How to Start a Beauty Therapy Business

The Beauty Therapy industry is becoming increasingly popular as beauty influencers popularise new trends and beauty hacks to get skin looking and feeling gorgeous. However, the beauty industry has evolved beyond just makeup looks and nail art to the point where skin health products are at an all-time high and salon retail is booming.

If you’re one of those people who always gets asked what you do to get your skin looking plump and healthy, it might be time to take the leap and open your own beauty therapy business. The beauty industry, specifically beauty therapy, is becoming a niche market where those with skills in skin science, hair, and beauty can break into their own entrepreneurial stride.

Of course, there are a few steps to go through before opening up your own, functioning beauty salon with legal and business barriers being the hardest to break down. Here is a quick guide to get you on track in starting your own beauty business.

Step 1: Do a Course

Starting a business can be scary when you’ve got no idea where to start! The best way to hit the ground running with your own salon is to earn some qualifications.

What courses can you do?

To start, you could opt for a Diploma of Business or Entrepreneurship to ensure you’re in the legal and creative mindset to create a well-rounded beauty business. Along with this, no matter how good your skin looks, it’s beneficial to gain credentials in Beauty Therapy to earn the respect and credibility that you’ll need to win clients over. The combination of these kinds of courses will give you the theoretical knowledge to create your own beauty business and practical experience.

Whether you enroll in an in-person or online course, ensuring you are knowledgeable in a range of beauty therapy treatments and how to manage a business financially and practically is of the utmost importance. Once you’re qualified, you can go from someone with a passion for beauty to a beauty salon boss.

Step 2: Finding your niche

After exploring the science behind creating your own beauty business, you should now have the expertise to work a piece of beauty equipment, and put the information on an excel spreadsheet. With this knowledge, you should know what kind of niche you would like to specialize in and how to stand out from the competition.

Setting yourself apart

The first question you should ask yourself is ‘what is going to set your beauty business apart from everyone else?’ It is important to be original and creative when coming up with your own business and strategy, just because the beauty industry is increasing in demand does not mean guaranteed success. Having a point of difference whether it be technically advanced nail polish or a new and revitalizing hair removal technique could be different from you landing a sale or losing one.

Step 3: Researching your market and competition

This is where research is extremely important when starting a business. To edge out your immediate competition, focus on a unique target market, identify opportunities and leads, research locations for your salon, test new treatments and equipment, and much more. Having credible research to back up your business and beauty decisions will not only justify your decisions but make you more confident in your next steps in creating your dream beauty salon.

Step 4: Legalities and Location

Many small businesses struggle at this point, but usually, there will be a government or regulatory body to assist in understanding the beauty industry standards for your area.

The Hair and Beauty Australian Industry Association is a great example of a place to start as OHS, fair work laws, cosmetic packaging and labeling, cosmetic regulation and chemical substance inventorying become a hassle to organize. These are all aspects of both the beauty industry and business that progress your success and keep your business afloat.

What kind of beauty business do you want to be?

Your next step is deciding what kind of business you want to be and where you will be providing services or products. This includes:

  • deciding on the scale of your business
  • figuring out what equipment you will need
  • deciding if you will be creating your own business or opening a beauty salon franchise.

All of these factors are important in determining your brand identity and business strategy for the future.

Step 5: The Final Steps!

The final step is to utilize all of your expertise as a beauty therapy professional to ensure that you give clients the best image of you and your business possible.

Building your Brand

You want to have your own prices, brand name, logo, social media (like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook), and a website. Having multiple points of contact gives you the ability to book clients online even if you’re not available for a consultation. All of this should be done knowing that you need to set yourself apart from other beauty therapy salons, with the confidence that you can give a client the best, unique experience possible.

Of course, beginning your entrepreneurial journey can be scary, but with these tips, you should have the ammunition needed to build your very own beauty therapy business. If it doesn’t end up working out, at least you tried and all while looking good and feeling gorgeous.