you want to open a beauty salon and what problem will your beauty salon solve?
• How big will be the facility and how many appointments will you serve daily (approximate value)?
• Will you have standard operating hours or extended business hours?
• Where is the location and why did you select that location?
• Will you provide only services, or will you sell products, too?

Include as many questions as possible to create a convincing overview to keep your potential investors and lenders hooked.

Let’s now look at the different sub-sections that you must include:

a) History of the Project

If you are yet to open your first beauty salon business, you may not have a business history to share. However, you can share your training and past industry experiences. You can even demonstrate your passion and interest for the beauty or wellness industry.

This is also where you should explain why you decided to create this business today. Did you find a gap in the market? Is there a lot of demand for manicure and pedicure treatments but few salons to accommodate customers?

Or are you trying to open a new format of beauty salon, offering a unique experience and treatments to your customers, effectively differentiating yourself from your competitors in your area?

b) Beauty Salon Business Model

This section must include the following information:

• Are you building your beauty salon from the ground up or are you purchasing an existing one?
• Will you allow advanced bookings through channels like a website or a mobile app, or will you allow walk-in customers or both?
• Will you focus only on services, or will you sell beauty products, too? 
• If you want to sell products, too, how do you intend to upsell them?
• Will you offer home visits, and if so, what will be the area of operation for that?
• Do you intend to extend your services into spa, bridal & wedding makeups, full body massage, etc?

Provide a thorough description of your business model so that the potential lenders and investors can make financial assessments and projections.

c) Target Audience

Give here an overview of your target audience. For example, answer the following questions:

• Will it be a unisex beauty salon or a gender-specific beauty salon?
• Is there a specific age group that you are targeting?
• What is the average disposable income of your target audience?
• How frequently do your target audience visit beauty salons?
• How much do they spend per month / per year in beauty treatments on average?

d) Beauty Salon Products & Services

Your beauty salon will primarily be a service-oriented business. However, that doesn’t mean you will not (or you cannot) sell related products. Outline your products and services in this section. Something like this will suffice:

e) Legal structure

Finally, your business overview section should specify what type of business structure you want. Is this a corporation or a partnership (LLC)? Who are the investors? How much equity percentage do they own? Is there a Board of Directors? If so, whom? Do they have experience in the industry?

Beauty Salon Financial Model

Download an expert-built 5-year Excel financial model for your business plan

3. Beauty Salon Market Analysis

It is vital that you demonstrate a deep market knowledge to your potential investors and lenders. For example, if you are offering expensive haircare or skincare procedures in a low-income or middle-class area, you may run into losses.

Similarly, if you are not following the latest hairstyles and trends, or if you don’t offer a wide range of facials, skincare services, you may find it difficult to attract customers.

a) Market Trends

If you are offering haircuts and hair makeup, you must be aware of the latest trends. Similarly, there may be new types of facials and acne treatments available that people may be looking for. Fashion is always a time-bound thing, and so is hairstyle.

For example, if you are offering skin care services like facials, you may want to offer services like :

• LED light therapy (to deal with bruising & acne)
• Intense pulsed light treatment (deal with facial pigmentation)
• Hollywood lift (a non-surgical skin-tightening for sagging skin), etc.

b) Competitor Analysis

The objective of the competitive analysis of your business plan should establish that starting a beauty salon in your area makes sense.

For example, there might be few competitors despite a lot of demand. Or, for example, existing competitors might not be adapted to the latest customer trends, effectively losing business to newcomers.

In your competitive analysis, try to include the following information:

• Number of competing beauty salons or full-service beauty salons in your area
• Their target audience
• The list of products and services they are offering
• The number of stations each salon has
• Their marketing strategy
• Their strengths and weaknesses
• Their reputation as a brand

Beauty Salon SWOT Analysis

Along with the competitive analysis, you must also perform a SWOT analysis . SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Here you must provide the following information:

• Strengths : Examples – you may have years of industry experience, or you may be a celebrity hairstylist or aesthetician, or you may be offering unique services that no other competing beauty salon is offering
• Weaknesses : Examples – you may not have enough experience with Millennials, or you may not have enough funds for sufficient inventory, etc.
• Opportunities : Examples – unlike your competitors, you may be offering a full-service beauty salon experience with all services related to hair, skin, nails, and face under a single roof
• Threats : Examples – the emergence of new beauty salons that can possibly take a slice of your potential customer base or existing beauty salons reducing their prices to counter your presence

Both competitive analysis and SWOT analysis can help you to come up with innovative marketing strategies that you can use to gain new customers and even chip off your competitor’s customer base.

d) Customers

This is the segment where you provide a detailed analysis of your target audience. The analysis must include things like:

• Demographic distribution of your target customers (you can find data at census.gov )
• Average monthly family income (this will give you an idea of the spending capacity)
• The frequency of beauty salon visits (this will give you a fair idea of the number of customers you can expect in a month)
• Current hair, nail, & beauty trends in the location you want to operate in and the factors that influence those trends
• What channels do the customers use to share the end results of their beauty salon visits? For example, people may post their new hairstyle or nail art on Instagram & Facebook, but share their salon interaction experience on Twitter
• Things that your target audience like and dislike about the existing beauty salons (this will tell you what you must do and things you can do to improve their experience)
• What is the average amount they spend per visit?
• Do they engage in beauty-related activities at home? (This will tell you whether you can sell products such as hair oils, skin lightening creams, etc.)
• Do they like to use coupons and gift cards? (If yes, you may open a separate revenue stream by offering such products)

You can add more questions if you need to complete your customer or target audience study. The best way to get the answers is to conduct direct surveys and interact with your potential customer base. However, you will also find some data from competitive analysis.

A complete understanding of your target audience can help you develop sales and marketing strategies that can beat your competitors and give you an edge.

4. Beauty Salon Marketing Strategy

This is the section of your beauty salon business plan where you should outline your customer acquisition strategy: how do you plan to attract new customers?

Try to answer here the following questions:

What are your Unique Selling Points (USPs)?

• What marketing channels will you use?
• How do you intend to track the success of your marketing strategy?
• What is your CAC or customer acquisition cost?
• What is your marketing budget?
• What introductory promos and offers do you intend to provide for attracting new customers?
• Will you offer gift cards to open an upfront revenue stream?
• Will you sell products? If yes, how do you intend to upsell them for revenue maximization?

Let’s expand a bit on a few questions below:

What marketing channels do Beauty Salons use?

A few marketing channels that beauty salons typically use are:

• Google My Business listing
• PPC ads and social media ads
• Social media promotions and user engagement on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, TikTok, etc.
• Email marketing
• Print ads, flyers, hoardings & billboards, etc.

You need to use all marketing channels. You can focus on a few (2 to 3 is more than enough). However, make sure that you include social media marketing as one of the options because it can help you to connect and continuously interact with your customers. In addition to that, social media can help you to go viral.

Also, do not forget to provide a fair and nearly accurate estimate of your marketing budget. Failure to display a well-planned and adequate cash flow for advertising and marketing can lead to investors losing confidence.

In other words, how do you differentiate yourself vs. competitors? This is very important as you might need to win customers from competitors.

A few examples of USPs are:

• We are a full-service beauty salon offering services like haircare, bridal makeups, manicure & pedicure, skin treatments & facials, & body massage under a single roof because potential customers dislike the idea of hopping from one door to another to get all their needs fulfilled
• We are a full-service beauty salon with a focus on manicure & pedicure treatments
• We use only 100% organic and natural haircare products to prevent side effects usually caused by chemically heavy cosmetic beauty products
• We will use our proprietary range of hair care and beauty products that will not be available with any other competing beauty salon

5. Management & People

You must address 2 things here:

• The management team and their experience/track record
• The organizational structure: what are the different teams and who reports to whom?

Small businesses often fail because of managerial weaknesses. Thus, having a strong management team is vital. Highlight the experience and technical knowledge of salon managers that you intend to hire to oversee your beauty salon business.

Describe their duties, responsibilities, and roles. Also, highlight their previous experience and explain how they succeed in their previous roles.

It is also important that you explain how their experiences and qualifications help you in implementing the beauty salon services you are proposing.

Organizational Structure

Even if you haven’t already hired anyone, it is important that you provide a chart of the organizational structure of your company. Typical roles for a beauty salon may include: salon managers, hair director, hairstylists, cosmetologists, pedicurist, aesthetician, massage therapist, electrologist, makeup artist, salon/shampoo assistants, receptionists, etc.

6. Beauty Salon Financial Plan

The financial plan is perhaps, with the executive summary, the most important section of any business plan.

Indeed, a solid financial plan tells lenders that your business is viable and can repay the loan you need from them. If you’re looking to raise equity from private investors, a solid financial plan will prove them your beauty salon is an attractive investment.

There should be 3 sections to your financial plan section:

• Your historical financials (only if you already operate the business and have financial accounts to show)
• The startup costs of your project (if you plan to open a new salon, renovate your salon, etc.)
• The 5-year financial projections

Historical Financials (if any)

In the scenario where you already have some historical financials (a few quarters or a few years), include them. A summary of your financial statements in the form of charts e.g. revenue, gross profit and net profit is enough, save the rest for the appendix.

If you don’t have any, don’t worry, most new businesses don’t have any historical financials and that’s ok. If so, jump to Startup Costs instead.

Beauty Salon Startup Costs

Before we expand on 5-year financial projections in the following section, it’s always best practice to start with listing the startup costs of your project. For a beauty salon, startup costs are all the expenses you incur before you start to receive customers and make money.

Startup costs vary based on a number of factors such as the location and size of your salon, the quality of the equipment, design and furniture, whether you rent or buy the space, etc.

On average, beauty salons cost anywhere from $63,500 to $179,000 to start depending on whether you plan to lease the commercial space or buy it. Indeed, if the latter, you would have to take a loan and make a substantial deposit upfront instead.

Beauty Salon 5-Year Financial Projections

In addition to startup costs, you will now need to build a solid 5-year financial model as part of your business plan for your beauty salon.

Your financial projections should be built using a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel or Google Sheets) and presented in the form of tables and charts in your business plan.

As usual, keep it concise here and save details (for example detailed financial statements, financial metrics, key assumptions used for the projections) for the appendix instead.

Your financial projections should answer at least the following questions:

• How much revenue do you expect to generate over the next 5 years?
• When do you expect to break even?
• How much cash will you burn until you get there?
• What’s the impact of a change in pricing (say 15%) on your margins?
• What is your average customer acquisition cost?

You should include here your 3 financial statements (income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement). This means you must forecast:

• The number of customers over time ;
• Your expected revenue ;
• Operating costs to run the business ;
• Any other cash flow items (e.g. capex, debt repayment, etc.).

When projecting your revenue, make sure to sensitize pricing and the number of customers as a small change in these assumptions will have a big impact on your revenues.

When it comes to the costs, consider both startup and operating costs. For more information on how much it costs to start and run a beauty salon in the US, read our complete guide here .

7. Funding Ask

This is the last section of the business plan of your beauty salon. Now that we have explained what your beauty salon is about, what’s your strategy, where you go and how you get there, this section must answer the following questions:

• How much funding do you need?
• What financial instrument(s) do you need: is this equity or debt, or even a free-money public grant?
• How long will this funding last?
• Where else does the money come from? If you apply for a SBA loan for example, where does the other part of the investment come from (your own capital, private investors?)

If you raise debt:

• What percentage of the total funding the loan represents?
• What is the corresponding Debt Service Coverage Ratio ?

If you raise equity

• What percentage ownership are you selling as part of this funding round?
• What is the corresponding valuation of your business?

Use of Funds

Any business plan should include a clear use of funds section. This is where you explain how the money will be spent.

Will you spend most of the loan / investment to buy the real estate and do the renovations and design of the salon? Or will it cover mostly the cost of the salaries the first few months?

Those are very important questions you should be able to answer in the blink of an eye. Don’t worry, this should come straight from your financial projections. If you’ve built solid projections like in our beauty salon financial model template , you won’t have any issues answering these questions.

For the use of funds, we recommend using a pie chart like the one we have in our financial model template where we outline the main expenses categories as shown below.

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How To Write the Perfect Salon Business Plan for Your Salon in Just 7 Simple Steps

The US salon industry includes more than 80,000 establishments with a combined annual revenue of about $532 billion. So opening a salon, and owning a salon business is a pretty safe bet; it’s steady and profitable . But lack of proper planning makes it difficult to juggle all the aspects of your business, starting from marketing and sales, to accounting, and whatnot. 

Here’s a quick tip! Searched all over the internet for concrete information on how to open your own salon? Confused? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Check out this blog on opening your own salon business that gives you a comprehensive 10 step guide to help you get started now.

Writing a properly structured salon business plan is crucial to guarantee your salon’s success in this highly competitive market. Whether you’re wanting to secure a business loan for your salon or trying to expand or reinvent your salon business, a business plan for your salon will help you get there.

So how exactly would a business plan help you?

• A business plan will help you to figure out what you want your salon to offer, where you aim to take your salon’s growth, what kind of people you want to cater to, and who you’re competing against . 
• If you are looking for investment from private investors, banks, or any other lending institutions or public grants, structuring a business plan is crucial. 
• A business plan will help boost your salon business’s productivity through improved oversight and direction, and help you make informed decisions.
• As your salon business starts to grow and gain clientele, a well-developed business plan can help you acquire the capital needed to expand to new locations.

How to make the perfect business plan for your salon business?

Whipping up a perfect business plan can be pretty daunting because it needs to be immaculate. No worries! Here we’ve broken down the entire process into 7 easy-to-follow , foolproof steps, along with their templates, to help you create a successful salon business plan. 

• Write a mission and vision statement
• Create an executive summary
• Analyze and identify your target market
• Perform a competitor analysis
• Write your salon’s business description
• Make strategies for advertising and outreach marketing
• Figure out your financial plan

Whether it’s a hairdressing salon business plan, a general beauty salon business plan, or even a  small salon business plan for opening a salon on your own from scratch, we’ve got you covered. This is a complete, comprehensive guide to help you in the process of making a business plan for a salon. It’ll give you a basic understanding of how to write a salon business plan in the easiest possible way. 

1. Write a mission and vision statement

I) mission statement .

It articulates the immediate purpose of your salon business. Under this, you can state all the short-term goals that you plan on achieving with your salon within 6 months , stretching up to a year.

Here’s how you can nail a perfect mission statement

• Value – What is the value of your salon in the market? How can it help your clients? 
• Inspiration – Why should people want to come to your salon?
• Remember to make your mission statement sound plausible and reasonable . Also, make it specific and concise – clarify all your short-term goals and the timeframe within which you’re planning on achieving them. 

ii) Vision statement

 Now, where do you aim to take the salon’s growth in the next 5 years ? Well, if you’re dreaming, dream big! And you can be as ambitious as you want, the sky’s the limit. 

Setting strategies for a longer-term makes sure that you don’t stumble on the road to success. It makes the overall structure of your business stronger. It prepares you for anything that the fickle market demands from you and throws at you.

Here’s how you can write a perfect vision statement :

• Review your long-term goals in a way that you can analyze how achieving your long-term goals could impact your business and the salon industry in general.
• Derive how your clients could benefit from the visions that you would be implementing.
• Your business’ end goals can drive your vision statement, For instance, if you’re planning to branch out to different locations after, say, 5 years, you can frame your vision statement in a way that states to make your salon a household name, popular in the neighboring areas and so on. 

2. Create an executive summary

After you write the mission and vision statements, you can summarize everything that you’re aiming to achieve with your salon under an Executive Summary. Whether you’re writing a business plan for a hair salon or a business plan for a beauty salon, you should be properly aware of what your intentions are with the salon. This section is the most important part of your business plan as it dictates the tone of your salon, and makes an impression. 

Remember to keep this section very brief and concise to give an overview, as you’ll be elaborating on these points in the later sections of your business plan. 

If you’re having trouble writing your salon’s executive summary, you can always write it after you’re done with all the other sections in the business plan . This will give you a better understanding of your salon business and help you succinctly put your points together to describe it. 

What can you do to write the most fitting executive summary for your salon?

• Start by stating all the short-term goals that you plan on achieving within, say, 6 months or a year.  Remember to keep your goals realistic and feasible. 
• Summarize your approach towards your business, to give an overview of how you will run things in your business.
• Clearly and briefly express the value proposition of your salon, and how it would potentially position your business in your target market.

How to write your salon’s executive summary: A simple template

Divide your business summary into sections of opportunities and expectations, and put brief points in those subsections in the most convincing way. The following template can help you with this :

• How are you trying to achieve recognition in your target market?
• What is your salon’s tagline/motto?
• What is your salon’s growth plan for the first 6 months after its launch?
• Which demographic is your salon meant for?
• How are your services aligned with your target market?
• How many salons are there in the area of establishment of your salon?
• What products and services do they offer?
• What is the range of variation of their clientele?
• What products and services is your salon offering?
• What is the unique selling point of your business? For eg: If your salon is the only one in the area that offers holistic services with spiritual healing, then put it down as your differentiating point.
• How are you different from your competitors? For eg: Is it the lower cost of services of your salon, or the vast range of services that make your salon stand out? 

Make sure you catch the eye of potential investors in the above section. Don’t forget to state how you can attract potential customers. 

• What is the salon costing you? List down the projected expenses and costs that come from daily operations, rent, staff hiring, cosmetics, appliance expenditures, etc. for the first 6 months. 
• What is the cash flow and how much profits are you bringing in for the initial 6 months? This is completely variable and the reaction of your target market to your salon decides this. So aligning your services with them is of utmost importance. 
• Why does your salon need financing? For eg: you can convey that you’re trying to meet the anticipated growth of your salon in the market.

3. Analyze and identify your target market

Analyzing and defining a target market for your salon is very important as it goes hand in hand with your salon’s growth and outreach . 

A beauty salon can service all genders and age groups. Your target audience can include working professionals, college students and teenagers, homemakers, to-be-Brides, and even children. And each group will require different types of services.  So make sure you list down each individual section of your target market and what services they would require. 

Here’s a checklist to make sure you’re going the right way about it. 

Steps to analyze and identify your target market 

• Find out what kind of people you think would resonate with your salon’s services the most. For example, if your salon offers low commitment (temporary) coloring services, you can get a lot of customer traffic from the millennials. 
• As an extension to that, find out if your services are more inclined to serve a particular demographic better, or if you’re good with people of every demographic.
• Keep up with the trends in the salon industry to know what’s hot and what’s passé.
• Peek inside the brains of your target clients to know exactly what they want or like and tune your salon accordingly.

An easy-to-follow template to proceed with your target market analysis

• Segregate the people in the market pool into different categories.

Do not forget these bases:

• Personal income/occupation
• List out the services that your salon would offer that would fit one or more of the stated categories above. 

For eg: If your salon offers Diamond Facial at $200.00, then you can list this service out as follows :

• Use social media to get an understanding of the trends in the market at present. Join salon and beauty communities on Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit, and follow beauty bloggers on Youtube and Instagram. 
• Look up the people who subscribe to or follow these beauty pages and beauty bloggers to identify which trends appeal to a certain demographic. You can tell a lot about your target market’s behavior from the posts they like and the thoughts they share in the comment section of these posts and videos.

4. Perform a competitor analysis 

With a great market demand, several strong competitors emerge. And we don’t want your salon to get lost in the sea of other salons now, do we? As it goes, keep your clients close but your competitors closer.

Figuring your competitors out gives you a necessary nudge in the right direction to take your business plan forward. It gives you an idea of what the other salons are practicing with their clients, and what gaps they’re leaving that you can fill up as you step into the salon business yourself. 

How do you analyze your competition?

