Everyone has a passion they wish to pursue. Some dream of becoming doctors, engineers, accountants, or entering the beauty industry. When choosing a career path, you may have noticed the professional beauty services industry is rapidly expanding, projected to surpass $240 billion in 2025. That’s a promising direction to consider, especially if you’ve already built up relevant education and experience over the years.
If you’re planning to go solo and become self-employed, jumping in without proper preparation is a risky move. Not having a plan would be like diving into a pool without water. You’ll end up going head-first and injured, similar to experiencing losses and potentially having to close your beauty salon. And guess what, you’ll not be the first (or the last one). Statistics show that around 80% of salons close within the first two years of business operations.
This unfortunate fate can be heart-shattering, and very hard to recover from and start a career again. The good thing is that you’re here before starting a solo beauty business. We have listed down the top 7 mistakes that up-and-coming beauty professionals make when starting their own business. You’ll also see potential ways to avoid such mistakes. Let’s begin.
Mistake 1: Underestimating Business Planning
You might be amazing at cutting hair and rejuvenating the skin of your clients for winter weddings, Halloween parties, Christmas get together, and other occasions. But what about the business side of things? The operations, marketing, finances, and tons of other aspects, who’s going to look after that? As per studies, poor planning is the reason why 50% of personal care businesses fail within the first five years.
How to Avoid?
- You need to do a SWOT analysis of your business to ensure you make the most out of it.
- Set up SMART goals to ensure your business is moving in the right direction.
- Revisit your business plan after every 6-12 months to update your strategies.
Mistake 2: Ignoring Legal and Licensing Requirements
You can’t just lay your hands on a location and decide, “I’m going to open my beauty salon here.” Unfortunately, that’s what people tend to do. Some make the situation even worse by investing heavily in constructing a new salon.
When the self-employed beauty professional ignores the step of studying requirements, here are two of the common things that can happen.
- Potential Scenario 1: They need to stop construction because they lack the permits, certification, or fail to meet other required formalities.
- Potential Scenario 2: After construction, if the professional fails to maintain the health and hygienic guidelines, along with professional standards, it can result in a shutdown.
What’s common in both scenarios? Your investment is wasted.
How to Avoid?
- Instead of reading the guidelines of the United States, look at regional licensing requirements. These include knowing about the needed certifications, sanitation standards, and more
- Register your business for liability insurance to protect yourself and your clients.
Mistake 3: Poor Financial Management
Imagine you’re getting amazing traction with clients pouring in. But here are some questions that people ignore.
- Where’s the money going?
- What are your expenses?
- Does it equal your income?
- Do you have sufficient reserves for rainy days?
- How much tax do I have to pay?
Again, not managing the cash flow properly can lead to early business closure.
How to Avoid?
- Have a separate bank account to help manage your income and expenses.
- Use tools like QuickBooks or Wave to track your costs, profits, and tax obligations.
- Keep a financial reserve of at least six months before taking up any expense.
- Create an emergency fund to use only when necessary.
Mistake 4: Not Investing in Continued Education
Even if a person has decades of experience, there’s always more to learn. It’s easy for ego to set in, and the person to go like, “I know everything there is to know.” That will give an opening to other beauty service providers to upskill themselves and overtake them. The reason is that the trends are constantly changing, and so are consumers’ expectations. To give a positive and desirable experience, you need to keep track of what’s going on in the market.
How to Avoid?
- Attend workshops and make use of online education platforms.
- Earn new and recognized certifications from reputable names.
- Network with mentors to learn about the best practices.
Mistake 5: Neglecting Marketing and Branding
Relying on word-of-mouth and walk-ins can only get you so far. For those doing this, there comes a time in their career when they go like, “If only I had focused on marketing.” That’s usually at the point when new clients aren’t coming in, and the existing clients jump to your competitors, offering better services and experience.
According to numbers, 81% consumers research online before opting for a product or service, and 93% assess the business based on the online reviews. That means, if someone doesn’t have an online presence, they won’t be able to be noticed by potential clients. You’d not want that someone to be you, right?
How to Avoid?
- Create professional accounts on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Google My Business, and other local listing platforms. Also, remember to keep them active with engaging content.
- Build an online portfolio to showcase your skills and experience.
- Make it easy for your clients to book appointments through an online booking platform.
- Encourage the clients to give reviews and testimonials on online platforms.
Mistake 6: Setting Unsustainable Pricing
In search of higher profits, professionals make the mistake of raising prices. Doing so, they only succeed in ensuring their existing and potential clients move to their competitors who might be offering better pricing. Having said that, beauty professionals can’t also underprice their services, as they may end up lower or no profit.
According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), trying to be cheap while presenting your brand as high quality leads to failure.
How to Avoid
- Calculate your hourly rate based on the desired income, business overheads, and similar factors.
- Research the local market pricing.
- Offer packages and add-on services to entice consumers to spend more.
- Change the pricing based on the trends and demands for the services.
Mistake 7: Overworking Without Setting Boundaries
s
When beauty professionals are getting tons of clients and increased revenue, it can be really hard to say no. Being self-employed, they’ll need to handle it all themselves, leading to:
- Working late hours
- Answering messages and calls
- Skipping personal time
Yes! This might work short-term as the professional will enjoy the revenue their business is generating. But in the long run, fatigue might kick in, leading to:
- Burnout
- Lower quality service
- Poor client experience
That’s not something you’d want.
How to Avoid?
- Set strict business hours and don’t entertain client queries after that.
- Use online booking systems like Calendly to manage appointments, instead of doing it manually.
- Reserve the unscheduled time for resting and personal tasks.
Summing It Up
Now that you know the common mistakes by new beauty professionals, are you scared to take the first step? Well, you shouldn’t be, and we’ll tell you why. One, you know the mistakes that previous self-employed professionals have made, giving you the chance to learn and correct them.
Two (as a more convincing reason), you don’t need to have a separate place to offer beauty solutions, especially for haircare services. Why? Because you have Select Salon Studio, a reliable private studio, where you can do what you do best, offering amazing haircare services. No more worrying about factors like taking care of the salon amenities, managing equipment, among others. They can help you create a solid personal brand and make your solo business thrive even more.
Ping them to know more about it!
