Anyone have experience of owning a hairdressing salon?
Discussion
I've been looking into taking over the running of a hairdressing salon in a city centre location (women's cuts and style by appointment only, not a barber shop). The business is owned by my best friend's younger brother who has 2 other shops (one is a barbershop, the other is a salon)
He doesn't do any cutting himself. But I know (through his brother) that last year he took in approx 90k net into his personal account after tax. He's only 26 but has 2 rental properties and is building his own 4 bedroom house on some land he owns. He landed into the business by accident. Previous owner did a runner after (allegedly) banking £250k from 5 salons and leaving for Spain before HMRC could grab him. My mate's brother made an offer for taking over the lease and on 1 of the shops then realised it was a money spinner so took over leases on another 2 (the other 2 were apparently sold to someone else).
I've asked his brother why he's selling and it's because the location is too far from his house. Apparently the biggest headache is keeping control of staff who are by and large quite flakey and cause a lot of headaches (phoning in "sickies" after a big night out on the own etc.). So he doesn't want to continue
I'm going to have a look at the accounts and the venue but just wanted to gauge opinions from people here if anyone's had any experience and can recommend it as a good cash business (the goal being to open a couple more salons once I've got the experience under my belt)
However, obviously a bit wary about jumping into a business I know nothing about during a recession so am going to do as much due diligence as possible.
Would appreciate any advice from people who might have had experience of this type of business.
He doesn't do any cutting himself. But I know (through his brother) that last year he took in approx 90k net into his personal account after tax. He's only 26 but has 2 rental properties and is building his own 4 bedroom house on some land he owns. He landed into the business by accident. Previous owner did a runner after (allegedly) banking £250k from 5 salons and leaving for Spain before HMRC could grab him. My mate's brother made an offer for taking over the lease and on 1 of the shops then realised it was a money spinner so took over leases on another 2 (the other 2 were apparently sold to someone else).
I've asked his brother why he's selling and it's because the location is too far from his house. Apparently the biggest headache is keeping control of staff who are by and large quite flakey and cause a lot of headaches (phoning in "sickies" after a big night out on the own etc.). So he doesn't want to continue
I'm going to have a look at the accounts and the venue but just wanted to gauge opinions from people here if anyone's had any experience and can recommend it as a good cash business (the goal being to open a couple more salons once I've got the experience under my belt)
However, obviously a bit wary about jumping into a business I know nothing about during a recession so am going to do as much due diligence as possible.
Would appreciate any advice from people who might have had experience of this type of business.
Yeah, my my girlfriend runs a salon (7 staff) i own it, i haven't got a clue about cutting hair!
Biggest issue as in any business is staff, and as hairdressers are not the best paid workers you can get quite a chequered spread, also stock can be expensive if you want quality.
Are you a hairdresser?
Biggest issue as in any business is staff, and as hairdressers are not the best paid workers you can get quite a chequered spread, also stock can be expensive if you want quality.
Are you a hairdresser?
Crimp a Length! said:
Yeah, my my girlfriend runs a salon (7 staff) i own it, i haven't got a clue about cutting hair!
Biggest issue as in any business is staff, and as hairdressers are not the best paid workers you can get quite a chequered spread, also stock can be expensive if you want quality.
Are you a hairdresser?
Jesus I am SO SO SO disappointed to hear that your username is not scat based.Biggest issue as in any business is staff, and as hairdressers are not the best paid workers you can get quite a chequered spread, also stock can be expensive if you want quality.
Are you a hairdresser?
Illusions. Shattered.
Soovy said:
Crimp a Length! said:
Yeah, my my girlfriend runs a salon (7 staff) i own it, i haven't got a clue about cutting hair!
Biggest issue as in any business is staff, and as hairdressers are not the best paid workers you can get quite a chequered spread, also stock can be expensive if you want quality.
Are you a hairdresser?
Jesus I am SO SO SO disappointed to hear that your username is not scat based.Biggest issue as in any business is staff, and as hairdressers are not the best paid workers you can get quite a chequered spread, also stock can be expensive if you want quality.
Are you a hairdresser?
Illusions. Shattered.
It came about me old fella (who has a way with words) claiming it been an old navel term for having a sh***te, i just liked it but, maybe i shouldn't have bloody responded to this thread....
None of the hairdressers I deal with are poor.
If you get hold of the financial statements, make sure you go over them with care, preferably with someone (an accountant) who has experience with other salons.
