Opening a hair salon is a journey filled with joy and excitement for business owners and stylists alike. However, several crucial decisions have to be made to ensure your salon’s success. Selecting the best possible location for your hair salon is perhaps the most important. We love our Hillsboro-Belmont location here at Fruition Salon and want to empower other salon owners and stylists to find their own. These five factors are some of the most important to consider when choosing your salon's new home.
Desired Visibility
At first, it may seem like the most desirable location for a hair salon is one that is easily visible on the main thoroughfare. That can be true, but not always. There is a case to be made for choosing a place that is more secluded and tucked away. The questions to be asking yourself come down to what type of experience you want your salon to provide and how you want to market your business. If you target walk-ins and depend on foot traffic to attract new clients, it makes sense to be highly visible so that potential clients can easily find your salon. Alternatively, if you anticipate clients that value privacy or you are more reliant on marketing by word of mouth, a location slightly off the beaten path may enhance that model.
Thoughtful Accessibility
When selecting your location, it’s essential to consider the neighboring areas from which your clients are traveling. If you’re targeting customers from out of town or even out of state, finding a space that is easily accessible from the major highways is highly beneficial. On the other hand, if your clients will be local to your city or town, you will want to consider a main roadway or hotspot within the community.
Size and Space
The interior of your salon deserves just as much consideration as the location itself. Ask yourself what your ideal layout looks like and how much space you need to succeed. The floorplan of your salon has to facilitate a natural, practical flow of traffic as you and your team move throughout your workday. Think about where you’ll set up reception, retail, washing, cutting, coloring services, storage space, restrooms, and an employee break room. While it may sound like a good idea to find as large of a space as possible to grow into it, you may be doing yourself a disservice because the more extensive the salon, the more expensive it will be to maintain. Finding the right balance of size and space to meet your needs helps set your business up for long-term success.
Discover Competitors
Competition is an inevitable component of being a salon owner, but doing your research about your competitors can give you an advantage. Choosing a location close to one or more pre-existing salons can leave you struggling to attract clients. Instead, consider learning about other salons in your area, what types of clients they cater to, and which services they offer. Concentrate your search on places that maximize your opportunities to draw in business. Think about how you can differentiate your salon from your competitors and which location puts you in the best position to stand out.
Know Your Clientele
Before choosing a location and opening your doors, it’s helpful to understand your local clientele. What type of client do you want to attract? Which of your products and services will appeal to them? Take the time to learn about the people who live in the area that you hope will patronize your business. A more creative hair salon might do better in a busy metropolitan area, whereas a salon that caters to an older demographic might do well in the suburbs. Your salon makes you and your business part of a community, and by getting to know the types of people within that community, you can figure out if your salon is the right fit.
No matter where you decide to set up shop, remember that your new location is where you’ll spend a lot of time, especially early on. Make sure that your space makes you feel comfortable and invites your clients to return so that your new salon can continue to grow and thrive for years to come.