• Find out what the other salons in the area are doing successfully or poorly.
• Get a rough idea of the cost of services that the competitor salons are offering. This helps you price the services for your salon.
• Identify how many salons provide services that focus on a specific niche and do not serve a wide group of customers.
• Find out the industry-specific challenges they are facing that you may also face while running your own salon.
• Analyze what they can do differently to improve their situation, and implement it in your business mission plan to avoid facing such challenges yourself. 
• Have your salon address these deficiencies in the market.

Follow these easy steps to perform your salon’s competitor analysis 

• Visit your competitor salons’ websites.
• Follow them on social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin) to get an idea of how much influence and reach they have. Check out who follows their social media page to get an idea of the target market as well.  
• Sign up for any interactive sessions that these salons might conduct and check how other people respond to these sessions, to understand their grip and dominance on the market.  
• Visit the other salons in the market as customers, to get an idea of their quality of services.

5. Write your salon’s business description

So now that you have your market and your competitors figured out, it’s time to work on your salon business . A beauty salon or a hair salon is fine, but what kind of salon do you want yours to be like? Setting a proper description for your business gives your salon a custom style and personality. 

Your business description should include an overview of the products and services that your salon would offer, and how your salon would stand out in the market. Setting a trademark vibe to your salon also helps with its brand image. 

To get started, you can answer the following questions :

• Would you specialize in any particular service like nail art or bridal makeup? 
• Would you want your services segmented for various types of clients?
• What services would you want to offer in packages? 
• Would you serve complimentary refreshments to the clients?
• What theme are you going for with respect to interiors and ambiance (Japanese zen, tropical beach day, etc, etc)?
• What would be your salon’s “it” factor that distinguishes it from the other salons in the area? 

Once you’re done with the salon’s description and personality, set a brand logo and a tagline to go with it. To get a professionally designed custom logo, you can always reach out to freelancers or companies that can do it for you, like 99designs . 

You can also use an online designing software like Canva to design your salon’s logo on your own. 

And that should complete the branding. 

Creating a business brand will prepare you to answer someone asking you “Why should I come to your Salon?” 

Remember to make your salon stand out, noticeable, and interesting.

6. Make strategies for advertising and outreach marketing 

Now you have to position your salon in the market in a way that makes people take an avid interest in “the new salon”. Your target audience will guide you towards the perfect approach to spread the word around about your salon. 

A simple guide to writing the marketing plan for your salon business :

• Your salon should be Google-able. To show up in digital searches, make sure your business is listed in online directories.
• Create a website or a mobile application for a better customer experience. 
• It’s always better to spread out to all social media platforms to promote your business so that your customers (and other potential clients) can get to know you on a more personal level. Connect with your business community by following other small businesses in the area. Actively engage with your target market and share behind-the-scenes content (like before and after photos of clients’ haircuts) to build your credibility and cultivate brand awareness.
• Partner up with other businesses that may share the same clientele as a salon would (like spa retreats) to offer coupons and vouchers, for outreach marketing.
• Offer “first-service” discounts to your customers.
• Keep service rates lower than the other salons in the area to attract clients. 
• Once the rapport is established, and your clients trust you with the service quality, you can cut out the discounts. It is also very important that you optimize the discounts in a way that you don’t run into a complete loss, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
• It is crucial to maintain the service quality to the highest degree after you start getting clients. Remember that your clients wear the marketing after they come out of your salon. This will definitely help you secure referrals from existing clients.

Marketing Tip! Want to pull off a great marketing campaign for your salon business but don’t know where to start? Do you feel like the marketing section in your business plan is incomplete? For more detailed marketing ideas for your salon, check out our blog on 7 hand-picked salon marketing ideas to boost your business .

7. Figure out your financial plan 

It’s time to play the number game. This is probably the trickiest part of writing a salon business plan because you have to be extremely careful while juggling your revenue and expenditure budget optimally. 

You don’t want to scare or throw off your customers by charging exorbitant prices for the services, but at the same time, you don’t want to crash and drown in debt yourself. Not to forget, cutting costs on cosmetics may affect the service quality. Cut hair, not costs!

Ergo, you need to have a proper financial plan for your salon. 

Writing a detailed financial plan will help you get a rough idea of how your salon would be progressing on a monthly/ yearly basis. Moreover, if you’re applying for a loan, your financial plan will determine your eligibility .

What can you do to create a solid financial plan for your salon?

• It helps to bifurcate all the expenses into Fixed costs, and Variable costs. Then you can analyze your fixed costs and variable costs to set an optimal budget.

Fixed Costs: This section includes all the costs associated with your salon business that must be paid regardless of the customer traffic in your salon.

• Rent or mortgage for the salon space.
• Payroll for the employees you hire.
• Equipment maintenance costs for hair spa and other services that are heavily equipment dependent.

Variable Costs : This section includes all the costs in your salon business that are directly associated with the customer traffic in your salon. 

• Expenses of purchasing cosmetics and other salon supplies.
• Electricity consumption by salon equipment. For eg: If you’re writing a hair salon business plan, make sure you include the electricity consumption by blow dryers, hair straighteners. 
• Have a clear idea of how much discount you plan on putting on your services during the first few months of opening your salon, and for what duration you will be offering these discounts. Note that during the first few months of opening your salon, your sales are likely to be lower than your projections, and that’s completely okay.
• Make a list of pros and cons for renting out space for your salon versus buying a place.
• If you’re renting and wish to own the salon space, spot out a tentative date of when you’ll become capable of buying the place.
• Figure out how many people you are going to hire in your staff, and how much salary you would be able to offer them. Note that you’ll have to improvise this according to how the customers respond to your salon.
• Reach out to your local chamber of commerce to get more insights on funding and loans.
• Tentatively figure out the time it will take you to break even, and start earning chunky profits.

Here’s an easy-to-follow template to proceed with your ‘financial plan’ section 

The following simple template can help you make the financial plan for your salon: 

i) Sales and revenue projections for the first five years :

Figure out how much you’ll charge for your services, and estimate how many services you may perform in a week. A periodic analysis of this over the next five years will give you the necessary projections. Put the details down in a spreadsheet to keep it organized. It also helps to collate all this information and analyze using bar graphs.

ii) Expenses’ budget :

Break down the expenditure of your salon for a given term, by referring to the “fixed and variable costs” list that you made. You can pick the term to be a month, a quarter, or a year long .

It’s a safer practice to stick to a month-long or a quarter-long term. You don’t want the budget analysis task to loom over you and become a burden. Not to forget, it keeps you in touch with the financial status of your salon business. 

iii) Estimated profit margins:

Accumulate the sales projections and budget report analysis to find out the profit for that term. Display the margins in pie charts or bar graphs for easy comprehension. 

iv) Liabilities:

Note all the losses that your salon business can possibly incur in the time period that you have defined as a term. For example, your blow dryers may stop functioning and need to be replaced.

Also include the factors that may stunt your business from growing. For example, you may be short on staff, or your nail salon is lacking an appointment scheduling and business management tool.

v) Cash flow statement:

Make a projected plan of cash flow-in and flow-out for your defined term, where you include cash flow from sources that are not directly related to your salon services or your salon business-related expenses. 

Include the cash flow from loans, loan payments, taxes, and personal funds that you used for your salon.

vi) Break-even analysis:

Predict the break-even point for the first five years of your business. Break-even is achieved when your salon business has covered all the expenses, and your sales surpass the expenditure costs. From that point on, your salon will start earning profits.

Other ways to create your financial plan :

Dealing with numbers can be tedious and scary, especially when you already have a lot of other things on your mind as a salon business owner. Moreover, documenting the financial projections yourself can be a pretty daunting task, especially because there’s no room for mistakes. 

Instead of making the document yourself, you can choose to consult professionals to help you write the perfect financial plan for your salon. 

• Hire freelancers : You can collaborate with business plan consultants to make your financial plan. All you need to do is give them your salon’s budgetary estimates and inputs. 
• Use Financial planning tools :  It asks you to enter all your financial information. They use built-in formulas to give you the most accurate financial statements that include all the charts and projections that an investor would expect to see in a business plan. 

Some important things to keep in mind :

• Keep reviewing the target market, competitor analysis, and marketing and advertising strategies once every while, however frequently necessary.
• Set realistic long-term goals that would be in sync with your current business performance. For example, you can think about branching out to two different locations after a few years. This will allow you to expand your local salon to an enterprise salon.

Go ahead with the pretty business plan 

Executing a well-structured salon business should reap good-looking numbers. And the first step towards that is making a killer business plan for your salon.

It gives you the courage to place your faith in your business, and we don’t want you to doubt something you’re passionate about. Remember that you can convince the people in the market about all the great things your salon has to offer, only when you truly believe it yourself. 

So go on ahead, start creating your salon business plan today, and give your dreams a much-needed flight. Good luck :))

About Appointy We at Appointy, help business owners grow and run their businesses with our online scheduling software. This blog was a part of our ‘Manage your Business’ category, where we provide expert tips, and resources, or simply talk about the challenges that small and medium businesses face every day.  If you have any thoughts on this blog or would like to chat about your business struggles and achievements, let us know in the comments below.  We love a good talk!

25 comments

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• February 27, 2024

How to Write a Hair Salon Business Plan

Are you thinking about opening your own hair salon? Or maybe you already have a salon and are thinking about opening another location?  

Well, when it comes to opening a new salon business, knowing how to write a hair salon business plan can make or break your success. The good news is—we’re here to help. 

In this article, we’ll go over the ins and outs of creating a hair salon business plan. This includes everything from market analysis and financial projections to your goals for the future. Having a plan will help you obtain funding and stay on track as you grow. 

Let’s get started. 

Do I Really Need to Write a Business Plan for a Hair Salon?  

You wouldn’t drive from San Francisco to Boston without either a GPS or a map, right? So, you shouldn’t run a business without a plan either. 

A hair salon business plan is a roadmap for your beauty business. Whether you have two chairs or 200, it’s essential for your ongoing success. 

In fact, opening or expanding a business has a lot more at stake than a drive across the country. You may have saved or taken out a loan to start your salon. And you likely have employees or contractors who are dependent on your business sense, too. 

A business plan gets you organized when you’re first starting out or opening a new location. Plus, it keeps you on track as you grow. You can reach or exceed your goals, but you must know what they are first. And you need to have a detailed set of strategies to use along the way. 

Let’s go back to our road trip metaphor.  

Suppose you want to get from California to Massachusetts. First, you figure out how many miles or hours the journey will take. Then, you divide that by how many miles or hours you can comfortably drive in a day. That’s how many days it will take. Finally, you plan overnight stops along the way for each of those days to make the drive doable. 

A salon business plan isn’t much different. You probably have goals for things like: 

• How much gross income you want to bring in 
• How much profit you want after overhead and labor 
• Ideal business model structure (e.g., booth rent vs. commission) 
• Services you would like to offer clients 
• Places where you’d like to open additional salons 

Without a specific business plan for how to make them happen, those are just pie-in-the-sky dreams. You need a more granular approach to turn them into a reality. 

For instance, how much money do you need to make each month to reach your desired net profits? If that’s how much you need to make each month, what do you need to make daily, assuming you’re open five days per week? How many chairs do you need to have? At what capacity do you need to operate? 

Not to mention, you’ll almost certainly need a formal business plan if you want to get financing for your salon. Salon equipment and real estate can be quite expensive. A bank may loan you money to get set up, but only if they see you have done your homework first. 

Lenders don’t want to back a business that is more likely to fail than to succeed. And new hair salons have an average success rate of 50% in the first three years of operation. 

That means half of those businesses will fail. Most fail not because of a lack of talent or ambition but because the owner doesn’t know how to properly run a business. You can be the best hairstylist in the world. But if you consider things like business accounting and marketing, you will likely lose more money than you are bringing in every month. 

Do you want to be in the 50% of new salons that thrive? Keep reading to learn the step-by-step method of developing a business plan for your salon. 

RELATED ARTICLE:  

Owning a Hair Salon: Your Launch Guide  

How to Write a Hair Salon Business Plan: Step by Step  

Below you’ll find information on each section commonly included in a business plan. But first, here’s a tip to help you make the most of these categories. 

Use the SMART method for setting goals. What are SMART goals ? They are: 

• Specific – highly detailed, not vague 
• Measurable – able to be quantified with hard numbers and actionable items mapped out to achieve the goal you’ve set 
• Achievable – doable within the framework of your business model 
• Relevant – related to your salon today, not somewhere else or too far in the future 
• Time-bound – tied to specific dates for end goals and milestones 

Any time you set a long-term or short-term goal, ask, “Is it SMART?” If not, dig deeper to get the details you need to make it work. 

Executive Summary  

Think of the executive summary as the introduction to your salon business plan. It gives brief information about: 

• The purpose of your salon and who it will serve 
• Your business objectives (offer something novel, expansion, etc.) 
• How your salon will be different from your competitors 
• Why you think the business will perform well 

For instance, you could talk about how you plan to open a salon in a busy urban area to cater to downtown employees. Your client demographic is primarily white-collar workers aged 25 to 45. 

Your unique selling proposition , or USP, is what makes the salon special. Say it’s that it will offer 20 and 50-minute appointments to fit into standard lunch breaks. Additionally, you’ll have 10-minute appointments for fast services during coffee breaks. 

Customers can get a quick trim on their fringe or ends. Beard and mustache trims are another rapid service you will offer. Everything can be booked and paid for online to streamline the process and get customers in and out in a jiffy. 

Maybe after work hours, your salon will be open for more traditional appointments. And you’ll have more quickie services available for businesspeople going out at night. They can get an updo, blowout, or style refresh before a date. On Fridays, you’ll offer manicure services too. 

In your business plan, you’d want to outline howyour USP will help your salon be successful. For our example, you might say you believe the salon will do well financially because of three factors: 

• The area is currently underserved by hair salons. 
• You are catering to the needs of businesspeople in your locale. 
• You hired an experienced stylist who’s bringing their clients with them. 

You don’t have to get into a ton of detail yet. This is a proverbial bird’s eye view of your business proposition. You could, however, outline a rough roadmap of how you envision your business will start and where you see it going in one year and five years. 

For instance, perhaps you plan to start with one location and 10 chairs. Five years from now, you want to open two additional locations. At that time, you will add new services like brow waxing and makeup consultations. 

You can mention market analysis in this section, too. Market analysis looks at competition and consumer needs in your niche. However, there will be a place later in your business plan to address this in more detail. 

Remember, your executive summary is an investor or lender’s first impression of your salon business. Therefore, you want to make it shine. 

Company Description  

This section goes into detail about the structure of your company. How long have you been in business? Who are the owners and managers? 

You’ll also want to review how many employees or contractors you plan to have. Will they be employed under W2 status, or will they contract as 1099 workers? 

Will hair stylists pay you a fee for the use of a chair? Will your salon take a cut of their fees? How will tipping be structured? 

For example: 

• Our salon is a startup organization that is not yet in business. 
• It is co-owned by two stylists who participate 50-50 in leadership. 
• There will be 10 chairs in total in the salon. 
• Eight contract stylists will be working as 1099 independent contractors. 
• Contract stylists will pay a monthly chair rental fee and a percentage of their billables to the owners. 
• All tips will go to the employed stylists, with a percentage going to a shampoo assistant. 
• Contract stylists make a commission on products sold in the salon. 
• You will also have two paid receptionists who will be W2 employees. 

You will go into more detail about financials in the Services and Pricing section. But this section should give readers an understanding of the basics of your planned salon operations. 

You can also include funding or investing requests in this section. Again, you will have further opportunity to dive into financials later. But touching on what you need to open or expand gets readers primed as they go through the next four sections. 

Market Analysis  

The market analysis section of your business plan is another area where you can wow readers and make your salon stand out. It answers the question, “Why you, and why now?” 

Remember, you don’t want to fit in with all the other salons in the area. Instead, you want yours to be unique . 

Your hair salon might be unique because of its business model, like the hypothetical one described in the executive summary. Or it could be you have a string of well-known stylists. 

Perhaps you offer extra luxury services and product lines. Maybe you offer great prices. It could be the whole vibe of your salon that’s one of a kind. Maybe it’s a retro nod to the ‘70s or a high-tech glimpse into the future. 

You don’t want to pitch your salon with a kitchen sink-style of features. After all, when you appeal to everyone, you really appeal to no one. But you can list several unique attributes that will give you a competitive market edge. 

In this section, you’ll show what the current market is like in your location. How many other salons are within a mile or two? Who do they cater to? Is there a gap you can fill to capture more market share? 

Be realistic. If everyone who comes through your door is on a tight budget, you can’t offer $300 color jobs. You need to match your services to your demographics. 

If you’ve ever sold a real estate property, you’ve done something similar to a business market analysis. You or your agent prepare “comps” or comparables. The comps show how your property is special, while reviewing what the rest of the area has to offer. 

Whether your salon is brand new or you’re opening a new location for your existing salon business, you may need to conduct market research. You can do this on your own or hire a consultant to do it for you. 

The more populated the area in which you operate, the more complicated market research is likely to be. If you’re in a suburb or rural community, there may only be a few hair salons to compete with. 

Don’t forget to include how your USP and ability to fill a need relates to industry trends. Let’s use the example above. There is a current national trend towards more online conveniences for salon customers. So, offering online payments and booking is going to help you stay at the front of the curve. 

Also, employees are feeling busier than ever these days. They struggle with work-life balance. And many are returning to the office after working remotely for several years. 

Your salon leverages this trend as well by providing stress-free quick appointments that fit into work breaks. Workers can get their hair done over their lunch hour and make better use of their personal time after work. 

If you have an existing business that you’re expanding, you can survey your clientele. Maybe you’re going to a second location because it’s underserved. Or perhaps you’re adding more services because that’s what clients want.  

It’s great to be able to give objective data that says there’s a need for your services. 

Hair Salon Industry Trends for Growing Your Salon Business  

Marketing Strategy  

How do you plan to promote your new salon or additional location? That’s the focus of this section of the plan. 

Some common salon marketing methods include: 

• SEO website 
• Social media accounts 
• Paid advertising 
• Loyalty programs 
• Cross-promotion with other businesses 
• Flyers in area office buildings 
• Bulk mailings with coupons 
• Free makeovers 
• Local news editorial coverage 
• Online review platforms 

An SEO (search engine optimized) website is a great place to start promoting your business. You can add other components later. An optimized website is set up to rank higher on search engines like Google and Bing. 

How do you improve a website’s SEO? 

• Use keywords related to your exact services that clients would search for when looking for a hair salon. 
• Be sure to mention your location multiple times on the website, including your state and local landmarks. 
• Add a blog for value-added content with links to authoritative sources. 
• Get your salon mentioned on other websites and in social media mentions. 

This section overlaps with your market analysis. You’ll be using your unique selling proposition to focus marketing campaigns. Every marketing effort is an opportunity to promote what makes your salon stand out. 

Talk about how you plan to cement the two cornerstones of a healthy salon business: 

• Repeat customers who book appointments regularly 
• New customers who keep things fresh and balance natural attrition 

How to Design and Roll Out a Beauty Salon Rewards Program  

Management and Organization  

Here’s where you can go into more detail about your salon’s company structure and staff payment plan. You can include elements like credentials here, particularly if you or a manager have a business background or education. 

Don’t simply list how you plan to pay workers. Explain why this is best for your salon business’s long-term financial health. 

Are you and any other owners taking a salary? What corporate structure are you using (LLC, S corp, etc.)? Your state may determine how you want to set this up.  

Speaking with an accountant can clarify questions for you, especially about taxes. 

Services and Pricing  

This section of your hair salon business plan outlines the meat and potatoes of what your salon will offer. It is essentially a menu of all the services and treatments you provide. It also includes prices for each. 

You can mention why you chose the pricing model you did. For example, if you’re serving affluent clients in a resort area, you can justify charging a little more. Or you might do group pricing because you serve a lot of bridal parties. 

Don’t forget to add any products you plan to sell. Why is carrying these items beneficial to your business? 

