New salon & business plan

[YoungBeezy]

Hello, I'm looking for some help & advice as this is all completely new to me so anything will be appreciated.

I am a hairstylist/extensionist but only offer extensions now (as I have done for the last 3 years)
I rent a small room in a beauty salon but I'm going to be buying a property which will have it's own shop.
(Which I will completely own there will be no lease/rent etc) the shop needs gutting as it was formerly a solicitors office.

Basically I'm wanting to know where to begin. What do I need to know and what do I need to do when starting up a salon?
I've read on here about business plans so think I need to make one up but not sure where to start so any help would be greatly appreciated.

I won't be having staff to begin with it will be just me, however I may get hairdressers/beauty girls on board on a chair rent basis.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[jbr]

The first thing you will need to do is speak to the council and see about getting planning permission for a change of use - otherwise you won't be able to use the place as a salon whether you own it or not. There's no point in creating a business plan if the council are never going to allow a change, so I'd suggest that is your first step

 

[AcidPerm]

Why you need a business plan!

Firstly, it will help you determine whether your business idea is feasible.
Simply opening the door to your shop is no guarantee that you will attract a regular supply of clients to purchase your services. After all, where are these clients going to currently, and why should they bother coming to you instead? Will all your existing clients follow you? Will you earn enough to cover your regular outgoings and turn a profit?

A basic business plan will set out your goals and objectives, and includes everything from how you will promote it to how you plan to fund it and who your customers will be.
It should include details of your financial forecasts, explaining how much money you think you will make and how much you will need to finance the business in the short term. Start with your capital costs such as redecoration, fixtures and fittings. Then estimates for regular expenditure, electricity costs, water charges, waste removal, repairs, insurance costs etc.
It should also include some basic market research identifying who your target clients are.

When you check with your council about planning issues, also check if they run any business enterprise courses. You can be the best hairdresser out there but if you don't understand the financial side of running a business, it's the quickest route to failure.