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These days it is quite common to find a Booth Rental Salon which is a salon or a spa made up of independent solo stylists instead of employees. According to one estimate around 70% of salons and spas are running with independent contractors or as they say, Rent-A-Chair business model. With your salon on the booth rental business model, you are in effect just like a landlord. The reasons why such booth rental salons are growing are:
- That the salon owner does not need to pay worker compensation - The salon owner does not need to pay federal and state employment taxes - They do not need to pay for group insurance or other such overheads - They do not need to train or manage employees - They do not need to spend money for acquiring new customers
If you want to start your own booth rental salon, there are certain challenges that you have to be prepared to overcome which are different from the ones faced by a salon owner who follows the "employee model". There are three important things you might want to consider:
1. Decide your salon booth rental charges: Many salon owners who are operate on booth rental basis make a lot of effort just to get their booths filled. It is important to decide what you are going to charge the solo stylists and be confident about what you are offering them. There are fixed expenses to your salon like electricity, rent, insurance, etc. You could divide the fixed expenses equally among the salon booth rental spaces available. Ultimately your charges should ensure that your business is profitable.
2. Put your retail strategy in place Booth rental salons have varying retail strategies. The independent contractors may use and sell the products of their choice or you as the salon owner could manage all the retail business in your salon. In any case, the client needs to have an "integrated" experience as she walks in and waits for her appointment or requires recommendations on her way out of the salon. The clients would not want to know or even care about your salon setup. So if your salon has the retail products displayed and recommended in a haphazard manner, you will lose on overall business.
3. Training the Solo stylists Even though they are not your employees, anything that they do wrong that makes the client unhappy will be ultimately your responsibility. Strive to build a common vision and team spirit in the team right from the start and ideally they should be allowed to take the space only when you have seen their potential to maintain excellent client service standards.
Being the owner of a salon which runs on the booth rental business model can be a very satisfying experience. If you manage your booth rental salon right you could earn decent income through salon rentals and get freedom and flexibility in your life. All you need to ensure is to take a good hard look at your Rent 'a'chair business model and ensure that it is meeting your needs and presenting a good image to your clients.