Financial Projections  

Financial projections are the nuts and bolts that lenders want to see. They’ll also keep you on the right path as you grow your salon. 

You’ve already outlined your services and pricing. Now, it’s time to do the math and calculate what that means in terms of income. 

Answer these questions first: 

• What do you expect your salon to gross (total income) in a year? 
• What are your overhead expenses (rent/mortgage, staff, utilities, wholesale supplies, etc.)? 
• What portion of your expenses are due to payroll? 
• Do you have to make capital purchases for equipment? Will these be paid with a lump sum, financing, or rental payments? 
• What is the net profit you expect (gross income minus overhead and expenses)? 
• Where do you predict expenses or income will change over the next few years? 

You want to make your business plan financial projections look truly professional. So, break them down into these categories: 

• Sales forecast – total sales expected over the next several years 
• Expenses budget – all the costs you need to operate 
• Profit and loss (P&L) statement – a 12-month summary of revenue versus expenses 
• Cash flow statement – how cash moves in and out of your business, including monthly payments 
• Projected balance sheet – items that aren’t in your P&L, like interest debt, equity, and other factors that affect the net worth of your business 
• Break-even analysis – what you need to earn (at least) to make your expenses and start turning a profit 

A certified public accountant (CPA) can help you put together this part of your business plan for a reasonable fee. It’s well worth it if it helps you obtain investors or bank funding. 

How You Can Start Writing a Hair Salon Business Plan Right Now  

Ready to get started on your hair salon business plan today? Use these tips right away to make it both convincing to lenders and helpful as an internal roadmap: 

• Write a mission statement. To write a solid executive summary, it’s helpful to first compose a mission statement. This delves into why you want to open your business in the first place. Some people include this in their executive summary. Others keep it private and use it as an inspirational jumping-off point. 
• Include milestones in your financial projections. These are points where you will examine progress and see if you’re on target. Be ready to course correct if you’re not hitting your goals. 
• Compile an appendix. It’s a good idea to include an appendix in your business plan with copies of extra materials. This is an ideal place to include photos of your salon, certifications, licenses, and financial documents. It will keep everything organized for you and make you look more professional to lenders. 
• Enlist help. If you have questions about certain sections of your salon business plan, consider consulting with the appropriate professionals. Paying a one-time fee to an attorney or CPA can save you money and headaches down the line. You could even consider hiring a business manager to deal with office and financial issues. 
• Research your competition. If you’re not sure what services to offer or how you stand out, do some in-person recon. Visit competitor salons and check out influencers on social media. How can you align with service gaps and trends to make the most of your business? 
• Explore salon management software. Salon management software can save you a lot of time and make your job a lot easier. For instance, you can use it to quickly and easily generate reports to keep a pulse on your performance. It’ll also help you with other tasks related to your financial success. The best salon management software can automate appointments, keep track of inventory, and assist with marketing. 

Learn How to Manage a Hair Salon Business with SalonBiz  

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How to Write the Perfect Salon Business Plan in 6 Steps

Discover how to craft a winning salon business plan in just six steps! Boost your salon's success with expert tips, market analysis, and strategy insights.

No credit card required.

As a salon owner, having a well-thought-out business plan is essential to the success of your business. A salon business plan outlines your business goals, market analysis, marketing strategies, financial projections, and other key details, serving as a roadmap that guides you through the process of starting, running, and growing your salon. In this article, we’ll go over the key elements of a salon business plan and provide tips on how to write the best business plan for salons in 2023.

How Much Does It Cost to Run a Salon? 

Before you start writing a salon business plan, it’s important to get an idea of the startup and ongoing costs. As we discuss in this article , the costs of starting a salon range from $62,000 for an existing salon to $90,000 for a new operation. With some of the expenses, you’ll incur one-time costs – other expenses will be ongoing such as supplies and inventory. Here are some of the typical costs associated with starting a salon: 

Existing Salon 

When you buy an existing salon, be it a hair salon or nail salon, you save on the costs of buildout, salon equipment , and salon marketing, assuming the salon already has some of these elements in place. Here’s what you can expect to pay for the following:

• Rent deposit: $4,500
• Buyout of current salon: $10,500
• Leasehold improvements: $15,000
• Equipment: $10,000
• Initial supplies: $8,000
• Initial inventory: $4,000
• Certifications and licenses: $4,000
• Marketing: $5,000
• Legal or consulting fees: $1,000

Grand total: $62,000

The upfront costs of building out a brand-new salon, marketing it to local clients, and getting the business up and running will likely exceed those of buying an existing salon. Here are the typical expenses you can expect to incur for a new salon:

• Buyout of current salon: $0
• Leasehold improvements: $35,000
• Equipment: $25,000
• Marketing: $8,000

Grand total: $89,500

You may also want to budget for the following:

• If you need a loan or financing to cover startup costs, expect to pay interest rates of 1.25% to 10%.
• Salon insurance ranges from $50 to $1,000 per month.
• Salon booking software and a point of sale (POS) system range from free to $500 per month. GlossGenius starts at an industry-low $24 per month with low payment processing fees and includes a website, a branded card reader, and other extras.
• A salon website can cost you thousands, but with GlossGenius, it’s included free! Beautiful and customizable, your website is packed with scheduling features and is easy to navigate, helping to increase bookings and future appointments.

How Profitable Is Owning a Salon?

If you owned a salon during the pandemic, no doubt you experienced your fair share of struggles between lockdowns, closures, and reduced business hours. According to Statista , the U.S. market size of beauty salons dropped from $69 billion in 2019 to $42.3 billion in 2020. Fortunately, things are beginning to look up for hair, skin, nail, and other types of salons, with the market valued at $53.6 billion as of 2022.

You can take advantage of the comeback by approaching your salon startup with a solid plan in place, a realistic budget, and a marketing strategy. A beauty salon business plan can help you identify any questions , opportunities, and potential roadblocks so you can have the best chances of getting funding, earning a return on your investment and achieving profitability. The more you control your expenses and market your business successfully, the more profitable you will be – so be sure to take your time creating a salon business plan for your needs.

6 Steps to Writing a Hair Salon Business Plan

The business plan is the most important document for any salon owner. It’s a formal, written plan that describes the future of your business and how you intend to achieve it. A good business plan will help you stay on track, get funding if you need it, and avoid costly mistakes as you navigate through choppy waters in this industry. 

We know what you’re thinking – that a business plan is a monster of a document that will take a ton of time to create. But, it doesn’t have to be. In fact, you can pare it down to one page and still have an effective, clear document that outlines everything you (and any other interested parties) need to know about your new salon. Below are six steps to writing a salon business plan that will ensure your success.

Here are six steps to creating your salon business plan:

• Create an Executive Summary
• Map Out Your Branding Vision
• Research Your Industry
• Create a Client Acquisition Strategy
• Management and Operations
• Financial Planning

Let's dive deeper into each one.

1. Create an Executive Summary

The executive summary is the first section of your business and management plan and provides a brief overview of your salon business. This section should include your mission statement , business objectives, target market, products and beauty services, and financial projections. It should be concise, engaging, and compelling to grab the attention of potential investors, lenders, or partners. It also serves to clarify your goals so you can come back to them anytime you need a refresher or wish to update this information.

Your executive summary is just that: a summary. This means you do not have to get into every detail in this section; you’ll provide a more complete analysis in the individual sections of your business plan. Here are some key elements to include in the executive summary:

• An opening “hook.” The first sentence or two of your executive summary needs to draw in the reader; otherwise, your business plan might not get the attention it deserves. Grab your audience’s attention by sharing a compelling fact about your company, a memorable story related to your industry, or some other well-crafted description of your business that will make your business plan stand out.
• Summary of your business. Describe what your company does, what services and products you will offer, who will run the company, and other high-level details.
• Market analysis. Briefly describe the market landscape for your own salon to show there is a proven need for your services. Be sure to address who your competitors are, any advantages you have compared with others, and any research you’ve conducted to demonstrate there is a demand for your services in the area. 
• Products and services. Highlight the specific services your salon will offer, any products you will sell, and any other information showing that your salon will fill the need you’ve described in your market analysis summary – and how you’ll do it better than the competition.
• Financial information and projections. Give your reader an overview of your business financials, including any current sales and profits, the funding amount you’re looking to acquire or any funding you already have, and your projections for growth.
• Future plans. Tell your reader exactly how you plan to use any funds you acquire and how their investment could pay off. Imagine where you want your business to be in a year, five years, and so on. Make it clear how funding will help you get there.

2. Map Out Your Branding Vision

Branding isn’t just about creating a unique identity for your business; it’s also about helping people connect with that identity and remember your name anytime they need your services. Branding helps both current clients and new customers recognize who you are and why they would want to seek out your salon. In your business plan, be sure to map out your branding vision by including:

• A description of your salon business. Describe who you are and what you do.
• Your mission and vision statement. Briefly summarize why your salon should exist, its primary objective, and how you plan to achieve your goals.
• An overview of your products and services, your pricing strategy, and any unique features or benefits that differentiate your salon from others in the market. Discuss the specific services you will offer and their price points, plus any product lines you will carry, such as hair care products, makeup, or skincare.
• A description of the target audience and customer demographics. Include relevant research on your market and the people who will buy what you’re offering.

3. Research Your Industry

This section should include a market analysis that provides an in-depth look at the salon industry, including trends, customer demographics, competition, and opportunities. It should also identify your target market and describe how you plan to reach them. This section should demonstrate your knowledge of the market and your ability to capitalize on it, with details on:

• The industry and trends. Provide an overview of the salon industry with relevant statistics, especially those that pertain to your area of expertise and geographic location.
• Your competition. Conduct a competitive analysis to gain insights into your competition, their marketing strategies, and the services and products they offer. The goal is to show how you will capture market share using stronger business strategies that set you apart from your competitors.
• Market segmentation. With market segmentation , you break down a larger target market into a smaller group of customers you plan to serve. Demographics such as age and income, geographic location, lifestyles or psychographics, and behavioral factors like price sensitivity or product loyalty are just a few approaches to market segmentation that you can consider for your business plan.
• SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis is a way to assess your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It's an effective method for identifying your business strengths and weaknesses as well as external factors that may affect the success of your salon business.

4. Create a Client Acquisition Strategy

The client acquisition section of your salon business plan should describe how you plan to attract and retain customers as a hairstylist . It should outline your advertising and promotional strategies, such as social media marketing , SMS marketing , email marketing, and referral programs. This section should also discuss your sales strategy, including how you plan to increase sales and generate revenue.

• Description of marketing channels and tactics . Outline the different channels you will use to generate leads, such as social media, blog articles, emails, and text messages. 
• Sales forecasting and projections. Discuss how you will convert leads into clients, nurture them through the pipeline, and retain a loyal clientele. Include a realistic estimate of the quantity of goods and services you can sell within the forecast period (for example, monthly, quarterly, and annually). For a salon business, it’s helpful to determine the customer lifetime value of your typical client as well as the customer acquisition cost. You can then break down this number for the forecast period to determine the costs and sales projections.
• Customer acquisition and retention strategies. Include which strategies you will use and the associated costs, such as pay-per-click (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO), and paid ads on social media. Describe how you will retain customers – for example, through loyalty programs and responses to feedback and reviews on social media and Google. ‍
• Pricing strategy. It’s critical that you price your services and products competitively to drive revenue and profits. Detail the pricing strategy you plan to implement based on your buyer persona and competitive analysis. The strategy could be based on a variety of factors, but geographic location and local competition will likely be the biggest factors dictating your salon pricing strategy.

5. Management and Operations

The management and staffing section of your salon business plan should describe the organizational structure of your salon, including the roles and responsibilities of each staff member. It should also discuss your hiring and training practices, employee benefits , and compensation plans. This section should demonstrate your ability to attract and retain a skilled and motivated team, with information on your:

• Organizational structure. Spell out who runs the show and who reports to whom.
• Management team and staff. If you plan to hire a manager , look for someone who has experience in the industry and understands what it takes to run a salon. This person should also have good people skills and be able to work well with others.
• Business operations and processes. Consider which other support personnel you will need, such as an accountant and a dedicated marketing specialist. Don’t be a hero; you can’t do it all alone. ‍
• Legal and regulatory requirements. Include information on any legal advice you will employ to stay compliant with local, state, and federal guidelines.

Note that with GlossGenius, you can manage your team and collaborate with them to make your operations run more smoothly. Our software helps you delegate, mentor, and partner with others based on customizable permissions that let you grant as much or as little access as you wish. Easily manage your scheduling, booking, commissions, and reporting from one intuitive dashboard.

6. Financial Planning

Financial planning is a crucial section to include in any salon business plan. A cash flow forecast shows the anticipated amount of money coming into the business, as well as what you will spend on expenses. It also projects growth over time, which allows you to make predictions about future revenue and expenses so that you can better plan for them in advance.

The best way to get started with your financial projections is by creating an income statement (also called a profit and loss statement), which breaks down all income sources by category (e.g., retail sales and commissions), along with their associated costs (e.g., salaries). This will help provide insight into where your profits are coming from as well as areas where they could improve. Here are some key areas to cover in your salon business and marketing plan:

• Revenue and expense projections. Your revenue projections should consider the number of clients you expect to serve, as well as the average price per service. Your expense projections should reflect all costs associated with running your salon, such as utilities, rent, and supplies.
• Capital requirements and funding sources. Detail how much money you need to start and run your small business, including all costs associated with opening the salon. Describe the funding sources that you intend to use for starting your salon business, whether from personal funds, salon loans , or investors.
• Break-even analysis and profitability projections. A break-even analysis is a financial tool that shows how much revenue you need in order to cover your fixed costs (rent, utilities, etc.) and variable costs (such as salons supplies and staff wages). Profitability projections show how much profit you expect from your salon business for each year of operation. This is based on your estimates of revenue and expenses. You can use this information when seeking funding from investors or lenders.
• Financial ratios and metrics. A financial ratio is a measurement of the relationship between two numbers, usually expressed as a percentage or a fraction. For example, the working capital ratio compares your current assets to liabilities; this metric allows you to measure liquidity. Include the appropriate ratios and metrics in your business to demonstrate your company’s financial health.

A well-written salon business plan is essential for the success of your business. It provides a roadmap for achieving your business goals, attracting investors, and securing funding. By following the tips outlined in this article, you can write the best business plan for your salon and ensure your salon’s success!

As you’re creating your salon business plan, remember to start your free trial with GlossGenius and give yourself the best chances for success. From salon management to payment processing, we’ve got your new salon covered – making it easier to get up and running sooner rather than later.

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How to Write a Successful Beauty Salon Business Plan

By team zeller.

Discover the critical components to include in your salon business plan.

A business plan is far more than a simple document. Think of it as your pathway to business success. A salon business plan will help you outline and achieve your goals — whether that’s to start a salon from scratch, grow your business to new heights, or even expand into more specialised, complimentary markets. It’s a resource you can rely on every time you need to make a strategic business decision.  

Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be difficult. You don’t need an accounting degree or an MBA to create a useful plan for your salon. Instead, this guide will show you how to write one from scratch without the complexity.

Why you need a business plan for your salon

There are lots of good reasons why you should write a business plan for your hair or nail salon.

No matter what type of business you run, it pays to have a solid understanding of your industry, your market, and how your business fits into the competitive landscape. Preparing a business plan forces you to meticulously and objectively assess the strengths and weaknesses of your business, and can help keep you on the right path to making smarter business decisions. 

A business plan also provides your business with direction and structure to grow. As an entrepreneur, chances are you won’t be short of new ideas and opportunities. Sometimes the challenge lies in knowing which ones you should pursue. Some ideas are distractions. Others are money making growth opportunities. Having an up-to-date business plan , which includes your overarching business goals, will make it easier to identify which ideas are worth exploring. 

Starting a salon business plan

The key is to remember that your business plan is a living document. It will grow and evolve with your business. For that reason, It pays to start broad — documenting the bigger picture behind your business — before diving into the specific strategies which may change over time. 

Here are some things to consider.

Understanding what you hope to achieve with your business plan will help guide the content within it. Are you looking to create a blueprint for expanding your salon business in another location? Perhaps your aim is to attract investors, or win over a business partner? 

Whatever the objective, understanding the purpose of the document will help guide the contents.

Is your business idea financially feasible? It is important to be realistic about the likelihood of business success. This requires research. If you’ve run a business before, then you’ve likely already crunched the numbers. If you’re new to business, it pays to ask for professional advice. The Hair and Beauty Australian Industry Association, a not-for-profit body, can be a great source of operational, industrial and compliance advice for salon owners.

Once you’ve established that your business idea has legs, you’re almost ready to start writing your business plan. Before putting pen to paper, it’s important to do two things

• Set some tangible goals for your business Whether your goal is to see a certain number of clients every month, or to upsell a certain volume of products, it pays to identify these goals early, and incorporate these into your business plan. This will give you the metrics you need to track progress over time.
• Recognise the threats and opportunities for success Every business comes with a level of risk but being aware of these can help to minimise their impact on your business, or better still, turn threats into opportunities. Acknowledging potential challenges early means you have a better change of circumnavigating them or reducing their impact on your business as they arise. 

Essential components of your business plan

There are plenty of templates that you can use to prepare your business plan. Here are some key elements that you should consider when preparing a business plan for the opening of your salon. 

Executive summary

Though the executive summary sits at the beginning of your business plan, it is generally the last thing to be written as it summarises the key components of your business plan. 

Remember, your business plan may come in handy for attracting business partners, securing investment or getting business finance approval. Use the executive summary as an opportunity to provide a compelling snapshot of your business — make it engaging and highlight how you plan to make it a success. 

Business Overview

This section should provide key information about your business. What kind of salon are you running — and is it full-service, or niche? What makes it different from other salons in the area? Use this section to highlight your point of difference, and how your experience and expertise will contribute to the business’s success. 

You should also use this section of the business plan to describe where you plan to run your salon, the size and scale of the premises, and any local amenities (such as parking or access to public transport) that would make your salon appealing to your target audience. This information will come in handy when it comes time to consider marketing your business, as you’ll need to know how much foot traffic your salon will be exposed to. 

Finally, in this section you should also introduce your start-up plan and budget. This should identify any start-up capital you require to secure your premises and set up the salon, and how you plan to fund this set up. 

Products and Services

Whether you’re opening a full-service day spa, or delivering a specialised niche service like nail art, this section of your business plan should outline the products and services you plan to offer your customers. 

Consider things like customer demand for certain items, and whether your competitors provide a similar service. What are the costs associated with delivering these services? Are your prices reasonable, and within customer expectations?

If retail sales are part of your business strategy, consider how you will drive demand and sales to support your business goals. Will there be an incentive-based scheme to encourage staff to sell more products? Will product sales form part of staff KPIs? How will you train staff to sell without impacting the salon experience? 

Customer and Marketing Strategy

Your business plan should also outline your marketing strategy, which hinges on your customer.

Outline your customer persona and what makes them seek out your salon products and services. Are they looking for a high-end, luxury experience, or are they after affordable, no-frills solutions? Perhaps they’re after express services that can be fit into a lunch break? 

Once you know your target market and what will attract them to your salon, you’re in a strong position to market your business. Your plan should identify the best way to attract customers to the salon. 

Here are some strategies that you might consider:

• a referral program which rewards customers or other businesses who recommend your salon
• paid advertising in local press
• street signage
• promotional discounts for new customers
• content marketing via social media and other channels
• set up your Google My Business listing

Make sure to outline a realistic budget for how much you are prepared to spend to attract new clients to your salon.

Operations and Personnel 

How many stylists will it take to achieve your business vision? Will they be staff members, or contractors? Apprentices or seniors? Your personnel plan should outline your staffing requirements (including things like salaries) and trigger points for increasing your staffing numbers as your business grows. 

