Should You Start a Salon Suite or a Salon?

So, you want to take the next step.

Exciting!

You’ve decided to level up your game and create a profitable career in the beauty industry. It’s great news. Deciding to grow can be one of the best steps you take in forwarding your career. 

And here’s what I want you to know: I want you to grow your business with your eyes wide open. Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to go forward.  

What path should you choose? Opening a salon suite or a full salon both have their pros and cons. Let’s take a look.

The benefits of opening a salon suite

  1. You get to work on your own

If you love, love, love doing hair, having your own salon suite can be the best way to go. It really comes down to your personality. Maybe you're frustrated with the team that you're on right now. Maybe you're feeling like you're always the one who's folding laundry and sweeping floors. Sound familiar? Leasing your own salon suite can give you the freedom and ownership you crave. 

By having your own chair in a larger beauty gallery you can set your own hours, keep the profits from the products you sell, and run your own game. 

2. You can open on a limited budget

Opening a salon involves financial risk. Having a salon suite is more affordable and if you’re not in a place to take on a lot of financial risk, this can be the perfect move. Opening a salon suite gives you that time, that space to think, to build and create the momentum that you need to build the business.

If you’re the only person behind your business, I would lean more towards the salon suite. 

3. You get to continue doing what you love: hair, hair, hair

Do you really love styling hair? If you have built a solid business behind the chair, you love your clients, and you see yourself working in a hands-on manner, a salon suite is the perfect route. 


The benefits of opening a full salon

In contrast, when you’re a salon owner, you’re leading a team. As a salon owner you will be training future stylists, and working towards building a larger business vision. 

Love a group? This could be the route for you! 

  1. You get to work with a team (and avoid going solo)

When I had a salon suite, I found I really missed the camaraderie of a salon. I didn’t really like being by myself and working alone. Everyone is different. For me, I really needed to be surrounded by my team and my people, to be motivated.

In a salon, I can communicate ideas about different designs for clients and strategize business growth with others. That's my zone of genius. Consider what could be best for you.  

2. You are the visionary and leader

Do you love being in control?

As a salon owner, you’re in charge of booking appointments, cleaning, ordering, and folding the towels, taking care of refunds and redos, dealing with cancelations, and making sure you're building systems and processes for your business so you are not burning the candle at both ends. Everything and beyond! If you crave room to grow and vision, go with a salon. 

3. You can potentially have better control of your time

With a full salon you can potentially have more flexibility. If you can’t be there on the day, another member of your team can. So, in this way, a salon is more all-encompassing but it can give you more flexibility through support. 

What’s next? Sign up for the Salon Business Master Class

Opening your own salon suite or salon can be an exciting point in your life. Ready to jump in? Sign up for my Salon Business Master Class coming up in September.

I’ll teach you how to attract more clients and why 75 percent of salons fail within the first five years and how you can avoid this. 

I started where you are and I’m now running a successful six-figure beauty industry business! Register today and don’t miss out on this great opportunity to scale your business faster and easier! 

As Beyonce once said, I don't gamble much, but if I was going to take a bet, I would take a bet on myself.

Want to listen to the full podcast episode? Click here!