Starting a Home-Based Hairstyling Business? Here’s What You Need to Know

When it comes to home-based businesses, there are all kinds of routes that you can take. Ideally, you want to choose one that speaks to your own talents, skills, and interests, but one that also makes sense to operate out of your home and has the potential for growth and success. One career path that could be of interest is starting your own home-based hairstyling business. This is a career that allows you to be creative, have that social aspect on the job, and truly decide the path of your future.

Before you go rushing into any sort of decision, however, there are some tips, advice, and bits of information that you will want to familiarise yourself with. Having this information will make it possible to make an informed decision on whether or not this home-based business is right for you.

You'll Want to Arm Yourself with Training

Perhaps you've experimented with cutting and colouring your own hair in the past, and maybe even friends and family members, but that's a far cry from having the actual knowledge and skills to become a successful hairstylist. Getting the proper training is absolutely essential to ensure that you provide your customers with the level of service they will expect.

What this means is that you'll want to enrol in hairdressing courses as soon as possible. This will need to be completed before you consider opening up your own business, as you need to have that skillset ready to go. In order to locate local hairdressing courses, you can check out the findcourses.co.uk website.

You'll find courses that will prep you in basic cutting all the way to professional styling. There are beginner's courses, more advanced courses, and separate ones that look at men's and women's hairdressing.

What Kinds of Services Will You Offer?

This is also a great time to start thinking about what kind of services you want to offer to your clients. Will you just be offering the basics – haircut, blow-dry, and style; will you offer services to men, women, and kids, or specialise in one group; will you offer such things as colours and perms; and what about more intricate styles such as special occasion hair for weddings, proms, and so forth.

The type of services you offer will be tied to the customer you hope to attract. Give thought to the demographics in your area and let that guide you as you figure out who your target customer will be.

Check Out the Competition

Checking out the competition will be another key element in opening up your own home-based business. You always want to find a way to stand out from the competition in the area, so learning about their services, pricing, booking system, and customer service will all help you in determining what your unique hook will be. Obviously, you don't want to copy what others are doing, as you'll just get lost in the sea of stylists.

How Will You Create a Home-Based Salon?

Even with all the best training, and intensive competition and client research, without the proper home setup, your salon just won't be successful. It needs to be professional, welcoming, and of course, functional.

Some of the things you'll need to give thought to include storage for all your supplies, a proper hairstylist chair that allows you to raise and lower your clients, a floor that is easy to clean up (you'll have lots of clippings and maybe even some product spills here and there), a sink for washing up, access to electrical plugs near the chair for plugging in hot tools, a large mirror for clients to look in and you to use, and of course a well-lit space that is spacious enough for you to move around.

It may be that you have an extra room in your home that you can convert into a private salon. If that's the case, make sure it's got a door for that added sense of privacy and professionalism. This is even more important if you have others living in the house with you such as kids, who may be loud and running around while you're busy with a client. At least you can close the door and create a more quiet and professional space.

While this won't be possible for everyone, a separate entrance/exit to your "salon" would also be ideal. This will prevent customers from having to walk through your home.

Parking will also be an issue, as you want to be sure there is a place for clients to park nearby.

Keep the Business Organised Through Software and Hardware

Any salon owner will also attest to just how important the right software is. You'll want to look for software that offers booking and calendar management. You may also need separate software or an online platform for invoicing. This will not only allow you to invoice clients but keep your own records up-to-date and organised, which will be important come tax season (year-end).

This also means you'll need a desktop or laptop in order to operate your software. You probably don't need anything too elaborate or state of the art, just reliable and user-friendly. There are specific desktops and laptops geared towards small business owners, which will provide you with all the most useful functions and features.

Other items you'll need will be a printer and a dedicated phone line and phone for your business. Again, it's about creating that professional image that you want to convey to clients.

How Will You Advertise Your Business?

Then there is the question of advertising. No matter how small your business may be when you start, you need to be able to get the word out and let people know about your venture. The good news is that there are plenty of effective and cost-efficient ways small businesses can market themselves. Social networks tend to be one of the best options, especially when you want to reach a large audience with minimal effort. Not only that, but you don't have to worry about spending money on these platforms.

The key social networks to start promoting your business on would be Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Don't forget you can also use photos of your work, before and after shots, short video clips, links to hairstyling related content such as the hottest trends of the season, promotions, discounts, and announcements.

It's also a good idea to start building an email contact list as you acquire customers. This will allow you to send out newsletters, announcements, promotions, discuss new services, and more.

Another effective tool to use is blogging. Pretty much every business out there, regardless of size or industry, requires a website nowadays. The goal with any website is to obviously have it seen and receive regular traffic. Posting relevant, engaging, and consistent blogs is a great way to attract interest. It also helps to position you as an expert in your industry.

An Exciting Career Path to Consider

So, while there is plenty to be aware of, research, and prep for, it may just be that opening your own hairstyling salon/business could be the best and most exciting career path for you to follow.

Photo by Maria Lindsey Multimedia Creator from Pexels.

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