Your business plan should also outline what equipment you’ll need to run your salon efficiently and profitably. This could include hairstyling chairs and equipment like scissors, as well as business and financial tools , such as booking software and an EFTPOS machine . 

Financial Plan

Preparing a financial plan can be one of the more daunting elements of writing a business plan, but it is also one of the most critical. If your goal is to create a profitable, sustainable long-term business, then having a clear plan for how you will generate income is essential. 

As part of your financial plan, you should identify and explain any assumptions about your financials, including any expectations for estimated sales — considering both the cost of goods and expected revenue growth over time. You should also outline your plan for breaking even, managing cash flow and projected profit and loss for the short-to-medium term of your salon. 

Getting started with your business plan

When it comes to opening your own beauty salon, it pays to prepare for success with careful and considered planning. Seek advice from experts and peers in the beauty industry on what to include, and how to structure your business to safeguard your profitability and encourage growth over time. Most importantly, don’t worry if the first draft isn’t perfect. 

A business plan is a critical first step in consolidating your ideas, and laying out a blueprint for growing your salon. Yet business plans are designed to be living, breathing documents that should evolve over time as your business grows, new consumer trends emerge, and industry shifts occur. Committing a business plan to paper is just the first step.

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Salon Business Plan Template & Guide

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Salon Business Plan?

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 10,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their salons. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a salon business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Our salon business plan template works for all types of salons, including:

• Hair or Beauty Salons: which most commonly include hair-cutting, coloring and styling hair and other beauty services
• Nail Salons: which typically include nail treatments, manicures and pedicures
• Hair Removal Salons: commonly include waxing and other forms of hair removal
• Skin Care Salons: commonly include facials and other skin care services
• Tanning Salons: include tanning services
• Day Spa Salons: often include massages, aromatherapy and other services
• Combination Salons: include services from more than one of the above salon types

This being said, we also do have specific pages for information on our hair salon business plan ,  nail salon business plan , and beauty salon business plan .

Download our Ultimate Salon Business Plan Template here >

What Is a Salon Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your salon as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business’ goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Salon Business Plan

If you’re looking to start a salon or grow your existing salon you need a business plan. A salon business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your salon in order to improve your chances of achieving success. Your salon business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Source of Funding for Salons

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a salon are bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable. But they will want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a salon business.

The second most common form of funding for a salon is angel investors. Angel investors are wealthy individuals who will write you a check. They will either take equity in return for their funding, or, like a bank, they will give you a loan. Venture capitalists will not fund a salon. They might consider funding a chain of salons, but never an individual location. This is because most venture capitalists are looking for millions of dollars in return when they make an investment, and an individual location could never achieve such results.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

Salon business plan template.

Your salon business plan should include 10 sections as follows:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of salon you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a beauty salon with existing customers and revenues  that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of salons.

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the salon industry. Discuss the type of salon you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers. Provide a snapshot of your salon’s marketing plan. Identify your management team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of salon you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types:

• Beauty Salon
• Hair Removal Salon
• Skin Care Salon
• Tanning Salon
• Combination of the above types

In addition to explaining the type of salon you operate, the Company Analysis section of your salon business plan needs to provide background on your business.

Include answers to question such as:

• When and why did you start your salon business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include sales goals you’ve reached, new store openings, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the salon business.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the salon industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy particularly if your research identifies market trends. For example, if there was a trend towards new hair services, nail services, spa services or beauty services, it would be helpful to ensure your plan included offering such services.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the salon industry research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your salon business plan:

• How big is the beauty salon market and/or hair salon industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your salon. You can extrapolate such as figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your salon plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: college students, sports enthusiasts, soccer moms, techies, teens, baby boomers, etc.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of salon you operate. Clearly baby boomers would want a different atmosphere, pricing and product options, and would respond to different marketing promotions than teens.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most salons primarily serve customers living in their same city or town, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

With Growthink’s Ultimate Salon Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify your indirect and direct competitors and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other salons.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from you that aren’t direct competitors. This includes products they can purchase from supermarkets and other retailers both offline and online. You need to mention such competition to show you understand that not everyone in your target market frequents a salon on a regular basis or at all.

With regards to direct competition, you want to detail the other salons with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be salons located close to your location.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What services do they offer?
• What products do they offer?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to stand outside your competitors’ locations and ask customers as they leave what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide superior salon services?
• Will you provide superior salon products?
• Will you provide salon services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you make it easier or faster for customers to acquire your products?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a salon business plan, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : in the product section you should reiterate the type of salon that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific services you will be offering.

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the menu items you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your salon. Document your location and mention how the location will impact whether you achieve success. For example, is your beauty salon located next to a heavily populated office building, or gym, etc. Discuss how your location might provide a steady stream of customers.

Choosing a location for your salon is an extremely important decision. With the right location, the salon will at least launch on the right foot. With the wrong location, customers may never arrive in the first place. Consider the following two factors with regards to your location:

1. Proximity to Customer Base

To decide on a good location from a customer perspective, you must first know who your target customers are (stay-at-home moms, working women, teens, families) as discussed above. Once you’re clear on this, you can begin scouting locations. Being close to your customer base could mean being close to their homes, but could also mean being near their workplaces or en route between the two. Being close in distance is important, but being accessible (e.g., adequate parking) is even more important.

2. Landlord

Hopefully you’ll be in your location for many years. That means that you will be forming a long-term relationship, even a partnership, with your landlord. The landlord should be invested in the success of your business and understand that what is good for your salon is also good for them. During initial discussions with landlords, look out if you sense that they are focused solely on rules, restrictions and regulations, rather on what you want to do. If the landlord seems intent on starting an antagonistic relationship, think twice before signing the lease. When you choose your location, you are choosing a landlord so make sure you’ll be able to get along with them and have the leeway you need to run a successful salon.

Promotions : the final part of your salon marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Making your salon’s front store extra appealing to attract passing customers
• Developing and marketing your website
• Social media marketing (advertising and organic posts)
• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local bloggers and websites
• Partnerships with local organizations
• Local radio advertising
• Develop marketing materials

Also think about your salon’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP), which should answer why customers should choose you over other salons. Make sure your USP is reflected in your marketing.

Here are some additional marketing tips if you are launching a new salon:

Promote the Opening of Your Salon

To be sure of a well-attended launch event, start promoting early, with attractive signage outside your salon. This should be geared towards your target demographic – women for most salons. Setting up an employee on the street outside or nearby to hand out flyers in the days leading up to and during the opening event can increase visibility, especially if this is an uncommon occurrence in your neighborhood. The point is to stand out and to reach a large portion of your intended customer market with the message that your opening event will be something they don’t want to miss.

Plan a Great Spa or Salon Deal to Increase Profits

When opening, develop a clear deal or incentive for customers to attend and to try your services during the opening day, week, or month. Rather than offering discounts on different products, freebies, two-for-ones and other offers, try to find one nice offer and promote it heavily so that it is memorable both to those who hear about it beforehand and to those who take advantage of it. For example, a free pedicure with purchase of a manicure if you are a nail salon. The offer does not have to break the bank – it could be a small free gift with any service of $50 or more.

Plan for Smooth Salon Operations

To show off your salon at its best, having a pristine and spotless store is a minimal requirement. The operations have to be smooth as clockwork on opening day, especially if appointments and walk-ins make it a very busy first day or week. Customers who use your services during this time can become ambassadors to your customer target group for you, speaking of how wonderful the experience was, or they can spread the word about how they waited forever without hearing what was happening, how salon staff were sloppy or rude, and how they would never return. You need the early adopters on your side, so make sure the human, computer, and mechanical systems are all ready to work perfectly from day one and that you have contingency plans for unforeseen problems.

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your salon business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your salon such as serving customers, procuring supplies, salon equipment, keeping the salon clean, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to serve your 1,000th customer, or when you hope to reach $X in sales. It could also be when you expect to hire your Xth employee or launch a new location.

Management Team

To demonstrate your salon’s ability to succeed as a business, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in the salon business. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in salons and/or successfully running retail and small businesses.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements. This section of plan should also include startup costs and whether or not you are seeking funding.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you serve 20 customers per day or 50? Will your average price point be $50 or $100? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : While balance sheets include much information, to simplify them to the key items you need to know about, balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. For instance, if you spend $100,000 on building out your salon, that will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $100.000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt. For example, let’s say a company approached you with a massive $100,000 salon contract to provide salon services to their employees. Let’s assume the contract would cost you $50,000 to fulfill. Well, in most cases, you would have to pay that $50,000 now for supplies, employee salaries, etc. But let’s say the company didn’t pay you for 180 days. During that 180 day period, you could run out of money.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a salon:

• Location build-out including design fees, construction, etc.
• Cost of equipment like chairs, washing equipment, etc.
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Licenses and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your salon’s design blueprint or location lease.

Summary & Keys to Salon Success

Putting together a business plan for your salon is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the salon business plan template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will really understand the salon business, your competition and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful beauty salon or hair salon.

Finally, in addition to completing your salon business plan template, be sure to pay special attention to the following factors that often define success for salon businesses:

• Make sure all of your clients are thrilled with your services
• Keep your salon clean at all times
• Provide excellent communications with current and prospective clients
• Embrace new technology, particularly social media to engage your clients and get them to return to your salon
• Focus on growing revenues, but also on profits, by keeping a close eye on costs
• Hire the right team, train them well and treat them well so their performance is strong and they are loyal to your business

Download Our Salon Business Plan PDF

You can download our salon business plan PDF here . This is a business plan template you can use in PDF format.

Salon Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my salon business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Salon Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your Salon Business Plan.

Where Can I Download a Free Salon Business Plan PDF?

You can download our beauty salon business plan sample pdf here. Our salon business plan PDF template is a business plan template you can use in PDF format.

BUSINESS STRATEGIES

How to create a hair salon business plan

• Nirit Braun
• Sep 12, 2023

When setting up your own hair salon, one of the most important initial steps is crafting a well-thought-out and detailed business plan. Consider it your styling guide for success in the hair and beauty industry. This document isn't just about the right cut and color it's your roadmap to achieving your salon's objectives, whether you specialize in trendy haircuts, stunning makeovers or relaxing spa treatments.

Your hair salon business plan will help you navigate the ever-evolving world of starting a beauty business , helping you start a business with confidence.

Ready to kick things off? Begin making a website with Wix .

Benefits of a hair salon business plan

A well-structured business plan is vital for a number of reasons. Below is a breakdown of the top benefits for you to bear in mind.

Getting investors interested: Your well-thought-out business plan isn't just for show; it's what can help you woo investors and raise money for your business . It shows them you've got a plan, clear goals and a vision for profitability. In other words, it makes them more likely to open their wallets and invest in your salon dream.

Figuring out what you need: Writing a business plan forces you to think about everything you'll need to run your salon smoothly—from supplies and equipment to staff. By the end, you'll have a good handle on your startup and operating costs. Don't forget to factor into this the cost of opening a business, starting an LLC for example.

Drawing up your game plan : Think of your business plan as your playbook for success. It lays out the steps to make your salon thrive, helps you set achievable goals and gives you a roadmap for reaching them. Plus, it's got your back when it comes to handling challenges, with strategies to tackle whatever comes your way.

Outshining the competition : While creating your plan, you'll dive deep into your salon's market and competitors. That research helps you understand your customers, spot industry trends and figure out how to stand out from the competition.

Running a smooth ship : Your business plan isn't just about the big picture—it's also about the nitty-gritty details. It helps you plan things like where your salon should be located, how it should look, what equipment to get and how to manage your staff effectively.

Playing it safe: In the financial part of your plan, you'll lay out your salon's expected income, expenses, and profits. This not only helps you see if your business will make money but also prepares you to make smart financial decisions. Plus, it's your insurance against unexpected bumps in the road.

Read more about how to start a service business .

6 steps to creating a hair salon business plan

Let's dissect the key components of a hair salon business plan:

Executive summary

Business and domain names

Market analysis and research

Operations plan

Marketing and advertising plan

Financial plan

01. Executive summary

The executive summary is a concise overview of your entire hair salon business plan. It provides a snapshot of your business concept, strategies, financial projections and objectives. While it appears at the beginning of the plan, it's often written after the rest of the plan is complete to ensure all crucial details are included.

To write a clear executive summary for a hair salon business be sure to introduce your hair salon, detailing the services you offer and the unique value proposition that sets you apart in the industry. Then clearly state your short-term and long-term business goals. These should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART).

Remember to highlight what differentiates your hair salon from competitors, whether it's your exceptional stylists, innovative services or a specific niche you cater to. Als, provide a brief overview of the target market you're aiming to serve and the market demand for your services.

Offer a glimpse of your projected financials, including expected revenue, expenses and profitability within a specified timeframe. Additionally, include how much investment you're seeking or have secured to launch and grow your hair salon business.

Example of an executive summary for a hair salon business

"EleganceTresses Salon is poised to transform the hair care experience in the city. With a mission to blend style and artistry, we offer a range of premium hairstyling and beauty services that cater to a diverse clientele. Our SMART objectives include becoming the go-to destination for modern hair transformations, increasing customer retention by 20% in the first year and expanding our salon footprint to two additional locations within three years. What sets us apart is our team of master stylists, led by industry veterans with over 15 years of combined experience. We're seeking an initial investment of $250,000 to support salon setup, staff training and salon marketing initiatives . Our projected revenue of $500,000 in the first year, coupled with strategic partnerships, positions EleganceTresses Salon for rapid growth and profitability."

02. Business and domain names

Naming your business is crucial, as it will become an integral part of your brand identity. A memorable and relevant name enhances brand recognition and establishes trust with your customers. A business name generator can provide inspiration for a beauty business name that resonates with your salon's concept and values.

For more inspiration:

Nail business names

Beauty business name ideas

Selecting and registering a suitable domain name is equally important. Ensure your domain name aligns with your salon's name or services as this consistency makes it easier for customers to find you online.

Opt for a domain name that is simple to spell and remember and avoid using complex words or excessive characters. As part of this, if feasible, incorporate relevant keywords in your domain name to improve search engine visibility. Finally, check domain registration platforms to confirm your chosen domain name's availability.

Learn more about registering your business , which you’ll want to do once you’ve landed on a business name and a legal structure.

03. Market analysis and research

The market analysis and research section of a business plan is essential for understanding the competitive landscape and consumer preferences in the hair salon industry. This information forms the foundation of your business strategy.

Define your target audience based on demographics, lifestyles and hair care preferences.

Evaluate competing salons' offerings, pricing, location and customer reviews to identify gaps and opportunities.

Research industry trends, emerging styles and customer demands to align your beauty business ideas and services with current market expectations.

04. Operations plan

The operations plan details the practical aspects of running your hair salon. It covers location selection, salon design, equipment procurement and staffing.

Location: Describe how you'll choose a high-traffic, accessible location that caters to your target audience.

Interior design: Highlight your salon's ambiance, decor and layout to create a welcoming and appealing environment.

Equipment: Specify the types of equipment and products you'll use to provide top-notch services.

Staffing: Detail your staffing needs, including hairstylists, receptionists and other support roles and outline their qualifications.

Operation plans example:

"Our salon will be strategically situated in a bustling shopping district, attracting both locals and tourists. The interior design will exude contemporary elegance, featuring comfortable seating, modern decor and ample natural light. We'll invest in premium hairstyling equipment and a range of high-quality products to ensure exceptional services. Our staff will consist of experienced stylists specializing in diverse hair types and styles."

05. Marketing and advertising plan

The marketing and advertising plan outlines how you'll promote your hair salon, attract customers and build brand recognition. This can include marketing campaigns tailored to different customer segments, such as bridal packages, seasonal promotions or loyalty programs. Be sure to highlight how you'll utilize social media, a business website and online advertising to engage with customers and showcase your services.

Example of a marketing plan

"Our marketing strategy entails a mix of social media engagement and influencer partnerships. We'll leverage platforms like Instagram and Pinterest to showcase before-and-after transformations, share hairstyling tips and engage with our audience. Collaborating with local boutiques for joint promotions will enhance our visibility while offering special packages for bridal parties will establish us as a bridal hair expert."

Need some help building up your brand? Get inspiration from these beauty logo ideas and use Wix’s free logo maker to create your own, plus check out this guide on how to make a barber logo .

06. Financial plan

The financial plan section of your business plan provides insights into the financial aspects of your hair salon business. It will need to include a rundown of your initial expenses such as salon setup, equipment purchase, interior decor and initial marketing efforts.

After this, you'll need to estimate projected revenue based on services offered, pricing and anticipated customer volume. At the same time, document ongoing costs, including rent, utilities, staffing salaries, product replenishment and marketing expenditures.

Then lay out the initial investment you'll need and potential sources of funding, such as personal savings, loans or investors.

It’s also important to project when your hair salon is expected to become profitable based on revenue growth and expense management.

Example of a financial plan

"Startup costs are estimated at $120,000, covering salon setup, equipment and marketing campaigns. We project an annual revenue of $300,000 within the first year, with a steady increase of 15% in subsequent years. Operating expenses, including rent, staff salaries and product inventory, are projected at $180,000 annually. We anticipate becoming profitable by the end of Year 2."

Got another business idea in mind?

Still trying to decide on the best type of business to pursue? Check out the guides below and read about more service business ideas .

How to start a nail business

How to start an online business

How to start a consulting business

How to start a fitness business

How to start a fitness clothing line

How to start a makeup line

How to start a candle business

How to start a clothing business

How to start an online boutique

How to start a T-shirt business

How to start a jewelry business

How to start a subscription box business

How to start a beauty business

How to start a trucking business

How to start a construction business

How to start a landscaping business

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How to start a food prep business

How to start a vending machine business

How to start a contractor business

How to start a virtual assistant business

How to start a homecare business

How to start a coaching business

How to start a handyman business

Check out more service business examples

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How to write a business plan for a beauty salon?

Creating a business plan for a beauty salon is an essential process for any entrepreneur. It serves as a roadmap that outlines the necessary steps to be taken to start or grow the business, the resources required, and the anticipated financial outcomes. It should be crafted with method and confidence.

This guide is designed to provide you with the tools and knowledge necessary for creating a beauty salon business plan, covering why it is so important both when starting up and running an established business, what should be included in your plan, how it should be structured, what tools should be used to save time and avoid errors, and other helpful tips.

We have a lot to cover, so let's get to it!

In this guide:

Why write a business plan for a beauty salon?

• What information is needed to create a business plan for a beauty salon?
• What goes in the financial forecast for a beauty salon?
• What goes in the written part of a beauty salon business plan?
• What tool can I use to write my beauty salon business plan?

Understanding the document's scope and goals will help you easily grasp its structure and content. Before diving into the specifics of the plan, let's take a moment to explore the key reasons why having a beauty salon business plan is so crucial.

To have a clear roadmap to grow the business

Small businesses rarely experience a constant and predictable environment. Economic cycles go up and down, while the business landscape is mutating constantly with new regulations, technologies, competitors, and consumer behaviours emerging when we least expect it.

In this dynamic context, it's essential to have a clear roadmap for your beauty salon. Otherwise, you are navigating in the dark which is dangerous given that - as a business owner - your capital is at risk.

That's why crafting a well-thought-out business plan is crucial to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of your venture.

To create an effective business plan, you'll need to take a step-by-step approach. First, you'll have to assess your current position (if you're already in business), and then identify where you'd like your beauty salon to be in the next three to five years.

Once you have a clear destination for your beauty salon, you'll focus on three key areas:

• Resources: you'll determine the human, equipment, and capital resources needed to reach your goals successfully.
• Speed: you'll establish the optimal pace at which your business needs to grow if it is to meet its objectives within the desired timeframe.
• Risks: you'll identify and address potential risks you might encounter along the way.

By going through this process regularly, you'll be able to make informed decisions about resource allocation, paving the way for the long-term success of your business.

