Are you an entrepreneur who is very talented in styling and braiding hair? Do you have a passion or desire to own a salon someday? Not to worry we are here to make it work.
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According to byrdie.com:
“The origin of braids can be traced back 5000 years in African culture to 3500 BC—they were very popular among women.”
So you see braiding is part of our African culture and throughout the year it hasn’t stopped evolving. Rather it has been improving as braids have been embraced in every part of the world. Due to this development and modernization people throughout the world and in Africa specifically have been working on great ways to make money with the knowledge they have of this art. Yes, art because hair styling and braiding is an art like every exposition you see in art galleries. So there came the idea of creating salons, hair salons just to braid and style hair.
Hair salons have become a necessity in society today. It has become as necessary as going to the mall or shopping at the market. It has become a part of most people’s life routine. This has made the demand for hair salons very high especially in Africa, where women make their hair averagely every three weeks. With the population that goes to hair salons, this business is a very lucrative one to venture in. OK, let’s deep right in and go to all you need to start your hair salon.
Related: 5 Business Opportunities for African Entrepreneurs
1) Training:
You can’t be a hair stylist if you haven’t gotten the training to qualify you as one. There are many institutions in Africa that not only deal with makeup but also teach and train on hair styling. Some sites of such schools in Africa are:
Dark and lovely academy, South Africa
Loreal Institute, South Africa
Stellenbosch hair academy, South Africa
Natures Gentle Touch InstituteNatures Gentle Touch Institute, Nigeria
Pambo School of Hair and Beauty, Kenya
Posada Belle Beauty School, Ghana and many other schools.
All these schools offer hair styling courses and you can do some more research to find a school that fits your standards and financial budget.
There are also many other ways to get trained if you can’t afford for any of those institutions. You could just apply to be an apprentice at a good hair salon for a few months or years depending on how long you want it.
If you are already trained then you can skip this step and head on to the next.
2) Location
This would really matter if you want to achieve success in this business. Choosing a right location for your salon can attract different kinds and classes of clients. Placing your salon in a rich neighborhood will attract high class clients as well as placing it in a very popular area, can also boost your potential of having many clients. Your choice of place will also affect your pricing. Some towns are more expensive than others. You need to put all these factors in consideration before you choose a location for your salon. It would also be advantageous for you to choose a location that is not hard to situate. Try to choose a location where your salon will be very visible to everyone or easy to get to. You could choose to use your house or lease a place for the salon.
Related: 8 Steps To Start An Export Import Business With Little Capital
3) Equipment:
You will definitely need to equip your hair salon to make you more professional and effective. For all that, you will need some of the following:
- Hair treatments.
- Hair shampoo
- Hair serums.
- Hair dryers.
- Electric heaters
- Hair conditioners.
- Gels.
- Hair mousse.
- Flat and curling irons of different sizes
- Hand dryers
- Rollers.
- Hair clips.
- Chairs
- mirrors
All these and much more as you would like to upgrade and increase your client care services. You could make extra money by selling beauty products, including a spa and much more. If you intend to include spa services or sale of beauty product, then you must take out time to research and write all the products and equipment you will need for it.
4) Marketing:
Marketing is a very essential part of getting your salon to be popular and get many clients. You would need great marketing strategies to pull this off. You may decide to do hair styles at a promotional price to attract many clients. Take out time to properly think about your salon marketing strategies, because a good strategy will bring you immense profit. Don’t forget to choose a great and easy to remember name for your salon.
5) Employees:
You may need to hire a group of people you can work with. Once you start this, you may most probably not have time to run the errands and still work at the saloon. No business is small and the highest work always comes in at the start of the business. You would also need to do training for your employees to learn more on your hair dressing style. You may need the following:
- Cleaner
- Hair dressers
- Cashier /secretary
6) Finance:
As you may have realized by now, there are a few expenditures that you will have to incur as you work to put your salon in place. You must ensure that you include them in your budget before you consider taking a loan from a bank or from family members and friends. This excludes you if you already have the financial capacity to handle all of this without any external help. In you budget plan consider the following:
- Cost of leasing
- Cost of equipment
- Cost of hiring employees
- Relative cost of monthly water and electricity bills
- Tax payment(depending on your country)
- Marketing cost.
Once you have all those figured out. You still need to derive a payback plan if you took a loan.
If you have been reading this article, then you are now ready for your very own start up, a hair salon. Thank you very much for reading and please drop your comment on how this helped you in the comment box below. See you!!
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