Hair Salon Business Plan: What it is, Purpose and How to Write it

A hair salon business plan is a roadmap that provides a description of your hair salon business and services. It summarizes your hair salon’s goals and objectives letting you know that your business is on track.

A business plan for a hair salon contains your mission and vision statement as well as strategies for growing your hair salon business.

A hair salon business plan enables you to mitigate risks, helps keep tabs of your salon’s financial health and ensures that you implement efficient operations processes.

The business model of a hair salon is to sell hair related products and services such as hair oils, hair treatment, hair styling as well as hair coloring. A hair salon business plan is 15 to 25 pages long and is offered by business plan writing companies. 

What is a Hair Salon Business Plan?

A hair salon business plan is a document that gives your hair salon  business direction and oversight helping you make informed decisions. It helps you figure out what services your salon will offer, where your salon aims to grow to, what kind of clientele you want to have as well as who you are competing against.

A business plan for a hair salon enables you to achieve your hair salon’s objectives and navigate the ever changing world of beauty. It  summarizes your hair salon’s goals and milestones that let you know that your business is on the right track.

A hair salon specializes in hair styling and coloring done by a hair stylist. A hair salon business plan helps you jot down your thoughts and ideas, arrange them in an organized way and then develop a plan to implement them. 

What is the purpose of a Hair Salon Business Plan? 

The main purpose of a business plan for a hair salon  is to set your business goals and objectives and document ways of achieving them. It uses the SMART method for setting goals to ensure that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound.

Helps Attract Investors

A hair salon business plan helps you woo investors to come and raise money for your hair salon business. The plan shows investors that you have clear goals and a vision hence they will invest in your salon dream.

A hair salon business plan convinces investors that your idea is viable as it showcases your business strategies, financial forecasts and success potential. Additionally, you are able to estimate the required funding for your salon hence you will ask for the necessary amount from potential investors.

Helps Reduce Risks

A hair salon business plan reduces potential risks and challenges that may affect your business. While creating the plan, you identify threats early and develop strategies and contingency plans to mitigate them. Your salon business is then safe and its success chances are enhanced. 

Clarifies the Vision and Mission

A hair salon business plan clarifies your mission and vision. It helps you think about all the details of your salon from the services you will offer to the kind of staff you will hire.

The plan outlines your business concept, mission, vision and core values enabling you and your team to understand the purpose of your business. Everyone is aligned with your vision and gets to work towards a common purpose.

Helps with Better Understanding of Business Needs

Writing a hair salon business plan helps you think of everything you need to smoothly  run your salon. You will determine what equipment and supplies you need as well as your startup and operational costs.

The business plan will enable you to implement efficient operational processes that will lead to customer satisfaction. Having satisfied clients encourages a loyal customer base which is a key success factor for your salon.

Assists in Market Research

A hair salon business plan requires you to conduct market research and develop marketing strategies. Marketing strategies are ways that your business adopts to attract and retain customers. You will then identify your target market, predict customer preferences and make your marketing efforts more effective. 

How to Write a Hair Salon Business Plan

Writing a hair salon business plan is a step by step process. You should set clear and quantitative targets which means your business goals should be well defined. Do a lot of research to be familiar with current market trends.

Get help from a professional business plan consultant if you are not sure of how to write the plan. Involve your management team to incorporate their ideas and thoughts into the plan. The following are steps of writing a business plan for a hair salon.

Write the Executive Summary 

The executive summary is the introduction to your hair salon business plan. It gives brief information about your mission, vision and unique selling proposition. The executive summary should give a clear and brief overview of your business idea. It dictates the tone of your hair salon and makes an impression to your business plan reader.

Make the executive summary  compelling or interesting so that the potential investor will not have to read the rest of the sections of your hair salon business plan.  Write the executive summary at the very end after you have written the other sections of your plan to come up with a good summary of other aspects of the plan.

Start by stating all your short term goals and summarize your business approach by giving an overview of how things will run in your salon. Briefly express the value proposition of your salon and how it will be positioned to your target customers. 

Hair Salon Business Description

Your hair salon business description gives an overview of your business and explains your business’ core values. The business description lays out the legal structure of your business whether it’s a partnership, corporation or sole proprietorship.

It outlines the shareholders of the salon and the location. When describing your salon business, give the reader a feel of the place. Include why you chose the specific location of your salon as well as any business milestones that you may have achieved so far.