To maintain visibility on future cash flows

Businesses can go for years without making a profit, but they go bust as soon as they run out of cash. That's why "cash is king", and maintaining visibility on your beauty salon's future cash flows is critical.

How do I do that? That's simple: you need an up-to-date financial forecast.

The good news is that your beauty salon business plan already contains a financial forecast (more on that later in this guide), so all you have to do is to keep it up-to-date.

To do this, you need to regularly compare the actual financial performance of your business to what was planned in your financial forecast, and adjust the forecast based on the current trajectory of your business.

Monitoring your beauty salon's financial health will enable you to identify potential financial problems (such as an unexpected cash shortfall) early and to put in place corrective measures. It will also allow you to detect and capitalize on potential growth opportunities (higher demand from a given segment of customers for example).

To secure financing

Whether you are a startup or an existing business, writing a detailed beauty salon business plan is essential when seeking financing from banks or investors.

This makes sense given what we've just seen: financiers want to ensure you have a clear roadmap and visibility on your future cash flows.

Banks will use the information included in the plan to assess your borrowing capacity (how much debt your business can support) and your ability to repay the loan before deciding whether they will extend credit to your business and on what terms.

Similarly, investors will review your plan carefully to assess if their investment can generate an attractive return on investment.

To do so, they will be looking for evidence that your beauty salon has the potential for healthy growth, profitability, and cash flow generation over time.

Now that you understand why it is important to create a business plan for a beauty salon, let's take a look at what information is needed to create one.

Information needed to create a business plan for a beauty salon

Drafting a beauty salon business plan requires research so that you can project sales, investments and cost accurately in your financial forecast, and convince the reader that there is a viable commercial opportunity to be seized.

Below, we'll focus on three critical pieces of information you should gather before starting to write your plan.

Carrying out market research for a beauty salon

Carrying out market research before writing a business plan for a beauty salon is essential to ensure that the financial projections are accurate and realistic.

Market research helps you gain insight into your target customer base, competitors, pricing strategies and other key factors which can have an impact on the commercial success of your business.

In particular, it is useful in forecasting revenue as it provides valuable data regarding potential customers’ spending habits and preferences.

You may find that customers prefer organic, natural beauty products, and may be willing to pay a premium for them. Additionally, research might reveal that customers might be looking for more affordable, quick treatments that can be done in-salon, such as express facials or microdermabrasion.

This information can then be used to create more accurate financial projections which will help investors make informed decisions about investing in your beauty salon.

Developing the marketing plan for a beauty salon

Before delving into your beauty salon business plan, it's imperative to budget for sales and marketing expenses.

To achieve this, a comprehensive sales and marketing plan is essential. This plan should provide an accurate projection of the necessary actions to acquire and retain customers.

Additionally, it will outline the required workforce to carry out these initiatives and the corresponding budget for promotions, advertising, and other marketing endeavours.

By budgeting accordingly, you can ensure that the right resources are allocated to these vital activities, aligning them with the sales and growth objectives outlined in your business plan.

The staffing and capital expenditure requirements of a beauty salon

Whether you are starting or expanding a beauty salon, it is important to have a clear plan for recruitment and capital expenditures (investment in equipment and real estate) in order to ensure the success of the business.

Both the recruitment and investment plans need to be coherent with the timing and level of growth planned in your forecast, and require appropriate funding.

A beauty salon might incur staffing costs such as wages for a hairdresser, a beautician, and a receptionist. Additionally, they might have to purchase equipment such as hair clippers, hair dryers, and salon chairs. They may also need to purchase products such as shampoos, conditioners, and styling products.

In order to create a realistic financial forecast, you will also need to consider the other operating expenses associated with running the business on a day-to-day basis (insurance, bookkeeping, etc.). 

Once you have all the necessary information to create a business plan for your beauty salon, it is time to start creating your financial forecast.

What goes into your beauty salon's financial forecast?

The objective of the financial forecast of your beauty salon's business plan is to show the growth, profitability, funding requirements, and cash generation potential of your business over the next 3 to 5 years.

The four key outputs of a financial forecast for a beauty salon are:

• The profit and loss (P&L) statement ,
• The projected balance sheet ,
• The cash flow forecast ,
• And the sources and uses table .

Let's look at each of these in a bit more detail.

The projected P&L statement

The projected P&L statement for a beauty salon shows how much revenue and profit your business is expected to make in the future.

A healthy beauty salon's P&L statement should show:

• Sales growing at (minimum) or above (better) inflation
• Stable (minimum) or expanding (better) profit margins
• A healthy level of net profitability

This will of course depend on the stage of your business: numbers for a startup will look different than for an established beauty salon.

The forecasted balance sheet of your beauty salon

The projected balance sheet of your beauty salon will enable the reader of your business plan to assess the overall financial health of your business.

It shows three elements: assets, liabilities and equity:

• Assets: are productive resources owned by the business, such as equipment, cash, and accounts receivable (money owed by clients).
• Liabilities: are debts owed to creditors, lenders, and other entities, such as accounts payable (money owed to suppliers).
• Equity: includes the sums invested by the shareholders or business owners and the profits and losses accumulated by the business to date (which are called retained earnings). It is a proxy for the value of the owner's stake in the business.

Analysing your beauty salon projected balance sheet provides an understanding of your beauty salon's working capital structure, investment and financing policies.

In particular, the readers of your plan can compare the level of financial debt on the balance sheet to the equity value to measure the level of financial risk (equity doesn't need to be reimbursed, while financial debt must be repaid, making it riskier).

They can also use your balance sheet to assess your beauty salon's liquidity and solvency:

• A liquidity analysis: focuses on whether or not your business has sufficient cash and short-term assets to cover its liabilities due in the next 12 months.
• A solvency analysis: takes and longer view to assess whether or not your business has the capacity to repay its debts over the medium-term.

The cash flow forecast

As we've seen earlier in this guide, monitoring future cash flows is the key to success and the only way of ensuring that your beauty salon has enough cash to operate.

As you can expect showing future cash flows is the main role of the cash flow forecast in your beauty salon business plan.

It is best practice to organise the cash flow statement by nature in order to show the cash impact of the following areas:

• Cash flow generated from operations: the operating cash flow shows how much cash is generated or consumed by the business's commercial activities
• Cash flow from investing activities: the investing cash flow shows how much cash is being invested in capital expenditure (equipment, real estate, etc.) either to maintain the business's equipment or to expand its capabilities
• Cash flow from financing activities: the financing cash flow shows how much cash is raised or distributed to financiers

Looking at the cash flow forecast helps you to make sure that your business has enough cash to keep running, and can help you anticipate potential cash shortfalls.

Your beauty salon business plan will normally include both yearly and monthly cash flow forecasts so that the readers can view the impact of seasonality on your business cash position and generation.

The initial financing plan

The initial financing plan, also known as a sources and uses table, is a valuable resource to have in your business plan when starting your beauty salon as it reveals the origins of the money needed to establish the business (sources) and how it will be allocated (uses).

Having this table helps show what costs are involved in setting up your beauty salon, how risks are shared between founders, investors and lenders, and what the starting cash position will be. This cash position needs to be sufficient to sustain operations until the business reaches a break-even point.

Now that you have a clear understanding of what goes into the financial forecast of your beauty salon business plan, let's shift our focus to the written part of the plan.

The written part of a beauty salon business plan

The written part of the business plan is where you will explain what your business does and how it operates, what your target market is, whom you compete against, and what strategy you will put in place to seize the commercial opportunity you've identified.

Having this context is key for the reader to form a view on whether or not they believe that your plan is achievable and the numbers in your forecast realistic.

The written part of a beauty salon business plan is composed of 7 main sections:

• The executive summary
• The presentation of the company
• The products and services
• The market analysis
• The strategy
• The operations
• The financial plan

Let's go through the content of each section in more detail!

1. The executive summary

The executive summary, the first section of your beauty salon's business plan, serves as an inviting snapshot of your entire plan, leaving readers eager to know more about your business.

To compose an effective executive summary, start with a concise introduction of your business, covering its name, concept, location, history, and unique aspects. Share insights about the services or products you intend to offer and your target customer base.

Subsequently, provide an overview of your beauty salon's addressable market, highlighting current trends and potential growth opportunities.

Then, present a summary of critical financial figures, such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

You should then include a summary of your key financial figures such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

Lastly, address any funding needs in the "ask" section of your executive summary.

2. The presentation of the company

As you build your beauty salon business plan, the second section deserves attention as it delves into the structure and ownership, location, and management team of your company.

In the structure and ownership part, you'll provide valuable insights into the legal structure of the business, the identities of the owners, and their respective investments and ownership stakes. This level of transparency is vital, particularly if you're seeking financing, as it clarifies which legal entity will receive the funds and who holds the reins of the business.

Moving to the location part, you'll offer a comprehensive view of the company's premises and articulate why this specific location is strategic for the business, emphasizing factors like catchment area, accessibility, and nearby amenities.

When describing the location of your beauty salon, you may emphasize its accessibility to potential customers. It could be located in a bustling area with plenty of foot traffic, as well as near public transportation hubs. You might also highlight the local amenities, such as shopping centers, restaurants, and entertainment venues, to demonstrate the potential for your beauty salon to draw customers from the surrounding area. Additionally, the local demographics could be a selling point, as you may be able to point to high incomes and a high concentration of people with disposable income as an indication of the potential success of your beauty salon.

Lastly, you should introduce your esteemed management team. Provide a thorough explanation of each member's role, background, and extensive experience.

It's equally important to highlight any past successes the management team has achieved and underscore the duration they've been working together. This information will instil trust in potential lenders or investors, showcasing the strength and expertise of your leadership team and their ability to deliver the business plan.

3. The products and services section

The products and services section of your beauty salon business plan should include a detailed description of what your company sells to its customers. 

For example, your beauty salon may offer haircuts, hair coloring, and makeup services to its customers. Haircuts allow customers to obtain a new look that can help them to feel more confident and attractive. Hair coloring services can help customers to change their hair colors to better match their skin tone or to try a different look. Makeup services can help customers to enhance their facial features and to achieve a desired look.

The reader will want to understand what makes your beauty salon unique from other businesses in this competitive market.

When drafting this section, you should be precise about the categories of products or services you sell, the clients you are targeting and the channels that you are targeting them through. 

4. The market analysis

When outlining your market analysis in the beauty salon business plan, it's essential to include comprehensive details about customers' demographics and segmentation, target market, competition, barriers to entry, and relevant regulations.

The primary aim of this section is to give the reader an understanding of the market size and appeal while demonstrating your expertise in the industry.

To begin, delve into the demographics and segmentation subsection, providing an overview of the addressable market for your beauty salon, key marketplace trends, and introducing various customer segments and their preferences in terms of purchasing habits and budgets.

Next, shift your focus to the target market subsection, where you can zoom in on the specific customer segments your beauty salon targets. Explain how your products and services are tailored to meet the unique needs of these customers.

For example, your target market might include young professional women. These women typically have a higher disposable income and are willing to invest in their personal beauty and appearance. They might look for services such as manicures, pedicures, facials, and hair care.

In the competition subsection, introduce your main competitors and explain what sets your beauty salon apart from them.

Finally, round off your market analysis by providing an overview of the main regulations that apply to your beauty salon.

5. The strategy section

When writing the strategy section of a business plan for your beauty salon, it is essential to include information about your competitive edge, pricing strategy, sales & marketing plan, milestones, and risks and mitigants.

The competitive edge subsection should explain what sets your company apart from its competitors. This part is especially key if you are writing the business plan of a startup, as you have to make a name for yourself in the marketplace against established players.

The pricing strategy subsection should demonstrate how you intend to remain profitable while still offering competitive prices to your customers.

The sales & marketing plan should outline how you intend to reach out and acquire new customers, as well as retain existing ones with loyalty programs or special offers. 

The milestones subsection should outline what your company has achieved to date, and its main objectives for the years to come - along with dates so that everyone involved has clear expectations of when progress can be expected.

The risks and mitigants subsection should list the main risks that jeopardize the execution of your plan and explain what measures you have taken to minimize these. This is essential in order for investors or lenders to feel secure in investing in your venture.

Your beauty salon could face the risk of theft. For instance, expensive equipment or products may be stolen, leaving your salon out of pocket and unable to operate. Additionally, you could face the risk of damage to your property. For instance, a fire or natural disaster could cause significant damage to your buildings, equipment, and products, making it difficult for you to continue operating.

6. The operations section

The operations of your beauty salon must be presented in detail in your business plan.

Begin by addressing your staff, specifying the main roles and your recruitment plan to support the anticipated growth. Outline the qualifications and experience needed for each role and discuss your recruitment strategies, which may involve using job boards, referrals, or headhunters.

Next, clearly state your beauty salon's operating hours, allowing the reader to gauge the adequacy of your staffing levels. Additionally, mention any considerations for varying opening times during peak seasons and your approach to handling customer queries outside regular operating hours.

The key assets and intellectual property (IP) required to run your business should also be highlighted. If you rely on licenses, trademarks, physical structures like equipment or property, or lease agreements, ensure they are well-documented in this section.

You may have key assets such as staff and equipment, which could be seen as intellectual property. Additionally, the beauty salon may also have a unique name, logo, or slogan that is associated with the business, as well as a unique selection of services and treatments that could be seen as part of the salon's intellectual property.

Finally, provide a comprehensive list of suppliers you intend to collaborate with, along with a breakdown of their services and main commercial terms, such as price, payment terms, break clauses and contract duration. Investors often seek insight into the reasons behind your supplier choices, which may include a preference for higher-quality products or established relationships from past ventures.

7. The presentation of the financial plan

The financial plan section is where we will include the financial forecast we discussed earlier in this guide.

Now that you have a clear idea of what goes into a beauty salon business plan, let's look at some of the tools you can use to create yours efficiently.

What tool should I use to write my beauty salon's business plan?

In this section, we will be reviewing the two main options for writing a beauty salon business plan efficiently:

• Using specialized software,
• Outsourcing the drafting to the business plan writer.

Using an online business plan software for your beauty salon's business plan

Using online business planning software is the most efficient and modern way to create a beauty salon business plan.

There are several advantages to using specialized software:

• You can easily create your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
• You are guided through the writing process by detailed instructions and examples for each part of the plan
• You can access a library of dozens of complete business plan samples and templates for inspiration
• You get a professional business plan, formatted and ready to be sent to your bank or investors
• You can easily track your actual financial performance against your financial forecast
• You can create scenarios to stress test your forecast's main assumptions
• You can easily update your forecast as time goes by to maintain visibility on future cash flows
• You have a friendly support team on standby to assist you when you are stuck

If you're interested in using this type of solution, you can try The Business Plan Shop for free by signing up here .

Hiring a business plan writer to write your beauty salon's business plan

Outsourcing your beauty salon business plan to a business plan writer can also be a viable option.

Business plan writers are skilled in creating error-free business plans and accurate financial forecasts. Moreover, hiring a consultant can save you valuable time, allowing you to focus on day-to-day business operations.

However, it's essential to be aware that hiring business plan writers will be expensive, as you're not only paying for their time but also the software they use and their profit margin.

Based on experience, you should budget at least £1.5k ($2.0k) excluding tax for a comprehensive business plan, and more if you require changes after initial discussions with lenders or investors.

Also, exercise caution when seeking investment. Investors prefer their funds to be directed towards business growth rather than spent on consulting fees. Therefore, the amount you spend on business plan writing services and other consulting services should be insignificant compared to the amount raised.

Keep in mind that one drawback is that you usually don't own the business plan itself; you only receive the output, while the actual document is saved in the consultant's business planning software. This can make it challenging to update the document without retaining the consultant's services.

For these reasons, carefully consider outsourcing your beauty salon business plan to a business plan writer, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of seeking outside assistance.

Why not create your beauty salon's business plan using Word or Excel?

Using Microsoft Excel and Word (or their Google, Apple, or open-source equivalents) to write a beauty salon business plan is a terrible idea.

For starters, creating an accurate and error-free financial forecast on Excel (or any spreadsheet) is very technical and requires both a strong grasp of accounting principles and solid skills in financial modelling.

As a result, it is unlikely anyone will trust your numbers unless - like us at The Business Plan Shop - you hold a degree in finance and accounting and have significant financial modelling experience in your past.

The second reason is that it is inefficient. Building forecasts on spreadsheets was the only option in the 1990s and early 2000s, nowadays technology has advanced and software can do it much faster and much more accurately.

And with the rise of AI, software is also becoming smarter at helping us detect mistakes in our forecasts and helping us analyse the numbers to make better decisions.

Also, using software makes it easy to compare actuals vs. forecasts and maintain our forecasts up to date to maintain visibility on future cash flows - as we discussed earlier in this guide - whereas this is a pain to do with a spreadsheet.

That's for the forecast, but what about the written part of my beauty salon business plan?

This part is less error-prone, but here also software brings tremendous gains in productivity:

• Word processors don't include instructions and examples for each part of your business plan
• Word processors don't update your numbers automatically when they change in your forecast
• Word processors don't handle the formatting for you

Overall, while Word or Excel may be viable options for creating a beauty salon business plan for some entrepreneurs, it is by far not the best or most efficient solution.

• Using business plan software is a modern and cost-effective way of writing and maintaining business plans.
• A business plan is not a one-shot exercise as maintaining it current is the only way to keep visibility on your future cash flows.
• A business plan has 2 main parts: a financial forecast outlining the funding requirements of your beauty salon and the expected growth, profits and cash flows for the next 3 to 5 years; and a written part which gives the reader the information needed to decide if they believe the forecast is achievable.

We hope that this in-depth guide met your expectations and that you now have a clear understanding of how to write your beauty salon business plan. Do not hesitate to contact our friendly team if you have questions additional questions we haven't addressed here.

Also on The Business Plan Shop

• How to write a business plan to secure a bank loan?
• Key steps to write a business plan?
• Top mistakes to avoid in your business plan

Do you know entrepreneurs interested in starting or growing a beauty salon? Share this article with them!

Founder & CEO at The Business Plan Shop Ltd

Guillaume Le Brouster is a seasoned entrepreneur and financier.

Guillaume has been an entrepreneur for more than a decade and has first-hand experience of starting, running, and growing a successful business.

Prior to being a business owner, Guillaume worked in investment banking and private equity, where he spent most of his time creating complex financial forecasts, writing business plans, and analysing financial statements to make financing and investment decisions.

Guillaume holds a Master's Degree in Finance from ESCP Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business & Management from Paris Dauphine University.

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Beauty Salon Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Beauty Salon Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your beauty salon business plan.

We have helped over 100,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their beauty salons.

Below is a salon business plan example to help you create your own beauty salon business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

Major Lengths Beauty Salon is a newly established hair and beauty bar located in Glendale, Arizona that is founded by Jenna Diaz, a local hair stylist and aesthetician that has worked in the industry for over 15 years. Jenna’s knowledge in hair, nail, and facial trends have made her a popular stylist in the community. As her client list continues to grow, Jenna realizes that it’s time for her to open up her own salon.

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will be located in Glendale’s upscale district in a 5,000 square foot retail space. The area is highly trafficked with middle to high income residents who spend on luxury items such as cars, clothes, jewelry.

The beauty salon will offer haircuts and treatments, facials, manicures, and pedicures. Major Lengths will also carry a large selection of hair and beauty products that will be available for purchase. Jenna will have a loyalty program where the top clients will receive discounts on their service as a thank you for remaining loyal and referring other potential clients to the salon.

Product Offering

The following are the services that Major Lengths Beauty Salon will provide:

• Color Treatment
• Healthy Hair Treatment
• Nail Services

Customer Focus

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will target the male and female adult population of Glendale, although the majority of clientele will be women. They will be middle to high income and working in a variety of industries, such as medical, legal, business, education, or other white collar professions. The salon will target stay at home mothers as well who enjoy a day of pampering.

