How To Open A Nail Salon: Step By Step Instructions

Nail salons, studios, and nail bars are very popular in the beauty industry. According to a global study of the European market for the nail industry, the market is expected to grow at an average of 4.5% per year until 2024. So, not surprisingly, nail salons are often chosen as the direction of new business.

To open a nail salon from scratch and not lose your investment, you must carefully prepare. We have compiled recommendations for each stage of preparation and tips on staying afloat after the grand opening.

In this step-by-step guide, you will find answers to questions about what you need to open a nail salon, what documents are needed, how to avoid common mistakes and other useful information.

Stages Of Opening A Nail Salon

Running your nail salon seems like a rewarding and fun experience. So it is, but it is important to be confident in the future and “lay a straw” in advance before opening.

Opening a business consists of several stages, and we advise you to carefully consider each of them.

The main stages of opening a nail salon include:

• Planning.
• Registration.
• Brand development.
• Room selection.
• Personnel selection.
• Promotion.

Let’s examine in-depth why each is significant and what should be considered.

Planning: The Beginning Of The Beginning

Every business starts with planning. First of all, it is worth deciding what format you will work in – whether it will be a nail salon, a nail bar in a shopping center, a nail design studio, or a large nail salon. Then, the next steps will depend on the format and scope of your project.

Analyze The Market

Where will your studio be located? Where will your clients come from? Are there other nail salons in the area?

If yes, be sure to check out their price list, workload, and types of services so that you can offer customers something exclusive that others do not have.

Study Your Target Audience

Almost everything depends on the correct definition of the target audience. Whom will your nail salon focus on, young girls or established businesswomen? What is the portrait of your “average” client – how much does he earn, what are his hobbies, and where does he get information?

Based on the knowledge of your target audience, you will be able to create the right list of services, determine opening hours, find the right channels of interaction with customers, determine the most effective advertising channels, and much more.

Write A Business Plan

This document will allow you to put everything listed on the shelves, determine all expenses and income items, and describe roles from responsibility and business prospects in terms of profitability and payback.

The main points of a nail salon business plan:

• Description of the salon: purpose and mission, location, price policy, format.
• Necessary investments and payback period.
• Business registration.
• Description of services.
• Target audience analysis.
• Promotion channels.
• Room requirements.
• Plan for hiring employees and their salaries.
• Possible risks.
• Financial plan.

If writing a business plan seems too difficult for you, entrust the task to a professional. But still, it’s better to try to do it yourself – when you become the owner of a business, you just need to understand all the intricacies and aspects of doing business.

So, now that you know your target audience, calculate the budget, and formalize the company, we recommend moving on to the visual and conceptual art of the preparation – branding.

Brand Development: Why Is It Important And Necessary?

Surely you want to open a nail salon and not get lost immediately among the many competitors. Therefore, your business needs branding – creating a memorable style that will set you apart from other nail studios.

The brand is developed once but brings recognition and new customers throughout the entire life cycle of the salon.

The main steps in brand development will be as follows:

• Start with a concept – an idea that will reflect your values, which you want to convey to the target audience.
• Come up with a suitable name. It should be something memorable related to the services of your nail salon or studio. The name should not be too long and should not cause ambiguous associations.
• Create a USP – a unique selling proposition. Think about what you can offer your customers that your competitors do not have? The USP should clearly show your visitors’ benefits if they choose you.
• Engage in corporate identity development. This is a logo, a slogan, a sign – everything that will represent your institution to customers. Moreover, they should be made in a single color scheme, which should also be used in the interior design of the salon and staff uniforms. To develop corporate identity and brand books, it is better to contact the designer.

We also recommend hiring specialists and doing everything correctly to develop a brand.

Let’s look at what you need to consider when choosing a room.

Search For Premises: What To Look For?

For everyone who decides to open their nail salon, the question arises of finding a room. If we talk about what is better – buying or renting, it all depends on the budget. It is advisable to buy unless there is serious start-up capital.

Consider the main requirements for a nail salon, regardless of whether you plan to buy or rent.