Outline all the services that you offer as well as any unique treatments that you specialize in such as facials. Give a brief history of what made you start the hair salon business and explain the type of salon that you operate. 

Describe Hair Salon Products and Services

The hair salon products and services section details the hair products and  services that your salon will offer. Hair products include shampoos, conditioners and hair oils while hair services include braiding, hair treatment or blow drying.

Highlight unique services and products that differentiate your hair salon from others.  Include prices for each of your hair services and products and mention why you chose your pricing model. Describe each service that you offer in detail and the expected outcome of the service rendered.

Describing your hair salon products and services helps investors better understand how you plan to satisfy all your customer needs. The hair salon products and services section communicates the value your salon brings to the market.

Explain Hair Salon Marketing and Sales Plan

The marketing and sales plan outlines how you will promote your hair salon and attract customers. A thorough marketing plan is essential as it allows you to get to your target market and stand out from competition. Methods of marketing include sales promotions, loyalty programs and online advertising.

Set clear marketing goals to increase brand awareness and drive foot traffic to your hair salon. Create a compelling message that highlights your salon’s  unique selling proposition. Leverage social media by  engaging with your audience with information such as hair styling tips.

Consider partnerships whereby you collaborate with local businesses to position your hair salon as the go to destination for hair services. Measure and track the success of your marketing campaigns through customer feedback or website analytics.

Describe Hair Salon Management strategy

A management strategy is a technique used in business control and direction to achieve business goals. Describing your management strategy helps your hair salon achieve top performance. It provides your business with a clear sense of direction. Examples of management strategies include SWOT analysis strategy, balanced scorecard strategy and total quality management strategy.

Using the SWOT analysis strategy entails assessing  and comprehending the internal and external factors shaping an entity. The balanced scorecard strategy facilitates translating your vision into tangible objectives and key performance indicators. Total quality management strategy encompasses customer satisfaction and employee management across all facets of an entity.

An excellent management strategy helps you determine salon’s goals and objectives, establishes the resources for achieving the goals set and puts in place timelines for achieving the goals. 

Make Financial Plan and Projections for the Hair Salon 

Financial plan and projections entail including financial statements such as income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements. A financial plan gives a holistic overview of your financial projections for the first three to five years. Include sales forecasts, revenue projections, initial startup costs as well as break even analysis.

Financial projections demonstrate the long term growth and profitability of your hair salon. Create a budget and think about where you will put your money whether in marketing, supplies or staff training.

Make an income statement which shows your revenue and expense projections and determines your profitability. A balance sheet will  show your assets, liabilities and equity. A cash flow statement will help you determine how much money you need to start and grow your hair salon. 

Explain your Funding Need for the Hair Salon

Explaining your funding need for the hair salon entails outlining your funding requirements. Your goal is to explain clearly how much funding you will need for your salon over the next five years. Explain how you will use the funds and specify if you need the funds to buy equipment, pay salaries or cover other bills.

Support your funding request with financial projections to convince the lender or investor that your salon business is stable and will be a success. Provide your hair salon’s business information such as your business structure, target market and a brief of your products and services.

Explain your current and future financial planning such as outlining your timelines for repaying the loan or  plans to sell your business. Justify your request for funding by explaining how the investment will benefit your business and contribute towards its success.

Create the Appendix 

Creating the appendix entails attaching supporting documents that compliment your hair salon business plan. The appendix includes market research data, licenses and permits, equipment lease agreements as well as resumes of your management team.

The contents of the appendix should be simple and easy to navigate. Have a table of contents to help business plan readers find easily what they need. What you include in the appendix should be relevant to the contents and elements of your  hair salon business plan. Add footnotes or a link referencing the supporting document to the information that it supports in the business plan.

Include a confidentiality statement to ensure that information such as financial or legal information is not shared to other parties without your consent. Keep the appendix supplementary by ensuring it stands alone from the business plan document. 

How does the Hair Salon Business plan relate to the Beauty Salon Business Plan?

A beauty salon business plan covers a wider service scope than a hair salon business plan. Hair salons primarily focus on hair related services while beauty salons offer a comprehensive range of services encompassing hair, nails, makeup and skin care services.

