The 5-Point Checklist of a Great Salon Location

Without question, the right location makes it easier to grow and build a profitable book of salon business.  Here are five things to consider when you are deciding where to open your first salon or spa, or where to open your next location. 

If you can check these five things off your list when choosing a location to open a salon or spa or expand your business by adding a new location, chances are that the location has what it takes to help you be successful. 

Many beauty professionals get into the business as a hairdresser, esthetician, technician or in another role knowing that their ultimate goal is to open a salon or spa of their own.  When the time is right, be sure that you look past the surface and double check your choice of location against these five important factors.

Grand Opening!  5-Point Checklist for Finding the Right Location for a Salon or Spa

A Salon Location with All the Right Numbers

And I’m not talking about rent!

When it comes to building a book of business, there is no factor more important than ensuring that there are enough members of your desired target markets in the vicinity.

Before opening your salon or spa, you must do some homework and identify “buyer personas” (or “ideal client types”) and describe those personas in terms of demographics and shared interests.  For instance:

• What type of jobs would they have, and how much would they make?
• How old would they be?
• Would they be men? Women? Kids?
• What would they be looking for in a salon or spa?
• What type of services would they want on a regular basis?
• What type of products would they need?

Depending on your answers to these questions, you will want to evaluate any proposed new salon location relative to whether enough members of your identified target markets live (or work) in the vicinity. If not, chances are it’s going to be tough to build the type of salon or spa client base you envision.

A Salon Location Where the True Price is Right

The dollar amount of your salon location’s mortgage, lease or rent is not the true price – it’s just the beginning.  When you are comparing locations, look past the dollar amount and remember that you may end up spending more or could end up saving more depending on some of the other terms in your agreement.

You could be able to negotiate (or work with a real estate broker to negotiate) many areas of a typical lease agreement, such as:

• Delaying the start of the contract until after all improvements and renovations have been made and your doors are actually open
• Getting the landlord to pay some or all of needed improvement costs
• Having an inspection done and requiring that the landlord make any recommended repairs or upgrades
• Signing a longer agreement with a locked in price (for no increases) or negotiating for delayed increases or incremental increases that give you a chance to start growing your business before you must pay the full amount of rent
• Making your agreement contingent on other nearby businesses remaining (for instance, if you chose a location because it was next to a busy restaurant or gym, and that business leaves, you could lose walk-in traffic or even regular customers)
• Determining who is responsible for maintenance and cleaning of common areas (and ensuring through observations and asking other tenants whether the landlord does a good job)
• How long of an agreement you must sign and whether you can sublease or reassign the agreement should you need to move your salon or close it
• And more –

A Salon Location that Appeals to Staff as Well as Clients

Though the ultimate decision as to where your salon should be located must rest in part to its proximity to your ideal client types, the appeal that the location has to you and your staff should also be considered.  And commute is only one factor.  Other factors that might make your salon’s location more appealing include whether there are other businesses nearby where staff or clients would want to shop, recreate, dine, etc., and whether the location is one where patrons will feel safe, have convenient access into and out of your business, have adequate parking, and so on.

A Salon Location that Screams Out Your Brand!

Building a strong brand is an important part of not only attracting the type of clients you most want to attract, but in retaining them and generating word of mouth referrals as well.  The location you choose for your salon or spa should reflect the type of brand you envision building (or the type of brand you already have, if this will be a new location or a franchise salon location).

A Salon Location With a Future

The last thing you want to do is sign on to a long term lease only to find that the “ideal client types” that you thought would surround your location are evaporating.  Be sure that you study up on trends in the community including plans for new home developments or development of commercial property in the vicinity to ensure a long, profitable, sustainable life for your salon or spa!

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Elizabeth Kraus is the author of the newly released 2015 Salon Marketing Calendar  called “Making the Cut,” available in print and digital format on amazon.com starting from $6.99 (digital).

Written just for Independent Beauty Professionals, Making the Cut has hundreds of low-cost and no-cost marketing ideas which can help booth renters, salon suite owners, salon owners and salon managers engage, motivate and retain more clients in 2015!