Creating Your Salon Business Plan

The Top Tips to Know 

For Creating the Ultimate Business Plan for Your Salon, Suite, or Spa 

Running your own salon or suite sounds like a dream, right?

Think about it. You’re the boss. You decide what’s in and what’s out. You get the final say on how to care for customers. You get to explore your creative freedom to no end. You get to make all the rules.

Yeah, that’s the dream right there. But you know what’s not always so dreamy about making that a reality? Putting together your business plan.

Look, it’s no secret that creating a business plan isn’t the world’s most exciting activity—financials, marketing strategies, the minute details, doesn’t seem like the most fun exercise in the world, right? 

But it’s necessary—nope, scratch that, it’s crucial—to create a bomb business plan for your salon or suite if you want a successful starting point. Business plans may not be a blast, but they are the key to starting off on the right foot and creating a road map for how you want to start—and maintain—your dream business.

If you—like so many of us out there—tend to get overwhelmed at the thought of building a business plan, don’t sweat it—we’ve got an entire list below full of tips and tricks for putting yourself in the right mindset and getting on the right track to craft the ultimate business plan your salon needs. 

Must-Know Tips for Creating Your Salon, Shop, or Suite Business Plan 

Know Your Market 

You probably have a pretty decent idea of who your target audience is, but before you start drawing up your business plan, ask yourself an extremely specific question—how well do I know my target market?

Your salon or suite business plan should be designed to speak to how you’ll attract and maintain this specific group of people.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? 

Most businesses cannot survive with the splatter paint method—you know the one, throw a bunch of stuff at a wall and see what sticks. Instead, they need to target their business model and their strategies toward reaching a specific group of people—that’s how they find success. 

Knowing everything you can about this market is going to help you concoct a meaningful, impactful business plan. 

Figure Out Who You’re Up Against

Meet your competitors and size them up. No, really. This is one of the best things you can for your pre-business plan strategy. This is something that all smart businesses do. It’s not cheating, it’s not spying, and it’s not copying—it’s simply being a savvy businessperson. 

Take a look at your competitor’s business model and ask, “what are their strength and weaknesses?” Then, turn those questions into bigger questions—“what strength of mine can draw customers from their model to my model?”

This unique awareness can help you recognize who your competition is, aid in understanding them, and of course, help you analyze crucial factors that can set you apart. 

Eat the Details For Breakfast 

Details, schmetails. 

Sure, there’s a ton of pressure that comes with needing to fill in all the important details on your business plan, but we promise, there’s no real need to be afraid of them. And there’s also no reason you should let them run the show. 

Sure, we all need to be detailed and thorough when it comes to our business plans—anything too vague is going to be a pretty disappointing road map. But remember, a good business plan gets to the point in a succinct way—you don’t need to have every tiny, minute detail figured out before you draw up your business plan. 

Try to be as thorough as you possibly can but be OK with the fact that you don’t have everything figured out in this particular moment—no one ever does. 

Describe Your Business Perfectly 

Your business description is the perfect place for your vision, your goal, and your strategy to shine. Take some time to consider your business description and take it very seriously.

This is about more than just laying out the logistics like your business’ name, your location, etc. This is about shining a light on your salon and your vision—explain what makes your business special, what sets you apart, and what makes you a must for customers. 

Develop Your Marketing Plan

Just like we mentioned with the details section, it’s unlikely you’ll have every single part of your marketing plan figured out. Try to do as much research as you possibly can, but don’t worry about having every piece of the puzzle picked out.

Explore your options. Will you rely on word of mouth marketing? Will you opt for digital marketing? Does traditional marketing seem like your go-to? Or will try to strategize a plan that blends all of these facets together?

This is the time and the place to answer some very basic marketing strategies and think about how you’ll implement them into your plan. 

Finances, Finances, Finances

This is the hard part, but trust us, it’s hugely necessary. We highly suggest working with a financial advisor (or a friend who’s more experienced in this department) if you’re feeling doubtful about this, but also be aware that there are several resources online that can take you through this part of the process step by step. 

You’ll need to come up with a plan that revolves around things like:

• Personal financial statements
• Tax statements 
• Receipts
• Bank statements
• Balance sheets
• Income statements

And more. Again, the financial part isn’t always fun, but it’s definitely crucial, so get help when you need it! 

Ask For Help! (Seriously) 

There’s no shame in the asking for help game. Say it with us, people—asking for help isn’t a bad thing. You can be the most business-savvy beauty pro in the game and still could benefit from help—because newsflash, we all could.

Ask a mentor, a business advisor, a financial pro (heck, even as a friend) to take a look at your business plan and give you their thoughts. 

Taking this step doesn’t mean that you’re somehow not qualified to run a business—it means that you care so much about your business’ success you’ll do anything to start it off on the right foot. And to us, that makes it sound like you’re a pretty badass business owner already.