Beauty Salon: turning your hobby into a side business

Have a passion for beauty? Ever thought about turning it into a side business? You’re not alone! 46% of people in Britain make a second income with a side hustle, and with hair and beauty spending on the grow after falling during Covid (not going out will do that…) now could be the perfect time to start your new business. To help you start your enterprise on the front foot, here are some key things to consider.

Create a business plan

To start treating your hobby as a business, you need to have a solid plan in place. A business plan will provide you with a blueprint on how to set up, market, and run your business, helping you copperplate your success.

Your plan should include:

• An executive summary, summarising what your business does, its structure, purpose, and goals.
• Market analysis, so you know what the opportunity is in your niche, and the competition.
• An outline of how your business is managed and organised – who runs it, and who reports to who.
• A list of the products and services you offer.
• Target audience information – who your customers are and what defines them.
• A marketing plan – how you’re going to get yourself out there in front of your target audience.
• An idea of how your business will operate logistically. Things like where you’re getting your products from, how you will provide your services, the equipment you’ll need, and so forth.
• A financial plan – an income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement (an accountant can help you with these).

Find your niche

‘Beauty’ is a broad category. As such, it’s really important to define your niche so you can become an expert at one thing – not mediocre at lots of things. For instance, you might want to work in organic skincare, natural makeup, hair care, or nail design.

We can’t give you an answer for what would be best for you to pick – think about what you’re great at and passionate about and use that as your starting point.

How to operate from home

Lots of people starting a beauty business side hustle start out by operating out of their homes – it’s cheaper than getting premises, reducing your initial overheads. There are a few things to get right here though.

First, if you’re converting a room into a beauty salon space, it’s important to decorate and style it professionally, account for fire safety, store your equipment smartly, and if you’re working with anything particularly aromatic, keep the room ventilated by installing an extractor fan from a supplier like RS. That way, the space will be a pleasant place to do business.

You’ll also need to make sure you’re operating in line with laws and other rules. Your mortgage or tenancy terms should be set up to let your run a business from your property. You’ll need to purchase business insurance to cover yourself, your company, and your clients. And you’ll certainly need to make sure you’re operating in line with your local council’s rules – things like tax, health inspections and so forth.

Running a beauty business can be an amazing opportunity, and with the tips above, you’re sure to go far! Do you already run your own business? Share your tips and tricks with other budding entrepreneurs in the comments below.