None of the salons I deal with have an owner who's not a stylist themselves, which I would imagine is a massive advantage.
If I bought a salon, i'd have no idea on what a reasonable amount of colour being used is, and staff could start taking the piss very easily.
NOTE: My wife is rent a chair and her boss (a client of mine) is considerably richer than the vast majority of my other clients.
If you get hold of the financial statements, make sure you go over them with care, preferably with someone (an accountant) who has experience with other salons.
None of the salons I deal with have an owner who's not a stylist themselves, which I would imagine is a massive advantage.
If I bought a salon, i'd have no idea on what a reasonable amount of colour being used is, and staff could start taking the piss very easily.
NOTE: My wife is rent a chair and her boss (a client of mine) is considerably richer than the vast majority of my other clients.
Crimp a Length! said:
Yeah, my my girlfriend runs a salon (7 staff) i own it, i haven't got a clue about cutting hair!
Biggest issue as in any business is staff, and as hairdressers are not the best paid workers you can get quite a chequered spread, also stock can be expensive if you want quality.
Are you a hairdresser?
No I'm not, the guy I'm buying from is not either. He has said the exact same thing as you, staffing is a major headache. Having said that, the financial return seems to be quite good (at least for him it seems to have worked out quite well, he's running 3 now). Biggest issue as in any business is staff, and as hairdressers are not the best paid workers you can get quite a chequered spread, also stock can be expensive if you want quality.
Are you a hairdresser?
Would you say that is an accurate assessment (without giving away too much about your turnover/profit obviously)?
Would you mind if I PMd you for a bit more info?
paoloh said:
Do not do it!
The memory of it is causing my piss to boil.
Please tell us what happened lol!The memory of it is causing my piss to boil.
(seriously, I need the advice before I make a potentially costly mistake)
paoloh said:
I am no stylist.
Staff take liberties big style.
Have lots of "friends" ( your customers ) they do at home.
Products go walkabouts.
Staff are b
hy.
Mate, the list just goes on, unless you are trained in it, my advice is don't bother.
Know what you are saying but this "account" could be related to a lot of business.Staff take liberties big style.
Have lots of "friends" ( your customers ) they do at home.
Products go walkabouts.
Staff are b
hy.Mate, the list just goes on, unless you are trained in it, my advice is don't bother.
If you get the right staff and pay them well based on performance/ability then they don't often take the piss.
Staff can be b
hy but hey that goes with the territory, like i say its down to quality of staff.Our best stylists are on a self employed 60/40 basis, so they tend to work their b
ks off and earn good money, and as they are self employed they don't take liberties for obvious reasons.In terms of moonlighting like i said this could happen in lots of trades.
ATV said:
Crimp a Length! said:
Yeah, my my girlfriend runs a salon (7 staff) i own it, i haven't got a clue about cutting hair!
Biggest issue as in any business is staff, and as hairdressers are not the best paid workers you can get quite a chequered spread, also stock can be expensive if you want quality.
Are you a hairdresser?
No I'm not, the guy I'm buying from is not either. He has said the exact same thing as you, staffing is a major headache. Having said that, the financial return seems to be quite good (at least for him it seems to have worked out quite well, he's running 3 now). Biggest issue as in any business is staff, and as hairdressers are not the best paid workers you can get quite a chequered spread, also stock can be expensive if you want quality.
Are you a hairdresser?
Would you say that is an accurate assessment (without giving away too much about your turnover/profit obviously)?
Would you mind if I PMd you for a bit more info?
paoloh said:
Do not do it!
The memory of it is causing my piss to boil.
Please tell us what happened lol!The memory of it is causing my piss to boil.
(seriously, I need the advice before I make a potentially costly mistake)
Besides location, staffing would be crucial. I don't have opinion that women have the skill less than men, but usually the most successful hairdressing salon usually employs men, feminine men. The fact that women come to hairdressing salon quite often than men, so employing them would give woman comfort feels to interact with rather than straight men.
Crimp a Length! said:
smartie said:
if the t/o is hovering round the VAT limit (£67k) watch out as once registered there is little to reclaim and you will be struggling to compete with smaller businesses.
Good accountant??When my wife was working full time as rent a chair her turnover wasn't far short of the VAT threshold, so you'd have to have a pretty small salon to avoid it!
I would imagine the business is VAT registered anyway and therefore any financial statements you see would be net of VAT anyway.
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