When choosing a place to open a nail studio, pay attention to the following aspects:

• Patency. Ideally, the place for your salon should be lively. People should constantly walk past it – your potential customers. It is good if it is located next to a public transport stop or on the so-called “donkey path,” that is, the “home-work” route of the inhabitants of this area.
• Area. Overpaying for extra square meters, especially at the initial stage of business development, is as unreasonable as squeezing a few jobs into a tiny room. Each of your masters should have enough space to work; separate areas will be needed to accommodate the reception, dressing room, and advertising racks.
• Interior. Ideally, the repair should already be such that you do not have to start a large-scale redevelopment, especially if the premises are rented. You will almost certainly have to repaint the walls in your corporate identity colors. The main thing is that everything else is in order – wiring, windows, ventilation, water supply.

When you decide on the premises, it will be time to purchase equipment and furniture for craftsmen, and in the waiting area, order signage and window dressing.

Recruitment: Who Is Needed And How To Choose?

So, you have registered a TOV or FOP, come up with a name and logo, and found a room for a nail salon. What else needs to be considered in order not to burn out?

The main value of any business is the people and the team. They must share their values, be able to communicate with clients, and, of course, be professionals in their field.

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Who Is Needed To Run The Salon?

• Masters. It is in their capable hands that customers will go. Your task is to attract good nail artists to your salon and keep them. If top specialists are not ready to go to a new studio, take people with less experience and teach them – send them to courses, master classes, and training in new techniques. This is how you grow your loyal cadres.
• Administrator. A good memory for faces, politeness, goodwill and stress resistance are the main qualities of a good administrator. He will meet your clients, take notes from the masters, resolve force majeure situations, and, in general, become the salon’s face.
• Accountant. It is advisable not to cut costs on such a specialist. It is more expensive for you. If you are thinking about how to open a nail salon from scratch to not go broke, you need to look for an accountant among professionals with extensive experience. He will hand over reports to the tax office on time and keep track of all financial flows.
• Contractors and suppliers. These are the people you will contact from time to time, such when purchasing materials or renovating a room. Look for them in the circle of friends, according to the recommendations.

After all the necessary steps, it’s time to start advertising your business.

Promotion Of A Nail Salon: How To Make Yourself Known?

It is preferable to move in multiple directions simultaneously. Start not with the most expensive ones:

• Create a website. Intuitively understandable, incorporate colors, a price list for services and profiles of masters, and information about promotions. Well, if through it, it will be possible to enroll in your studio.
• Order online advertising. Create accounts in social networks used by your target audience. For example, advertising from beauty bloggers shows quite a high efficiency.
• Start advertising offline. Order leaflets or flyers, distribute them to the surrounding houses, or distribute them to passers-by at the nearest bus stop. You can hang a stretch banner over the road next to the salon or order advertising on the billboard.

These are the primary steps involved in opening a nail salon. We’ve also put together some helpful tips and warnings to help you keep your salon afloat.

What About After Opening? Useful Tips For A Nail Salon

• Consider the risks associated with competitors. Keep an eye on competing salons: follow an adequate pricing policy, and arrange promotions and discounts to attract customers.
• Invest in qualified staff. We do not recommend hiring cheaper specialists at the opening stage. Also, don’t skimp on stylists, as they can ruin your salon’s reputation overnight, despite your investment in advertising and other areas.
• Listen to trends. Keep your finger on the pulse of modern technologies, introduce new procedures, and follow the mood of your target audience. The beauty business is constantly evolving, and you have to keep up with the times. Otherwise, more nimble competitors will quickly overtake you.
• Consider the interests of regular customers. For example, adjust the hours of work – take it early in the morning, when businesswomen can call in to clean up before the meeting; implement an online appointment for the convenience of making an appointment with you – customers will be able to make an appointment anytime during the day or night, without dialing and finding out free slots; arrange field service for especially busy customers, and so on.

A sensitive response to your customers’ wishes will undoubtedly make them permanent. To demonstrate that you value their time and are attentive to details, we advise you to use modern tools, such as Beauty Pro CRM, which manages and automates nail studios.

The program will help you avoid scheduling overlaps, provide online appointments, send appointment reminders to clients, etc. You can also have all the information about the client at hand: his preferences, allergies to materials, a complete history of visits and purchases, and other important data.

All this will allow us to provide the highest level of service. And most importantly – to prevent fatal mistakes in work due to which you can lose a client.

Follow the advice on opening a nail salon in this article, and avoid the most common mistakes aspiring entrepreneurs make.