Management Team

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will be owned and operated by Jenna Diaz, a local Arizona hair stylist and aesthetician. Her years of experience and in the industry have allowed her to meet the following talented individuals.

Jenna has recruited a talented nail technician and aesthetician from her previous salon to join her at Major Lengths. Jenna regards them as the best in the industry and knows that their quality of work is up to her high standards. They also have a loyal and large list of clients that will likely follow them to the new salon.

While the three of them will be in charge of their respective department, Jenna will be the head manager to oversee the entire operation of the beauty salon.

Success Factors

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will be able to achieve success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• Latest hair and nail trends
• Modern and comfortable environment
• More selection of each service offered than any other salon in town
• Major Lengths Beauty Salon offers the best pricing in town

Financial Highlights

Major Lengths Beauty Salon is seeking $100,000 in debt financing to open the beauty salon. The funding will be dedicated towards securing the retail space and purchasing the salon furniture, equipment, decorations, opening inventory, and working capital. The breakout of the funding is below:

• Beauty salon build-out: $30,000
• Opening inventory, furniture, equipment, decorations:  $40,000
• Three months of overhead expenses (payroll, rent, utilities):  $15,000
• Marketing costs: $5,000
• Working capital:  $10,000

  The following graph below outlines the pro forma financial projections for Major Lengths Beauty Salon.

Company Overview

Who is major lengths beauty salon.

Major Lengths Beauty Salon is a newly established hair and beauty bar located in Glendale, Arizona. The company is founded by Jenna Diaz, a local hair stylist and aesthetician that has dedicated her career to making women look and feel their best. Throughout her years in the beauty industry, Jenna gained extensive knowledge in hair, nail, and facial trends as well as how to give exceptional customer service to all of her clients. Jenna realizes that men and women invest a lot of time and money into their appearance and she takes extra care to ensure her clients not only feel special, but walk away with their desired result.

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will be located in Glendale’s upscale district in a 5,000 square foot retail space. The area is highly trafficked with middle to high income residents who spend on luxury items such as cars, clothes, jewelry. Some of Arizona’s most expensive homes are within a 15-mile radius from the location. The salon will be decorated with a contemporary style, have modern furnishings, and include a welcoming waiting and reception area, large hair styling room, and separate areas for facials and nail services.

Major Lengths Beauty Salon History

Major Lengths is owned and operated by Jenna Diaz, a local hair stylist and aesthetician who has made her career working in the beauty industry for the past 15 years in Glendale. She has gained extensive knowledge through her continuing education and industry seminars. Jenna has a long list of loyal clientele who will follow her to her new salon. Aside from her beauty salon knowledge and expertise, Jenna has taken local business courses to learn salon management and leading a small team of stylists, manicurists, and aestheticians.

Since incorporation, Major Lengths Beauty Salon has achieved the following milestones:

• Registered Major Lengths Beauty Salon, LLC to transact business in the state of Arizona.
• Has obtained the necessary salon permits and licenses for the state of California.
• Has a lease contract in place for the 5,000 square foot beauty salon.
• Has developed the complete list of salon services and products.
• Has developed the beauty salon’s logo and branding image.
• Began recruiting a team of stylists, manicurists, and nail technicians.

Major Lengths Beauty Salon Products

The following will be the services Major Lengths Beauty Salon will provide:

Industry Analysis

The Beauty Salon industry is expected to increase in size by 2.5% over the next five years. Demand for industry services mirrors broader economic performance, as economic growth boosts consumer spending on personal care products and services. Specifically, new products and services have favorably contributed to industry revenue growth over the majority of the past five years.

Online platforms such as Instagram and Facebook have provided a convenient and low-cost marketing strategy for many stylists and technicians to garner new clientele. Higher service prices and increased consumer spending on high-margin merchandise and services have also fueled revenue growth, as operators capitalize on rising per capita disposable income. Continued growth in household income over the outlook period is expected to drive consumer spending and boost demand for premium personal care services. Moreover, equipped with larger budgets, consumers will likely continue to favor professional salon products and services, such as hair coloring services, over less expensive alternatives sold at drugstores and supermarkets. Environmental sustainability concerns are expected to become more prevalent over the next five years, leading salons to offer a wider array of eco-friendly products that appeal to trending consumer preferences. Specifically, nontoxic products will likely benefit industry revenue, staff and patrons. This growing niche will likely drive hair salon revenue over the coming years.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market.

The precise demographics for Glendale, Arizona are:

Customer Segmentation

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Stay at home mothers and fathers
• Working professionals
• College students
• Retired females
• Mothers with adult or teenage daughters

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.

Hair Xtreme

Hair Xtreme is located on the west side of Glendale and is owned by a local hair stylist with over 30 years of experience. Hair Xtreme specializes in haircuts and hair coloring services as well as hair color correction. The owner is also certified in Balayage highlighting by the prestigious L’oreal SOHO Academy. Hair Xtreme Beauty Salon was established to create a higher level of service in the Glendale community and has amassed a large clientele. The salon is regarded as the go-to salon for anyone looking for extreme color or haircut transformation. The pricing of services are on the higher end of the spectrum and caters to the community in the middle to higher income range.

Hair Xtreme Beauty Salon’s full list of services include haircuts, balayage, ombre, highlights, color retouch, hair treatments, and special occasion styles. The salon is open Tuesday through Saturday and is by appointment only.

The Complete Package

The Complete Package is not only a hair and nail salon in Glendale, but also provides massage treatment, eyelash extensions, and body treatments. The salon is moderately priced and leans to be more affordable to target the population who doesn’t spend lavishly on beauty services, but also occasionally like to get pampered. Owned and operated by a mother and daughter team of hair stylists, The Complete Package is located in a small retail shopping center in the middle of the city. The salon has been in operation for over 20 years and was founded by Kate Beneducci. She was able to bring The Complete Package into operation due to her experience and background in cosmetics, marketing, and management. Every single stylist is a certified cosmetologist and are all required to attend a mandatory training every year to learn the latest techniques.

The Complete Package’s full list of salon services include hair, makeup, eyelash extensions, and nails. The full list of spa services include waxing, facials, microdermabrasion, massage, and body treatments. The salon regularly posts promotions to increase customer loyalty. The Complete Package is open daily by appointment and is able to take walk-ins Friday through Sunday.

Fringe Beauty Salon and Spa

Fringe Beauty Salon and Spa is located on the west side of Glendale, Arizona and was established in 2013 as a premier beauty salon. Fringe caters to the higher income clientele and their pricing is the most expensive in town. The owner relocated to Glendale to start her own beauty salon after working in the beauty industry in New York and Los Angeles for many years. She did hair and salon services for many celebrities and has been known to be the stylist for awards shows such as the Emmys and Oscars.

As a Glendale native, she relocated to her hometown to provide a higher quality of salon services to the community. The full list of services for Fringe Beauty Salon include haircuts, hair treatments, hair color, balayage, ombre, special occasion, manicures, pedicures, massage, facials, eyelash extensions, waxing, and makeup.

With a luxury atmosphere and relaxing spa environment, Fringe Beauty Salon and Spa is frequently booked for those wanting a full day of pampering.

Competitive Advantage

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will be able to offer the following advantages over their competition:

• Friendly and knowledgeable staff who are all trained and experienced in the latest hair and beauty trends.
• Complete list of beauty salon services intended to provide a full day of pampering and relaxation.
• Casual and comfortable environment with a luxurious feel.
• Major Lengths Beauty Salon offers the best pricing in town for the high quality of services provided. Their pricing structure is the most cost effective compared to the competition.

Marketing Plan

Brand & value proposition.

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will offer the unique value proposition to its clientele:

• Complete list of beauty salon services all provided by trained and knowledgeable hair stylists, manicurists, and aestheticians.
• Pricing is affordable and moderate so customers perceive value when visiting the beauty salon.

Promotions Strategy

The promotions strategy for Major Lengths Beauty Salon is as follows:

Website/SEO Marketing

Major Lengths Beauty Salon has hired an advertising firm to develop their branding image and logo. They will also develop the hair salon’s website. The website will include a full list of services, pricing, and pictures. The advertising company will also manage the company’s website presence with SEO marketing tactics so that anytime someone types in the Google or Bing search engine “Glendale beauty salon” or “beauty salon near me”, Major Lengths Beauty Salon will be listed at the top of the search results.

Word of Mouth/Referrals

Jenna Diaz has a long list of loyal clients that have been with her for decades. They will follow her to the new salon and will receive additional clients from their referrals.

Social Media

Once the branding and logo is finalized, Jenna will use social media to her advantage and create social media business pages on all of the popular social media platforms. She will commit to posting daily to increase the list of followers and use it to regularly engage with customers.

Print Advertising

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will invest in professionally designed print ads to display in local magazines and hand out flyers to local businesses.

The pricing of Major Lengths Beauty Salon will be moderate and on par with competitors so customers feel they receive value when purchasing their salon services.

Operations Plan

The following will be the operations plan for Major Lengths Beauty Salon.

Operation Functions:

• Jenna Diaz will be the Owner and Manager of the beauty salon. She will order salon inventory and products, oversee staff, payroll, and manage customer service.
• Melanie Brooks – Head nail technician that will oversee the nail department.
• Fiona Adams – Head aesthetician that will oversee the facial and massage departments.
• Jenna has hired third party companies to manage the bookkeeping, accounting, tax payments, insurance, and legal requirements.

Milestones:

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will have the following milestones complete in the next six months.

8/1/202X – Finalize retail space for beauty salon

8/15/202X – Begin build-out of beauty salon to include stylist stations, facial and massage rooms, and nail service area

9/1/202X – Order opening inventory

9/15/202X – Begin marketing campaign

9/22/202X – Hire staff of hair stylists, nail technicians, massage therapists, and aestheticians

10/1/202X – Major Lengths Beauty Salon Grand Opening Event

Major Lengths Beauty Salon will be owned and operated by Jenna Diaz, a local Arizona hair stylist and aesthetician. Jenna has made an impressive career helping women achieve their desired look and feel. As an Arizona native, Jenna has attended the local beauty college and attends industry trade shows and training seminars annually. She has amassed a large and loyal clientele and has even done hair treatments, cuts, and facials for local celebrities and sports personalities. Jenna is committed to establishing a beauty salon in her hometown of Glendale and making it a place where the women and men flock to when they want the latest hairstyle, manicure, or facial.

While the three of them will be in charge of their respective department, Jenna will be the head manager to oversee the entire operation of the beauty salon. She will also outsource a third party insurance company, CPA, and attorney to take care of her insurance, legal obligations, and tax filings. Jenna will also employ a part time bookkeeper to handle her day to day accounting and payroll of staff.

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

The revenue drivers for Major Lengths Beauty Salon are the sales from hair services, nail services, massages and facials.

The cost drivers will be the overhead costs required to staff the beauty salon. The expenses will be the payroll cost, rent, utilities, salon inventory, and marketing materials.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Major Lengths Beauty Salon is seeking $100,000 in debt financing to open the beauty salon. The funding will be dedicated towards securing the retail space and purchasing the salon furniture, equipment, decorations, opening inventory, and working capital. Jenna will need to allocate funds for the first three months of payroll and operating expenses as well as spend approximately on branding and marketing. The breakout of the funding is below:

Key Assumptions

The following outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and in order to pay off the startup business loan.

• Number of Beauty Salon Services Sold Per Month: 300
• Average Revenue per Month: $20,000
• Beauty Salon Lease per Year: $110,000

Financial Projections

Income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, beauty salon business plan template faqs, what is a beauty salon business plan.

A beauty salon business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your beauty salon. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can  easily complete your beauty salon business plan using our Beauty Salon Business Plan Template here .

What are the Main Types of Beauty Salons?

There are a number of different kinds of beauty salons, some examples include: Beauty salon focusing strictly on hair styling, beauty salon offering hair removal services, skin care services, nail services, tanning services, or massage services, and beauty salon offering products.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Beauty Salon Business Plan?

Beauty salons are often funded through small business loans. Personal savings, credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding. This is true for a business plan for a beauty salon or a hair salon business plan.

Why do You Need a Business Plan Template?

If you’re looking to start a beauty salon business  or grow your existing salon business, you need a business plan. A hair salon business plan template will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your beauty salon in order to improve your chances of success. Your salon business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Where Can I Get a Beauty Salon Business Plan PDF?

You can download our free beauty salon business plan template PDF here . This is a sample beauty salon business plan template you can use in PDF format.

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How To Write a Salon Business Plan

By Shannon Mulligan

So you’re thinking of opening a salon business—congrats! Gearing up to owning your own business is a huge step.

But if you’ve never owned a salon before or are simply looking to give your existing business a refresh, you’re probably thinking, “Where do I even start?”  Well, the first step is to write a salon business plan.

What is a business plan for a salon?

A salon business plan is a written document that covers your business goals and how you’re going to reach them.

Every business plan looks different. But for a salon, your business plan will likely include details like who your target customer is, where your salon is going to be located , what salon services you’ll offer, and more. 

Why you need a business plan for your salon

As a salon owner, the thought of writing a detailed business plan might immediately put your stomach in knots. But we promise that the time and effort you take to put a business plan together for your salon will pay off in spades.

Here are some reasons why you should have a business plan for your salon.

To prove your salon business is a good—and profitable—idea

As entrepreneurs, we often have a million great ideas.  But a new business is a big commitment and investment.

Your decision to launch a salon is most likely a great one. But a business plan doubles as a gut check to make sure that you have a solid plan in place. This way, you can open your salon doors with confidence knowing that you’re almost guaranteed to be a success.

To help you reach your short and long-term salon goals

What are your business goals? What steps do you need to take to reach them? How long will it take to reach those goals?

A well-written business plan answers these questions and more. It’s essentially a roadmap that answers all and helps outline how you’ll reach your business goals. Then as you open and grow your business, you can look back and make sure you’re on track!

To help you get funding (and other loans)

Banks and investors often want to see a business plan before they provide you with funding. Having a business plan shows that you’ve done your research, have a plan in place, and that you’re less likely to be a risk.

Even if you don’t need a loan or an investment, financial products like credit cards can be hard to come by if you don’t have a business plan.

To determine your revenue and labor costs

Salons often need multiple stylists and administrative staff. Depending on your goals and the size of your salon business, a business plan can help you determine how many employees you need to hire and train to serve your customers.

Without forecasting your labor costs, you can find yourself with too many customers and not enough workers—or vice versa.

Things to consider before you start writing a business plan for your salon

Before you can start writing your business plan, it’s time to do a bit of brainstorming and research. There are some key questions you’ll want to ask yourself before you start putting pen to paper.

• Where will your salon be located?
• What experience do you have that will help you grow your business?
• Are there similar salons in your area?
• Is there something that will make your business stand out from other salons?

Once you’ve spent some time thinking about these factors, it’s time to get writing.

How to write a salon business plan in 7 steps

Here’s a simple step-by-step breakdown of how to write a business plan and the important tidbits you need to know as you get started.

1. Executive summary

The first thing anyone will read in your business plan is the executive summary. Think of it like an elevator pitch. It’s a brief summary that covers all the most important details so the reader wants to learn more about your business.

As a general rule, your executive summary should cover:

• A short overview of your business venture
• Your salon mission or vision
• Your short and long-term business goals
• Highlights around why \ your salon will be successful

2. Company overview and description

This section should be an overview of your company and what makes it unique. Who are you? What do you do? Why do you do it?

Don’t be afraid to dive into your background and the circumstances that led to you wanting to start your salon business. This is your opportunity to tell your story and share what makes you and your business special as an entrepreneur.                                                                                                                     

3. Market analysis

There are almost a million salons in the US—and that only covers hair salons. The thing about salons is that they can be similar and still be successful. But it’s important to understand how your particular salon will stack up. A market analysis looks at all the competing salons in your region—and beyond—to help you understand your positioning in the market. This then influences everything from your pricing strategy, your service offering, or even your location. 

For example, in your market analysis, you might find that you fall into the category of a premium salon, which means you’ll need to target a more affluent market. Or you might find yourself looking in an oversaturated area, so you’ll want to choose a location with less competition.

4. Salon business offerings

Not all salons are alike. For example, your salon may specialize in blowouts. Or you may have a full-service nail salon. 

Before you open, you should have a clear understanding of the services and products that your salon business might offer. Think of this section of your business plan as a menu of services that your potential customers can choose from.

5. Salon operations and management

This is where you’ll talk about the operational side of your business. Some things to think about around salon management might include:

• Will you rent out chairs to stylists or will you hire them as employees? 
• What will your business hours look like?
• How will you schedule salon appointments ?
• What overhead costs will you have?
• What salon management software will you use?

6. Marketing and public relations (PR) strategies

As much as we wish customers would appear out of thin air, for the most part, you need to drum up excitement for your business. That’s marketing. 

In the marketing section of your business plan, you’ll want to Include details such as your brand messaging, how you’ll reach potential customers, and what marketing and PR investments you plan to make.

7. Financial projections

Calculating your financials isn’t the most glamorous part of owning a salon business, but it’s one of the most important.

When writing a business plan, you need to review your short- and long-term financial projections. This is essentially an estimate of how much money you expect to spend and make over the course of the next few years. 

The goal is to show that you’ll have a profitable business. And if not, it allows you to tweak your business strategy so you can create a financial plan that you feel comfortable with.

Free salon business plan template

Need some help getting started? 

We’ve put together a free template that covers all the basics. Use this as a starting point, so you know that your business plan is comprehensive and includes everything you need ahead of opening day.

Download your free salon business plan template here.

Business tools as sharp as your shearing scissors

Once you have a salon business plan, it’s time to make a plan for hiring and managing your employees. Homebase is the all-in-one employee management tool loved by 100,000 + salons and small businesses. 

With Homebase, you can:

• Schedule employees for your salon in just a few clicks.
• Track employee hours and run payroll from one app.
• Stay on top of employee compliance and labor laws with expert HR guidance.

Salon business plan FAQs

Why should you create a business plan for your salon even if you aren’t looking for financing.

A business plan is more than just a document to help you secure financing for your salon business. It can help you organize your business strategy and outline the steps needed to reach your business goals.

What is the best way to create your salon business plan?

The best way to create your salon business plan is by following these steps:

• Write an effective executive summary.
• Create a company overview and description.
• Conduct a thorough market analysis.
• Outline your services and business offerings.
• Decide how you want to manage your salon business.
• Make a plan for marketing your business.
• Put together your financial projections.

You can also use our free salon business plan template to get started.

Remember:  This is not legal advice. If you have questions about your particular situation, please consult a lawyer, CPA, or other appropriate professional advisor or agency.

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How to Write a Successful Salon and Spa Business Plan

• April 12, 2024

Julis Navarro

Table of contents.

You’ve dreamt of opening your own salon and spa , and now you’re ready to make it a reality. Congrats! You’re in for a rewarding journey ahead. Now is the time to prepare your new venture for long-term success with a comprehensive business plan.

Why should you write a business plan? A spa and salon business plan is your playbook—it’s your vision for your company and the steps you’ll take to bring it to life. Developing a business plan will help you outline your goals, strategize, and make informed decisions. It involves thorough research of your target market and competitors, as well as creating effective marketing strategies and assessing finances.

This blog will guide you through nine essential steps to develop a successful salon and spa business plan—whether you’re a hairstylist, an esthetician, a massage therapist, or a cosmetologist. Follow along with our free downloadable template and create your very own road map toward a flourishing business.

1. Start With the Executive Summary

The executive summary is the first section of your business plan. Think of it as a high-level overview of your salon and spa business. It should include a brief description of your business, its unique selling proposition, goals, mission statement, and keys to success.

The executive summary sets the tone for the rest of your spa and beauty salon business plan, so write it concisely and compellingly to grab the attention of potential investors and lenders.

2. Include Your Company Description and History

Why should a potential lender or investor care? This second section dives deeper into what makes your salon and spa unique—such as its services, target clientele, and competitive advantage.