Both plans will have different missions, visions and goals as the purposes of a hair salon and beauty salon are different. Both business plans will target the same customers because  a  hair salon and beauty salon belong to the same beauty industry.

A hair salon business plan and a beauty salon business plan will have the same elements that must be included such as an executive summary, business description, products and services, a marketing plan as well as a financial plan. The steps followed when writing both business plans are the same. 

How long is a Hair Salon Business Plan

A hair salon business plan is 15 to 25 pages long. However, the length of the business plan will vary depending on factors such as the size of the business, complexity of the business, stage of the business as well as the audience. A business plan for a big hair salon will be longer than that of a small hair salon.

A plan written for investors will be longer than that written to internal partners of a business. Investors will need detailed financial information which will make the business plan lengthy. Complex hair salon businesses with multiple products and services and diverse customer segments need longer and detailed business plans.

How Long does it take to Write a Hair Salon Business Plan?

It takes three to four weeks to write a hair salon business plan. The time taken to write a business plan varies with factors such as the size of the business, the skills and experience of the writer, involvement of other people as well as the complexity of the business idea.

It will take longer to write a business plan for a big hair salon than that of a small salon because of the wider  scope.  A highly skilled and experienced business plan writer takes a short time to write a hair salon business plan.

Involving other people such as your team in the business plan writing process takes time because you will want to get everyone’s ideas and incorporate them in the plan. A complex business idea requires more research and analysis hence it will take longer to write the business plan. 

Do business plan writing companies offer Hair Salon Business Plans?

Yes, business plan companies offering business plan writing  services help with hair salon business plans. They offer business plan consultation services by offering custom advice when creating your hair salon business plan.

Business plan writing companies will write your hair salon  business proposal which is essential in communicating the solutions that your products and services give to customer needs. They will help you create your business plan and come up with a draft that meets industry standards.

Business plan writing companies offer business plan development which ensures that your plan is reviewed and updated regularly. They will guide you in implementing the business strategies set out in your hair salon business plan according to set timelines.

Who Writes Hair Salon Business Plans?

Business plan consultants write hair salon business plans. They have experience in business planning which helps you clarify your goals and vision and devises strategies to achieve them.

Business plan consultants are excellent in market research which helps you find a niche that your hair salon business will exploit. They are competent in financial modeling which helps them project the profitability of your hair salon in the next few years.

Financial modeling helps business plan consultants come up with accurate financial projections.Business plan consultants have proper time management skills to ensure that they meet deadlines and deliver your hair salon business plan on time.

Is the Cost for Hair Salon Business Plans Affordable?

Yes, the cost for a hair salon business plan is affordable. A hair salon business plan costs $ 2000 and $ 25000. The cost varies depending on factors such as the length of the document, quality of the plan, size of the business and turnaround time. 

A long hair salon business plan will cost more than a short business plan. A hair salon business plan written within a short period of time will cost a lot. A plan written by a highly experienced writer will be expensive because it will be of the best quality. 

FAQ

How profitable is owning a hair salon?

The profitability of a hair salon depends on factors such as the size and location of the salon, the services offered and the overall management of the business. A hair salon located in a high foot traffic area is likely to be profitable while a salon rendering a wide range of services will make more money. A hair salon that provides high quality services to  its customers resulting in customer loyalty will be profitable. However, ensure that you manage hair salon costs such as rent, utilities and salaries to ensure that you make a profit which is calculated by subtracting costs from income.

How do I write a salon business plan? 

Writing a salon business plan is a step by step process. The steps followed include writing the executive summary, writing the business description, describing the salon products and services as well as explaining the salon marketing and sales plan. Other steps include describing the salon management strategy, making the financial plan, explaining the salon funding needs and creating the appendix.

How to make a hair business plan?

Making a hair business plan is a step by step process. It entails writing the executive summary, writing the business description, describing the hair products and services as well as explaining the marketing and sales plan. Other steps include describing the hair business management strategy, making the financial plan, explaining the funding needs and creating the appendix.

How much do most salon owners make?

The salon owner makes around $128,000 per year. The amount that salon owners make largely depends on factors such as the location of the salon, services offered ,price point and overall management of the business. A salon in a high end neighborhood is likely to generate higher revenues because the customers are willing to pay premium prices. Offering hair services that are in high demand will result in more revenue while efficiently managing the salon by building long lasting customer relationships will earn you more.