Starting a franchise business, in the beauty sector can be a great choice for many reasons such as: feeling great at the end of the day because the services offered helped people feel good about themselves and also, making profit because of the high demand there is on the beauty salon franchise business.
Putting aside the great business a beauty franchise is, people need to be focused, having a franchise is a very important decision to make, and as obvious at is may sound, there are a lot of thinking to be done; franchising is as important as stock investments; just like every stock investment is evaluated before becoming a shareholder, every franchise should be evaluated because of its potential benefits and with objective consideration.
Is owning a beauty salon franchise business profitable?
The question is, does it make sense to start a beauty franchise business from scratch or is it better to invest in a hair and beauty salon franchise? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 20% of all businesses in the U.S. close after two years of operation and over 38% after four years.
However, these numbers vary greatly depending on the owner, the type of business owned, the planning etc.. Although there have been many studies which state that franchises often have a higher overall success rate than starting a business from scratch. The reason behind this is because franchises operate under a predetermined and proven successful business model whereas independent businesses make adjustments and decisions to their business model as they go, in other words, independent business are still on trial and error.
On the table below, there are some advantages of:
Buying a Franchise VS Starting a Business from Scratch
Franchise |
Business From Scratch |
The franchisee is given support in areas such as: IT, marketing, training and sales. |
There is no time to give support, on this stage the owner is focusing on trial and error; the main focus here is to make the business work. |
As the franchisee is has all the paperwork, numbers, business plan done, he/she is now able to focus on growth. |
When starting a business from scratch, there is a lot of time spent on research, business plan creation, etc. |
It’s easier and more cost effective to attract customers when you invest in an established beauty franchise brand that has a good reputation. |
Confidence is something hard to earn that requires a great amount of time. When starting a business, people have to work really hard (marketing, services, word of mouth, etc..) for their brand to be heard, seen and trusted. |
People are investing their money on a proven to succeed franchise which involves less risk. |
There are no many resources nor trusted brand name yet. As stated above, the business is "on the go", it does not have the green light just yet. |
It is important to state that even though the table above is "pro-franchising" it does not mean that starting a business from scratch will not work (if it didn't, the world wouldn't have any brands), the message given above is the fact that there is much more risk, that it requires more time and effort. There is no right or wrong choice, it all depends on the personality of the business person.
How much does it cost to open a beauty salon business?
Investing in a beauty franchise offers many advantages, but as everything, they have a cost. There are many factors that will impact the cost of starting a beauty salon which is why people have to make a business plan to analyze the cost. As guidelines, there are a few questions people should consider.
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What type of beauty salon?
The main factor that will influence the cost of a beauty salon is the type of salon people want to have. There are a lot of varieties such as: nail salon, spa, hair salon, etc.. This is why its the most important factor, because the space needed and equipment varies depending on the choice.
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Existing clientele?
Knowing the profile of clients wanted give the owner more flexibility when choosing the location of the franchise and, depending on the location of the franchise, depending the fixed costs.
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How much capital is there available to invest on risk?
The more capital a person has, the more options for the salon the person wants to open (the salon would be bigger, multiple chairs, etc.) However, it is important to keep in mind that even though there will be an increase in economies, there will be a bigger increase in financial risks in case the business doesn't turn out as planned. It is important not to push too far when it comes to finances.
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What is the average square footage for a salon
Remember when we talked about the location? Well this has the same importance. According to many researches, in the U.S. the "right" dimensions of salons and spas have an average size of 1'500 sqft. So, depending on the area a person wants to put their franchise on, depending on the cost of the sqft. It is really important to calculate the cost of rent depending knowing that the rent & the fixed costs go hand in hand with the size of the salon.
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Initial Supplies
Yes, knowing the rent, the customers profile and the location is important, but people should not forget about the importance of the equipment and the initial supplies of the salon. This involves things such as: styling tools, aprons, chairs, etc...
Top 10 Reasons to invest in a Beauty Salon Franchise Business:
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Investing in a Proven System
The beauty sector is a very demanded sector, which is why it is a great business to invest in. Having great demand is very good but, the more the demand, the more the competition. When investing in a beauty salon franchise, people are investing in a well-designed and managed proven system, the "creator" has made already the tests, he/she has already a business plan and a franchise that is proven to work, he has everything the franchisee needs to succeed.
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Brand Recognition:
As stated above, the franchise is a proven system, people are investing on something that already exists. When selling a franchise, Franchisors are "giving" their brand to the buyer as well as the consumer recognition and marketing. Even if customers do not know 100% the brand, the franchisors are in charge of making it happen.
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Ongoing Support
One of the key benefits of buying a franchise business instead of starting a business from scratch is that, as you represent a brand and every franchise has to follow the same guidelines, the franchisor will provide the franchisee with any support needed in order to get the franchise up and running.
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Working for Yourself
The main reason people want to start a business of their own is because they do not like working for someone else, they want to have they want to be their own boss; by buying a beauty franchise, they are able to be their own boss but have the benefits that working for someone else has (marketing, guideliness, trials, etc..)
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The tough parts are done
Owning a franchise business is tough that is for sure, but the message here is that the business plan (which involves, costs, marketing, idea, etc..) is done. All the paperwork and boring excel sheets nobody wants to has been done.
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Mistakes have been made
It does not mean that the franchisee will not make any mistakes and he/she will have success just for sitting down and not working, it is important to remember that the success of a franchise also depends on the work of the franchisee. The message stated here is that the "big mistakes" have been made by the creators of the franchise, the trails, tests and errors have been made by others, and because they learned from their mistakes, a "manual" has been made and hopefully will not be made again.
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Easier to finance
As stated before, the boring excel calculations have been made, so based on the franchisors experience, they will develop a working business plan and teach the franchisee how to manage the finances.
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Other franchises in the system
It is true that the franchisor helps a lot providing all the information needed, but being able to call others that have been in the place the franchisee is in, others that have been through the same and can answer any questions in the exact same business and brand is priceless. It could be said that they could be "mentors".
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Business Growth
For a beauty salon franchise business to succeed people need to follow others steps, and because when they follow them they do not have to focus on maths or any business plan, people are able to focus on keep ameliorating their business; franchisees are able to put all their effort on making their business better.
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Backed Up
Because there are many other franchisees, if a person has a problem, an idea, or just wants an opinion, there are many people to whom he can speak to and will be heard and understood. A franchise business is like a community its an "I've got your back" kind of thing
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