If you’re already in business, you should also highlight your growth and success by including a brief business history. This will enable potential partners or investors to feel confident that you’re a worthwhile venture.

A well-crafted company description and history will help your salon or spa business plan stand out in the industry and give interested parties a clear idea of what your company offers.

3. Perform a Market Analysis

Performing market research provides the context of where your business will fit in. This requires thoroughly examining the current state of the salon and spa industry, identifying your target market, assessing the demand for your services in your area, and doing a competitive analysis to develop unique selling points.

Once you understand your desired clients’ needs, you can identify reasons why they might choose you over your competitors. As you write your spa’s or salon’s business plan, position your business with the insights from your market research, so that your company can rise above a crowded market.

4. Detail Your Services and Pricing

This section enables potential lenders and investors to understand the scope of your provided services and your pricing strategy. It also helps you establish your business in the marketplace and communicate clearly with your customers. Highlight your value by outlining your services and prices—this, in turn, will illustrate how you will make money for your salon and spa business.

5. Explain Your Marketing and Sales Strategy

How will you attract customers and keep them happy? In a salon or spa business plan, this section outlines your methods for getting customers interested and generating sales. It should provide details on the target market’s psychographics and demographics, as well as your marketing strategies for engaging with them.

This can include initiatives, such as collaborations, social media marketing, partnerships, advertising, and promotional activities —all the ways you plan to raise awareness and acquire customers.

The sales plan should also detail pricing strategies, like bundles or discounts, and establish referral or loyalty programs to encourage repeat business. Ultimately, a salon or spa business must leverage thoughtful marketing and sales strategies for continued success.

6. Outline Your Operational Plan

Mapping out your daily operations, including opening hours, staffing, and service processes, allows potential lenders to envision your spa and salon business functioning at its best. It also ensures you have thought through the small details that can make or break your business.

In this section, you can also include information about your suppliers and a description of your facility to round out your operational plan. You’ll also need to think through operational needs, like:

• What client scheduling software to use
• Which types of salon insurance you’ll need
• The payment processing tools that will best fit your needs—and more.

7. Highlight Your Management Team and Organization

Your management team plays a vital role in the day-to-day operations of your business, and investors want to know that you have a skilled and experienced team in place. In this section of your spa and beauty salon business plan, you must provide details about each management team member, including their responsibilities, credentials, areas of expertise, and previous work in the salon and spa industry.

You should also touch on your current and future staffing needs in this section. By showcasing your management team’s skill level and by forecasting employee organization, you will show investors that you have the necessary leadership to manage and grow your salon and spa business effectively.

8. Present Your Financial Projections

Now it’s time to talk numbers. Your salon and spa business plan must include financial projections, which examine the financial health and anticipated profitability of the company. It outlines startup costs, a timeline for estimated income, expenses like salon and spa equipment and insurance, and a cash flow forecast.

Lenders and investors can determine your company’s viability based on these forecasts. It also helps you establish realistic financial objectives and create plans for success. Financial predictions are essential in proving the company’s financial viability and potential for growth in a spa and beauty salon business plan.

9. Finish With an Appendix

The final piece in a business plan for salons is the appendix, which provides additional details and supporting documentation. It includes market research data, financial forecasts, résumés of key employees, and other pertinent details that give your plan more substance and credibility.

By including an appendix, potential investors or lenders can learn more about the intricacies of your salon and spa business, increasing the professionalism of the plan and the likelihood of receiving backing for the endeavor.

Why Writing a Salon and Spa Business Plan Is Important

Writing a salon and spa business plan is crucial for several reasons. It helps you define your business goals and objectives, outlining the direction of your salon or spa. It creates a clear road map for success and guides your decision-making process.

A well-written spa or beauty salon business plan can also secure funding from investors or lenders, showcasing your professionalism, salon marketing plan and market knowledge, and potential for profitability.

Moreover, it is a valuable tool for monitoring progress and making necessary adjustments to ensure long-term success. Even if you’re not seeking funding, thoroughly thinking through every aspect of your business ensures nothing critical is overlooked as you grow.

Now that you know how to write a successful spa and salon business plan and why it’s important, it’s time to get started on yours. Use our free downloadable template below and lay the groundwork for the business you envision!

FAQs About Writing a Salon and Spa Business Plan

What is a salon and spa business plan.

A salon and spa business plan outlines goals, strategies, and financial projections. This plan serves as a road map for entrepreneurs and stakeholders, providing direction for growth and success. It includes sections on market analysis, target customers, competition, marketing strategies, services, operations, and finances. It addresses factors like location, staff, pricing, and revenue.

Why Should I Write a Salon and Spa Business Plan?

A salon and spa business plan is crucial for success in the beauty and wellness industry. A well-developed business plan is essential for funding, attracting investors, and guiding operations. Even if you’re not seeking funding, it ensures no critical aspects of your business are overlooked.

What Is the Business of a Spa?

A spa is a business that offers relaxation and rejuvenation services to consumers – massage therapy , facials, body treatments, and other health services like yoga or meditation sessions. The goal of a spa is to create a calm and pleasant atmosphere where clients can relax and take care of themselves, away from the stress of daily life.

What Is the Business of a Salon?

Salons provide beauty services to clients – manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing, haircuts, styling, coloring, and treatments. Salons often offer additional services like body treatments, massages, and cosmetics applications. The main goal of a salon is to enhance customers’ appearance and overall well-being, helping them to look and feel their best. Some salons also sell beauty supplies that customers can purchase and bring home.

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How to Write Beauty Salon Business Plan

• salon business
• salon marketing

Starting a business is becoming easier and easier. But there is always the other side of the coin; with things becoming easier, competition becomes higher and higher. Therefore, opening a new business, today doesn’t always determine a secure success.

Why do some businesses succeed and others fail? Of course, there are many factors at play, but one of the main reasons why many new businesses fail is a lack of planning.

To help you launch your new beauty salon, we’d like to focus here on the importance of business plans. We’re about to discuss why you need a business plan and how to write your beauty salon business plan.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is, first of all, a written document. Planning your business can’t be all in your head: you need to write down your strategies, budget, and goals not only to have it all clear but also because you may have to share this information with collaborators and possible investors.

The goal of your beauty salon business plan   is to describe your business project in detail. You need to dig deep into the details of how you want to transform your project from the initial idea into an actual and profitable business.

Opening a beauty salon: business plan, why do you need it?

There are several reasons why you need a business plan for beauty salon   and they are all equally important.

1.   Organize your idea

As we’ve mentioned, writing down your business plan helps you clarify your ideas around your project.

When you have your goals in your head and nowhere else, you are risking underestimating a lot of factors: budget, knowledge, time, practicability, and more…

2.   Make decisions

The best decisions you make are the informed ones. Having everything written down helps you make the right decisions when it comes to purchasing, hiring professionals or employees, contacting investors, and more..

3.   Find investors

When you need to find investors for your beauty salon, a business plan will help them evaluate the potential of your business idea and it will also communicate your professionalism and serious commitment to your project.

When you ask for financing, showing a beauty salon business plan will increase your chances of obtaining it.

4.   Optimize your budget

Even if you have the biggest budget, you still want to optimize it. Your beauty salon business plan will help you make the best decisions when it comes to where and how much to spend.

How to write a business plan for salon  with ease

Each business plan for salon is, of course, personalized according to each project's aims and characteristics. However, they all show the same structure: this is why it is possible to learn and know how to write your beauty salon and spa business plan.

In this section, we’re going to describe this structure in details so that you can use it as a base to write your own   beauty salon and spa business plan.

These are the sections that comprise a   beauty salon business plan:

• Table of content
• Executive summary
• Market analysis
• Company description and history
• Mission statement
• Management Plan
• Marketing Plan

1.   Cover page

It seems unimportant to discuss the cover page for your business plan, but keep in mind that your cover page is your first impression. Make it professional, make it clean, and be sure to include your beauty salon name and address and your and your partners’ (if there is any) name and contact information.

2.   Table of content

The table of content helps the reader find the information they need with a glance. It must include the list of the business plan’s sections with the page where they can be found.

3.   Executive summary

This section summarizes the content of the entire business plan. While it can help to write this section at last (when you’ve written all the sections it is easier to summarize them in an executive summary) keep in mind that this is the first content readers, including possible investors, will read. Make it clear, professional, and also attractive: your goal here is not to convince them to invest in your project, but that your project is interesting and it’s worth it to keep on reading the business plan.

4.   Market analysis

Even if you don’t need or want to write a beauty salon business plan,   still we recommend running a market analysis before making any decision. The market analysis can be considered one of the most important steps in the creation of a new business.

What does it mean to run the market analysis? What kind of information should you seek?

There are tons of information and data that can be useful to make decisions: who is most likely to attend a beauty salon? What are the businesses active in the area? What kind of services is trending in the beauty sector? What do people think is lacking in most beauty salons? Do people more often drive or walk to their beauty salon?

You need to collect as much information as you can and organize it into a report. How can you gather information? These days, social media can give a great help: run surveys and collect data. Then, organize your data and the takeaways you’ve taken from them in a market analysis.

5.   Company description and history

If you already have any expertise in the beauty sector, this is where you can speak about it. You can narrate your previous experiences and how they led to the launch of this new business.

Then, you can move on to describing the structure of your new company, what kind of services you offer, and - most importantly - what makes your beauty salon unique. The market analysis - see above - can help you find niches that lack a response from the market: if your business is born to fill such a gap in the market, this is the time to highlight this aspect.

6.   Mission statement

This is probably the most challenging section of your beauty salon business plan. Here you need to state and describe your mission, but what is a mission in business?

Your mission is your approach to business: how will you treat your customers? What can of identity do you want to build for your business? How many people would you like to hire? How will you run daily operations?

As you write down your mission statement, you are forced to think and plan things in advance: this is another of the many advantages of writing a  business plan for beauty salon.

7.   Management plan

In this section, you can map out your business hierarchy. If you have collaborators, you can establish each one’s role and responsibility. If you’re planning on hiring people, you can write down what kind of professionals you’re going to add to the team and why.

8.   Marketing plan

Marketing is one of the main cores of business. You don’t have a business and can’t hope for any profits if people aren’t aware that your business exists and what it has to offer.

It’s never too soon to start thinking about marketing, even because it will require a big chunk of your budget. In this section, not only you’re going to describe your marketing strategy, but also how you’re going to use your budget for marketing purposes.

9.   Budgeting

Speaking of budget, nothing can be left to chance. This is the section where you are going to describe in detail the budget at your disposal and how you’re planning to spend it.

Expenses are one side of the financial plan, the other is made by expected profits. Yes, you need to write down the profits you expect in the short and long term.

Opening a beauty salon: bonus tip

When it comes to budgeting for a beauty salon, a big part of your initial investment will be dedicated to the equipment. For this reason, one of the most important recommendations you can receive is about a salon equipment supplier.

Omysalon is a company that is entirely focused on providing beauty salons with anything they need, from equipment to products, from furniture to accessories.

Being aimed at professionals, Omysalon only provides professional equipment and products. Their catalogs include anything that goes under the beauty sector umbrella: skin care, massage, spa, barber, and more…

They are also focused on providing only durable and professional products that are also affordable and fairly priced.

If you are opening a beauty salon, you’ll need to write down your   beauty salon business plan. It’ll be helpful throughout the entire process but - even more importantly - you can use it as a business proposal for possible investors. Furthermore, business plans could be required at any moment: for example, when you pick a location for your business, the owner could require a business plan before renting the place to you.

If you want to increase your chances of success, write down your   beauty salon business plan before anything else!

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How to Write a Business Plan for Your Salon

Apr 17, 2023 By SALONORY

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What do the aspiring salon owner and the seasoned salon owner have in common? They both need a business plan! Even we share this common ground as an established salon supply store !

This is because, while owning a salon business is exciting, a lack of proper planning will make it difficult to have fun, motivate your team, juggle all of the aspects of your business and try to expand it. A business plan is a living document that outlines your business goals and strategies for achieving them. If updated annually and followed enthusiastically, it will help you to fully formulate ideas and set goals, make difficult decisions, have a clear financial understanding of your operation, raise funding and, ultimately, help you avoid getting overwhelmed by your business and improve your chances of success. Although each business plan will vary depending on their industry and operation specifics, a solid salon business plan should include the following elements:

1.     Cover Page

Your cover page will be your first impression to potential business partners, investors or lenders that it’s shared with, so it’s crucial to have a clean and professional one. If you have a logo to add for aesthetic appeal, we suggest this as well! Aside from this, be sure to include your salon name, salon address, salon owners’ names and salon owners’ contact information. If your business plan is super comprehensive, you may even want to consider including a table of contents.

2.     Executive Summary

Your executive summary should be the first section of your business plan, but because it will highlight what you intend to expand on in the rest of the plan, we actually suggest writing this section last!

Ultimately, this section should summarize what your business hopes to accomplish. Along with briefly highlighting important aspects of your business plan (like products or services you’ll offer and why they have the potential to be profitable), you’ll want to talk a little bit about why you’re starting this company and what experience you have in the industry. One of the most essential aspects of your executive summary, though, will be your company’s mission statement, so put some serious thought into crafting it!

A strong salon mission statement will summarize your approach to business in only a few sentences. Once you get them down on paper, though, these few sentences will guide your business in everything it does.

3.     Company Description

Your company description is the section to showcase why your company stands out from the competitors. It’s here that you should break down your salon’s strengths and advantages that will give it an edge to succeed. If you’ve chosen this location for a beneficial reason, if you’ve partnered with a certain supplier for a beneficial reason or if you’re working with the community in any way, this is the section to display it.

4.     Market Analysis

Your market analysis is an opportunity to display how well you understand the industry and specific market you’re in or hoping to enter. This will mean identifying your target market, understanding your community’s wants and needs, analyzing local competitors and acknowledging current trends taking over the industry. Once you’ve put in the legwork for this section and have your market analysis, you can compare the strengths and advantages highlighted in your company description against this and hit home how your salon will stand above the rest.

5.     Marketing Strategy

Your market analysis will lead the way to your marketing strategy. With your analysis complete, you should be able to confidently and concisely identify the type of clientele you’re aiming to attract (with specifics like their age, gender, income, lifestyle, desires and needs). From here, the goal is to outline the position you hope to play in their life. Describe how your salon will attract those clients and how it will achieve its desired position.

6.     Breakdown of Management and Company Organization

Even if there’s not a whole lot going on here, it’s still important to introduce anyone involved with the business and indicate whether your business will operate as a sole proprietorship, a partnership or otherwise. For the aspiring salon owner, this might look like a brief description of your skills with a write-up about how your salon will operate as a sole proprietorship and insight as to how your salon’s organization will adapt to growth. For the seasoned salon owner, this might look like your collection of managers, with a brief description for each that outlines their skills and primary job responsibilities. If you’re a seasoned salon owner operating on a big scale, we suggest creating some sort of visual to display your company organization!

7.     Financial Plan

Creating a detailed financial plan can be one of the most challenging parts of creating a business plan, but can also be one of the biggest reasons for your success. This section will open your eyes to less-obvious obstacles, hidden expenses and potential pitfalls if you’re an aspiring salon owner — and not only get an idea of, but improve your monthly and yearly progress if you’re a seasoned salon owner. Along with this, your financial plan will be the first thing that’s looked at when it comes to determining your eligibility for a loan. While it will depend on the current state of your salon, your financial plan could include:

• A sales forecast , which is a detailed projection of your sales over the next three years.
• An expense budget , which is an outline of what you’ll spend on expenses like rent, supplies and marketing to meet your sales forecast.
• A cash-flow statement , which is a detailed breakdown of how cash will flow in and out of your business over a 12-month period. This includes revenue, costs, expenses, loans and loan payments, personal funds used for business and any other money associated with the operation of your salon.
• A break-even analysis , which is a prediction of your break-even point when your expenses (including interest!) are equal to or lower than your sales.

Bring Your Business to Life

Don’t forget that your business plan should always be your guide in this pursuit of passion! Reference it often, update it regularly and remember why you wrote it in the first place!

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How to write a business plan for your hair salon.

Starting a hair salon is a great way to be your own boss and make a living doing something you love.

It also offers potential for growth and diversification, allowing you to add additional services or products to your business.

But, before launching anything, make sure you have a business plan in place.

A business plan is an essential tool for any new project, and a hair salon is no exception. Writing a business plan will help to ensure that the project is well-thought-out and has a clear roadmap for success.

In short, a thorough business plan will help make sure your hair salon is profitable .

What should you consider when writing a business plan for a hair salon? What should be the main focus areas? What are the important financial ratios to consider? How can I speed up the process of developing an efficient business plan?

Please, find comprehensive answers to all these questions below.

Additionally, it's worth noting that you have the option to avoid starting your business plan from scratch.

Instead, you can download our business plan for a hair salon and adapt it to your project.

Creating a business plan for a hair salon

Will a business plan be beneficial for your hair salon.

Yes, you should create a business plan to ensure the success of your hair salon.

Developing a robust business plan will enable you to:

• learn about the hair salon market
• be aware of new consumertrends and apply them to your project
• identify factors for viability in a hair salon
• understand the latest hair trends, styling preferences, and customer expectations in salon services
• find a great unique value proposition for your hairstyling salon
• investigate competitor customer retention strategies
• find competitive advantages for your hair salon
• find a business model that delivers consistent positive financial outcomes
• establish and execute a solid and strategic action plan for long-term success
• evaluate potential risks specific to a hair salon, including customer satisfaction, employee training, and product safety

Our team has drafted a business plan for a hair salon that is designed to make it easier for you to achieve all the elements listed.

How to outline a business plan for a hair salon?

Your business plan will include a wide range of numbers and valuable information. It must be presented in a structured format, to make easy to read and digest.

When we built our business plan for a hair salon , we took care to arrange it appropriately.

There are 5 parts within the business plan.

1. Market Opportunity

The introductory section has been named "Market Opportunity".

Our team has gathered essential information and metrics about the hair salon, providing valuable insights for entrepreneurs in this industry.

The data here is always kept current; we update it biannually.

2. Project Presentation

The "Project" section provides an opportunity to describe your hair salon, specifying the range of hair services you offer (cut, color, styling), specialized treatments, talented stylists, haircare products, salon ambiance, and the unique value proposition that guarantees exceptional hairstyling and customer satisfaction.

Remember to introduce yourself at the end of this section.

Discuss your passion for hairstyling, your expertise in hair trends and techniques, and how you plan to create a personalized and transformative hair salon experience for clients. Highlight your range of services, your skilled stylists, and your dedication to providing individualized consultations and exceptional customer service that leaves clients feeling confident, stylish, and satisfied at your hair salon.

We prepared text in our business plan. Customize it to suit your idea.

3. Market Research

Moving on, there's the "Market Research" section.

In this section, you will find a market segmentation analysis for your hair salon.

It includes a study of other hair salons in the area that will be competing with you. Your salon's unique hair services and competitive advantages are also highlighted. A customized SWOT analysis is included.

4. Strategy

The "Strategy" section outlines a comprehensive 3-year action plan, detailing the initiatives and steps needed to transform your hair salon into a highly profitable endeavor.

Furthermore, this section encompasses a comprehensive marketing plan, a strategy to mitigate risks, and a completed Business Model Canvas.

5. Finances

In the end, the section titled "Finances" is where you can present the financial plan and breakdown for your project.

How to write the Executive Summary for a hair salon?

The Executive Summary gives a summarized glimpse into the business plan of your hair salon.

Keep it brief, not going over 2 pages. Highlight the essential points.

When you share your business plan with an investor, this is the part they will read at the beginning. It should grab their interest and make them want to read the rest of the plan.

In the Executive Summary of your hair salon, address the following queries: what services does your hair salon offer? who is your target audience? are there other hair salons in the area? what makes your salon unique? what funding do you need?

