Is it hard to open a salon in los angles as a hairstylist and be successful?

Question

After college i'm going to los angeles to open my own salon...i want to be a hairdresser...but i know they don't make that much money so that's why i want to run a salon to make more...is it hard to open a salon there and make lots of money?

Answer 1

Don't let anyone talk you out of your dream. I don't know where you are from but the one thing that I am sure that you have heard is Los Angeles is VERY expensive. To live there and to rent a shop is going to be expensive. Save up and be prepared about the costs that are going along with it. But on the up side if you are good and successful you can make alot of money. You can do it if you put your heart into it but just keep these things in mind and have a back up plan in case it doesn't work out.

Answer 2

Think about this. If it were easy, why would so many people work at salons they don't own? Because they prefer making less money?

Before you try to open your salon, there are three main things you had better do if you don't relish the idea of bankruptcy court:

1. While you are in college, take plenty of business classes, especially in the area of entrepreneurship. If your college doesn't offer them, find someplace that does. If they aren't part of your degree, take them anyway, and if you're going to let a full class load or tuition expense stand in your way, you don't have what it takes to run a business successfully.

2. Build a clientele as well as networking with other hairdressers at a salon in L.A. before you try to start your own, learn the neighborhoods and real estate patterns of Los Angeles, and save up one year of living expenses while you're at it.

3. Re-examine why you want your own salon. You really sound like you care about making a lot of money doing it the easy way. The only easy way to get a lot of money is to win or inherit it, not start your own business. If you start your own salon, it should be because you have a vision and an idea of how your salon would be unique and offer something special to its clientele, and because you feel such a passion for that vision that you like the idea of making just enough to survive for 2-3 years while you spend 40 hours or more a week cutting hair and another 20 or 30 hours a week dealing with finances, marketing, etc.