As you may have noticed, the trend for beauty professionals is steering away from the traditional commission and hourly based pay methods to salon suite rentals. Stylists, Barbers, and other Beauty Professionals are quickly realizing they can have more freedom and make more money running their own business in a one or two person studio instead of working for someone else.  “Be a boss” is becoming more than just a catch a phrase as more and more individuals jump on board. Running your own business and pursuing your dreams can all become reality. In order to achieve this we need to think smart and strategic. Let’s take a look closer with these 5 tips…     #1 Branding We can not stress branding enough in such a competitive industry! You have to stand out from the others, but how do you do that? Ask yourself, are you the stylist that does it all or are you Niche and kill it in Balayage, Fades, or Funky Color. Being a specialist these days does give you a leg up in the industry. Clients have so much access to stylist via Instagram and Yelp that they want to find someone dedicated to what they’re looking for. Find what you’re great at and stick to it, there is a market for you! Zone in on that market and start researching what those clients like. Make a Pinterest board of the hair, brands, and local places they shop at. Eventually you will see consistency in colors, logo design, and much more. Document everything and begin to develop your brand that you will use in your marketing as well as your design your studio. Consistency is key! Manifest the ideal clients that you want and you will begin to see more of them in your chair!   #2 Client List Your core client list is your bread and butter, therefore managing a list of your contacts and their services are vital for communicating on behalf of your new journey and any future marketing. If you currently use any online booking software such as Square Appointments or Vagaro, you can download your contacts directly from their site, draft an email and inform your clients. Email till this day is a very effective form of communication, but that doesn’t mean social media such as Facebook and Instagram can’t be useful as well. Make sure to take advantage of multiple outlets to get your voice out there, this is will give you a much greater outreach.       At Salons by JC, you have a concierge to help you build your clientele – with walk-ins, marketing strategies, social media – above and beyond what you previously had!   #3 Pricing Many stylist fail to achieve what they deserve by emotional pricing. This is when we decide to lower prices and give discounts because we feel this will make our clients like us more or we compare prices from other salons. But first, let’s ask ourselves where did these other salons come up with their prices? If your clients believe in your work they will pay! You are here to make a living! When calculating your pricing make sure you have included how much you need to make a month to cover your work and living expenses…and any additional income you would like to achieve your goals. Then take that amount and divide it by the hours a week you will be working. At this point you can visualize what you’ll need to make hourly and can make adjustments to your services, ad-ons, and timing. Please note this will take some time, but this is a very important exercise as you will be adjusting your pricing through the duration of your career. Don’t forget to ask yourself what services you enjoy the most that make you the most money as well! Check out our Profit Calculator – Adjust your earning information and see the difference for yourself.   #4 Expenses Ok so we have an idea of what we need to charge for our services, but lets take a closer look at our actual expenses and start up costs for the studio… Start-Up Costs: Security Deposit State board and business licensing Extra furniture and personal decor items Design and/or printing for business cards, menus and websites (include hosting) Back bar and retail Tools – scissors, blow dryer, etc. Renters/ liability insurance Rent Phone  Weekly/Monthly Expenses: Rent Laundry Supplies Credit card fees Accountant fees Phone bill Money set aside for taxes Bottom Line… Once you’ve made sure you have enough in savings for the start-up costs, which can be anywhere from $1,500 – $3,000, it’s time to nail down whether or not you’re in a good position to handle the monthly costs.This means looking at what your monthly expenses will be versus how much money you’ll be bringing in. You need to have a firm grasp on what your average monthly gross income is based on your core client list.  So, assuming you have what you need for start-up costs, let’s take a look at what a monthly scenario might be. Check out our Profit Calculator – Adjust your earning information and see the difference for yourself.   #5 Paytime After doing the math and feeling confident to move forward with leasing a suite, the next step is to find an accountant you trust. Even though you have a built-in bookkeeper with the SBJC App, an accountant will help you know what deductions you can claim on your taxes, how to file for quarterly instead of yearly payments, and help you stay on top of making those payments. They may even recommend filing to become an LLC and discuss the benefits of that with you, as well as opening a separate business bank account. Once your suite owner journey begins, don’t forget to utilize your Salons by JC concierge to help grow and support your business with marketing ideas and social media posts, as well as booking new client walk-ins.   About Salons