How to do the market analysis for a hair salon?

Analyzing the market for your hair salon allows you to gain insights into factors such as customer preferences for hairstyling and haircare services, competition from other salons, and emerging trends in hair fashion.

By conducting a comprehensive market study, a hair salon can identify customer preferences, offer a range of hair services, optimize pricing strategies, and execute targeted marketing campaigns, ultimately leading to a loyal customer base, increased appointments, and a prominent position in the local hair care industry.

Here's what we've incorporated into the "Market Research" section of our business plan for a hair salon :

• fresh and updated data and statistics about the hair salon industry, including popular hairstyles, hair care trends, and customer preferences
• a list of potential market segments for a hair salon
• the competitor analysis
• the competitive advantages to target for a hair salon

The key points of the business plan for a hair salon

What's the business model of a hair salon, business model of a hair salon.

A hair salon's model revolves around providing various hair care services, including haircuts, styling, coloring, or treatments. Revenue is generated through service fees, potentially offering retail hair products or additional beauty services.

The business model focuses on employing skilled hair stylists, providing personalized consultations, using quality hair products, creating a welcoming and trendy salon environment, and building strong client relationships through exceptional service and hairstyling expertise.

Success depends on stylists' talent and creativity, effective marketing to target individuals seeking hair services, maintaining industry trends and techniques, fostering positive client reviews and referrals, and providing a satisfying and rejuvenating salon experience.

Business model ≠ Business plan

Be clear on the distinction between "business plan" and "business model."

A business model is a blueprint for how a company operates and makes money.

In a business plan, you use the Business Model Canvas as a visual aid to explain the inner workings of your business.

Rest assured, there is a Business Model Canvas (already completed) in our business plan for a hair salon .

How do you identify the market segments of a hair salon?

Market segmentation for your hair salon involves dividing your potential customers into different groups based on their haircare needs, preferences, and demographics.

These categories may include factors such as haircuts and styling, coloring and highlights, extensions, or customers seeking specific hair treatments (e.g., keratin treatments, scalp treatments).

By segmenting your market, you can offer a range of hair services and solutions that cater to each segment's specific requirements. For example, you might provide a variety of haircut and styling options for customers seeking trendy or classic looks, offer professional hair coloring and highlighting services for customers looking to enhance their hair color, specialize in hair extensions and volumizing treatments, or provide specialized treatments for customers with specific hair concerns such as damaged hair, dry scalp, or frizz control.

Market segmentation allows you to effectively target your marketing efforts, showcase your hairstyling expertise, and deliver personalized and satisfying hair services that meet the unique needs and preferences of each customer segment.

In the business plan for a hair salon , you will get a detailed market segmentation, helping you understand your target audiences and their needs.

How to conduct a competitor analysis for a hair salon?

Without surprise, you won't be the only hair salon in your city. There will be other establishments offering hair styling, cutting, and coloring services to customers.

Your business plan must incorporate a thorough examination of your competitors, including their characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses.

Pay attention to their weaknesses (such as inexperienced stylists, lack of trending hairstyles, or poor customer satisfaction).

Why is it crucial to notice these aspects? Because these weaknesses can impact the client experience at hair salons. By addressing these elements, you can provide a wide range of hair services and treatments, offer skilled and creative stylists, and create a welcoming and stylish salon environment, establishing your hair salon as a preferred choice for hair care and styling needs.

It's what we call competitive advantages—work on developing them for a distinct business identity.

Here are some examples of competitive advantages for a beauty salon: skilled and experienced stylists, wide range of beauty services, relaxing and luxurious ambiance.

How to draft a SWOT analysis for a beauty salon?

A SWOT analysis can help identify potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that may affect the success of a hair salon.

As you can guess, there is indeed a completed and editable SWOT matrix in our business plan for a hair salon

The strengths for a hair salon

The letter "S" in SWOT signifies Strengths, highlighting the project's internal advantages or positive features.

For a hair salon, potential strengths include excellent customer service, a wide range of services, experienced staff, and attractive pricing.

The weaknesses for a hair salon

The "W" stands for Weaknesses, referring to the areas or aspects of the project that need to be addressed.

For a hair salon, potential weaknesses could include lack of repeat customers, limited marketing budget, lack of online presence, and lack of staff training.

The opportunities for a hair salon

O represents Opportunities in SWOT, referring to the external factors or conditions that can create opportunities for the project's advancement.

In the case of a hair salon, potential opportunities may include offering online booking services, expanding into new markets, providing additional services such as cosmetics and nail care, and advertising on social media.

The threats for a hair salon

The "T" in SWOT stands for Threats, which are external factors that may pose risks or challenges to the project's success.

How to outline a marketing strategy for a beauty salon?

A marketing strategy is a vital element of a business plan as it details how a business will attract customers and generate business.

A hair salon can attract clients in need of professional and trendy hairstyling services by implementing a targeted marketing plan that highlights the salon's skilled stylists and personalized approach.

Clients won't choose your beauty salon without effective marketing; showcasing your range of services, talented stylists, and relaxing atmosphere is crucial.

Are you implementing effective marketing strategies for your hair salon? Consider offering first-time client discounts or referral programs, showcasing trendy hairstyles or transformations on social media, and partnering with local fashion influencers for endorsements.

Don't fret if you lack ideas for your project's marketing strategy.

How to build a solid financial plan for a beauty salon?

A successful business plan must include detailed financial information, such as income and expense projections, cash flow statements, and a break-even analysis.

As you outline your business plan, you should include revenue projections for your hair salon.

The inclusion of a relevant and credible revenue forecast in your business plan adds credibility and enhances appeal to banks or investors.

Our financial plan for a hair salon is straightforward and equipped with automated checks, enabling you to validate and adjust your assumptions easily. This way, we make sure you're building solid financial projections.

Without a doubt, you'll need to come up with a basic budget for starting your hair salon. Make certain to include all expenses without exception - you can find them all listed in our financial plan!

The break-even analysis is a crucial tool in your financial plan, providing insight into whether your hair salon will become a profitable company or not.

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Writing a business plan for a beauty salon

• Business Tips

A well-written business plan can be a great roadmap for your salon – thoughtful planning and analysis help you make sure that you are building your business on solid foundations. Whether you’re just launching or have been running for quite some time – it’s never too late to create this kind of guide. And even if you’re flying solo in your business, creating a business plan for a small or mobile beauty salon is most definitely a thing!

Tip: Do you want to prepare your own solid business plan? Use our template to cover all the important points!

A business plan is basically a collection of your principles, goals and methods. It’s an outline of your company that allows you to prevent (or at the very least – minimise the effects of) disruptions taking place whenever you want to implement a new idea. We’ve prepared a template that covers all the most important elements – by using it, you’ll be able to prepare a business plan fit for your beauty salon in no time.

Overview of your business

Begin by describing the most essential elements. State your salon’s purpose, objective and the approach it takes to reach its goals. Describe where you operate and if you have more than one location (or in case your business is mobile – what is your reach). If you succeeded to reach one (or multiple) of your goals so far include this piece of information as well, along with a detailed description of the steps it took to get there.

In this part, include:

• The company purpose, mission and vision
• Company formation information
• Location and geographical markets served or where you have a presence
• Current status and stage of business
• Any notable achievements so far

Management and organisation of your business

This part is dedicated to all people involved in creating your business. State clearly who is the founder, owner and shareholder of the salon. If you have multiple employees, it’s a good idea to include a section dedicated to key team members – including managers, team leaders (if you have them) and employees with unique skill sets.

• Founders and executive team members
• Any owners and shareholders
• Team leaders and key team members

Definition of your beauty services

Now it’s time to describe what you do in detail. What services do you provide and what products do you use and sell? You can also set your pricing and include plans for the future expansion of your service range.

• Definition of the core services
• Product lines used
• Current pricing
• Anticipated future products and services you hope to develop

Marketing plan

In this part, you think more about your target audience and competitors. It’s best to begin with doing a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats and is a way of recognising your internal and external issues. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal and you can develop or change them through hard work, while Opportunities and Threats you can smartly take advantage of or protect yourself from, but cannot change. It’s important to distinguish and name them so that you can create a conscious, smart marketing strategy.

• SWOT analysis
• Target market research
• Competition and market research
• Marketing channels to be used
• Marketing budget

Operational plan

This part of the business plan is dedicated to your expansion plans. Do you want to get a bigger space? Are you planning to become more tech-savvy? Does it seem like you are going to require new equipment? Include your plans and predictions in this part.

• Facilities and space needed
• Technology needs
• Equipment needs
• Legal and accounting needs

Financial plan

Arguably the hardest part of creating the business plan is finding a moment to gather all your financial data . It will be much easier to do if you use Booksy, as the system delivers Statistics and Reports features that provide (but are not limited to) details on your business performance, staff commission and product inventory.

• Current balance sheet
• Financial projections for the next year
• Cash flow projections
• Income and expenses

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We’ve prepared a short guide on how you, as a beauty business owner, can support your local LGBTQ+ community in a way that truly makes a difference.

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Small Business Trends

How to start a hair salon business.

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Hair salons brought in more than $46 billion in revenue in 2018. And the market is still growing, making it a perfect opportunity for beauty-focused entrepreneurs . In fact, the industry as a whole is mainly made up of smaller businesses, rather than huge, nationwide competitors.

How to Start a Hair Salon

If you’re interested in starting your own hair salon from the ground up, here are some of the essential steps you’ll need to consider.

Gain Industry Experience

Before breaking into the world of entrepreneurship, it helps to have some level of experience in the industry. You can potentially get started just after attending a well regarded cosmetology school. But it can be beneficial to get your feet wet by working at another salon first.

This can help you see how the business side works on a daily basis. It may also give you valuable industry connections or even a business mentor. If you don’t have a business mentor before jumping into the business world, you might consider hiring a consultant or connecting with industry groups to give you some of those helpful insights and resources.

Create a Business Plan

Before starting any type of business, you need to have a plan in place for how you’re going to earn money, what type of customers you’re trying to attract, how you’ll manage your finances, and day-to-day operations.

There are plenty of resources available to help you make these important decisions that will shape your business. For example the Professional Beauty Association offers their members access to business blueprints that can be customized.

PBA Brand Manager Erin Walter said in an email interview with Small Business Trends, “Each business will vary depending on their format, size, and goals. It’s important to choose the right plans for your individual business needs.”

Evaluate and Choose Salon Service

After you have a solid business plan, it’s time to evaluate and choose the specific services your salon will offer. This is a crucial step that defines what your salon is all about.

Consider offering a range of services such as haircuts, coloring, styling, and perhaps additional beauty treatments like nail services or facials, depending on your expertise and market demand. Your service menu should align with the preferences and expectations of your target customer base.

Also, consider the logistics and feasibility of these services based on your location, space, and resources available. A well-thought-out service menu can set the tone for your salon and help it stand out in the competitive market.

Set Your Budget

When you have an idea of what type of salon you want to start, you’ll need to get set with your finances. Hair salon expenses can vary widely depending on your size and location.

For example, a home based salon may only cost a few thousand dollars, but a large salon in a desirable location may cost hundreds of thousands. If you want to open a salon with no money, you’ll need to obtain some financing to at least cover your supplies.

Determine Your Target Customers

Many of your business decisions will depend on what type of customers you plan on serving. It’s not enough to say that you want a general hair salon. Research the market in your area and consider offering services to an underserved group.

For example, your area may have plenty of options for trendy or upscale customers, but not as many affordable options for those who just want basic hair services at a convenient location. So you could potentially thrive by starting a salon that caters to busy moms or working professionals.

Find a Location

If you want to start small, you may start by providing hair services out of your home. However, this type of business isn’t very scalable and comes with some risks. For those opening an official salon with a dedicated space, find a storefront that is centrally located and easy for your target customers to access.

If you’re targeting an affluent clientele, then your location should be in a downtown area or upscale shopping district. If you plan on working with young customers, find a trendy or up-and-coming neighborhood.

Obtain Local Permits

Depending on where you choose to set up shop, you’ll need to obtain a business permit, building permit and various other legal documents. Check with your local government or consult with a business attorney in your area if you’re unsure about the exact requirements.

Stock Your Inventory

You need more than just a location to run your salon business. At the very least, you’ll need chairs , hair tools, washing stations , and styling products. However, many salons also stock some inventory that customers can purchase to recreate their looks at home.

Connect with brands that you love and that will appeal to your target customers to offer their products at your location.

Invest in Technology and Salon Software

In today’s digital age, investing in technology and salon-specific software is essential for efficient management. After stocking up your inventory, look into salon management software systems that can handle appointment scheduling, customer relationship management, inventory tracking, and even sales reporting.

This technology not only streamlines your operations but also enhances the customer experience through seamless bookings and personalized service. Additionally, consider leveraging social media and a user-friendly website for online presence and marketing.

Embracing technology will not only simplify day-to-day operations but also position your salon as a modern, customer-centric business.

Hire a Team

Many salons have more than one stylist on hand to serve a variety of customers. This isn’t a requirement, but it’s often helpful to improve profitability, especially if you have a dedicated retail space. Keep your target customers in mind through the hiring practices.

Your stylists should not only have the talent to offer your desired hair services, but they should also be personable and friendly so they can converse with your clientele throughout the experience.

Develop Your Marketing Plan

You should start marketing your new salon before even opening, so you can build some buzz for your initial launch. Start taking appointments on your website shortly beforehand, unless you intend to work mainly with walk-ins. Marketing templates for hair salons to get you started are helpful too.

You could also invest in some local online ads or alert your local media outlets about your new business. A launch event or some type of special promotion could help you make the opening more newsworthy. However, you should also create an ongoing marketing strategy for once your salon is already up and running.

Establish a Strong Brand Identity

Once you’ve developed your initial marketing plan, the next step is to establish a strong brand identity. This encompasses everything from your salon’s name and logo to the interior design and the tone of your communications.

Your brand should reflect the unique personality of your salon and resonate with your target audience. It’s not just about aesthetics; it’s about creating a memorable experience that clients associate with your salon.

This might involve choosing a particular decor style, uniform for your staff, or even the music played in the salon. A strong, consistent brand identity helps in building customer loyalty and differentiating your salon in a crowded marketplace.

Set Aside Time to Run Your Business

Meg King, consultant for Empowering You Consulting , a firm focused on the salon and spa industry, said in an email to Small Business Trends, “When it comes to running a business it’s very important to have dedicated time to work on your business vs in it.

So many owners are busy being busy. When you take the time to understand your numbers, set budgets train your team you can then set goals to grow your team and create higher profits! It’s working smarter vs harder!”

Ongoing Education and Trends Adaptation

The final key to a successful hair salon is staying abreast of industry trends and continuously educating yourself and your team. The beauty industry is dynamic, with new styles, techniques, and products emerging regularly.

Encourage and facilitate ongoing training for your staff to keep them updated and skilled in the latest trends. This might include attending workshops, participating in webinars, or bringing in experts for in-house training.

Regularly updating your service offerings based on these trends can help keep your salon relevant and appealing to clients. Embracing change and education is crucial for long-term success in the ever-evolving world of beauty and hairstyling.

Promoting Your Hair Salon: Building a Strong Brand and Attracting Clients

In the competitive landscape of the hair salon industry, effective marketing and brand-building play a crucial role in attracting clients and fostering a loyal customer base. Here are some key strategies to consider when promoting your hair salon:

• Create a Memorable Brand Identity: Develop a distinctive brand logo, color scheme, and tagline that reflects the personality and style of your salon. Consistency in branding across all marketing channels will help your salon stand out and become easily recognizable to potential customers.
• Build an Online Presence: In today’s digital age, a strong online presence is essential. Create a professional website that showcases your salon’s services, team, and pricing. Optimize your website for local SEO to improve its visibility in search engine results. Engage with your audience on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, sharing photos of your work and customer testimonials.
• Offer Special Promotions and Discounts: Encourage new customers to try your salon by offering special introductory promotions or discounts on specific services. Consider loyalty programs that reward repeat customers with exclusive deals or referral incentives for bringing in new clients.
• Showcase Your Work: Use visual platforms like Instagram and Pinterest to showcase your salon’s portfolio. Before-and-after photos of clients’ hair transformations can be powerful marketing tools, showcasing the skills and creativity of your stylists.
• Collaborate with Influencers and Local Businesses: Partner with local influencers or beauty bloggers who have a significant following in your area. They can help promote your salon and attract new clients through sponsored posts or collaborations. Additionally, consider cross-promotions with other local businesses, such as fashion boutiques or makeup artists, to expand your salon’s reach.
• Host Events and Workshops: Organize events or workshops at your salon to engage with potential customers and showcase your expertise. Events like hair styling workshops, product launches, or themed styling nights can generate buzz and attract a broader audience.
• Utilize Online Reviews and Testimonials: Positive online reviews and testimonials are powerful social proof that can influence potential customers. Encourage satisfied clients to leave reviews on platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, or Facebook. Respond to both positive and negative reviews professionally and promptly.
• Advertise in Local Publications: Consider advertising in local newspapers, magazines, or lifestyle publications to reach a broader local audience. Advertise special promotions or seasonal offers to attract new customers.
• Emphasize Excellent Customer Service: Ensure that every customer receives exceptional service, from the moment they book an appointment to the time they leave the salon. Happy customers are more likely to become repeat clients and refer your salon to their friends and family.
• Analyze and Adapt: Regularly review the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and adjust your strategies based on the data. Use analytics to track website traffic, social media engagement, and customer feedback to optimize your marketing approach continually.

By implementing these marketing strategies and building a strong brand, your hair salon can position itself as a go-to destination for exceptional hairstyling services, attracting a steady stream of clients and contributing to the continued growth of your business in the thriving hair salon industry.

The hair salon industry continues to be a lucrative market, with revenue exceeding $46 billion in 2018 and showing continued growth. For aspiring beauty-focused entrepreneurs, this presents a perfect opportunity to start their own hair salon. However, starting a successful salon requires careful planning and strategic implementation.

Firstly, gaining industry experience is invaluable for understanding the business side and building connections. Creating a comprehensive business plan that outlines the salon’s earning potential, target customers, financial management, and day-to-day operations is crucial.

Financial planning is vital, as salon expenses can vary widely depending on size and location. Identifying the target customer base and offering services to an underserved group can set the salon apart from competitors.

Finding the right location is essential, as it impacts accessibility for target customers. Acquiring the necessary local permits and legal documents ensures the business operates smoothly within the regulations.

Stocking the salon with necessary inventory and hiring a competent and personable team is vital for offering quality services and maintaining client satisfaction.

Effective marketing and brand-building strategies, as discussed in the table, are essential for attracting clients and fostering a loyal customer base. Online presence, special promotions, showcasing work, collaborating with influencers, hosting events, and emphasizing excellent customer service can all contribute to the salon’s success.

Finally, ongoing analysis and adaptation based on data and analytics allow salon owners to optimize their marketing efforts continually and ensure long-term growth and profitability.

By following these essential steps and implementing effective marketing strategies, aspiring entrepreneurs can build a strong brand and attract a steady stream of clients, positioning their hair salon for success in the competitive industry. With dedication, business acumen, and a focus on customer satisfaction, a well-planned hair salon can flourish and thrive in the ever-growing beauty market.

Image: Depositphotos.com

This type of business continues to be profitable regardless of the times. Even if the audience becomes technology oriented.

i want to open a hair salon but i dont want to do hair. I just want to be the owner and rent out chairs. Will I be able to do that with out having a hair liecense.

Whats required to rent chairs to licensed stylist, barbers and tatoo artists

I loved your blog and thanks for publishing this about how to start a hair salon. I am really happy to come across this exceptionally well written content. Thanks for sharing and look for more in future!! Keep doing this inspirational work and share with us.

nice information given..

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