Almost half of salon owners around the world have seriously considered closing their salon, according to a new survey.
Conducted by Phorest, a leading salon software supplier, the survey found that 45 percent of beauty and hair salon owners have considered giving up on their “dream” – and “the majority of those who thought about giving up did so when their salon was already well-established with three or more years in business”.
According to Phorest’s Sorcha Mullis, “many people dream of setting up their hair or beauty salon but “turning that dream into reality…can however often leave salon owners hampered by feelings of self-doubt and overwhelmed by the weight of those responsibilities.”
She said the survey found that major factors that made owners consider closing their salons were:
- Difficulty finding and managing staff – 32 percent
- External factors (economy, rent, rates, tax, etc) – 22 percent
- ‘My passion turned into a chore’ – 19 percent
- Sales and marketing difficulty – 12 percent
- Admin and accounting difficulty – 10 percent
- Juggling family – 3 percent
- Retirement – 2 percent
When setting up and launching their salon, the most difficult task identified by almost two-thirds (57 percent) of current salon owners was “hiring staff”. This was followed by creating a business plan and projecting financial figures (42%), finding the right location (37%), building a website and social media presence (36%), marketing (35%), securing funding (24%), designing and fitting-out the salon (19%), and choosing suppliers (10%).
When running and growing their salons, the most challenging tasks identified by 29 percent of salon owners was HR (hiring staff, training, rosters, payroll, commission) followed closely by admin such as cash flow and stock control (28%) and sales and marketing (28%). The other factors mentioned included external factors such as economy, rent, rates, tax, etc (19%) and time management (5%).
Phorest CEO Ronan Perceva said salon professionals often need help to cope with the demands of their businesses.
“Salon professionals spend a lot of their time lending a supportive ear to the clients in their chair, but when it comes to having someone they can lean on for support, being an owner or manager of an independent salon business can be lonely and isolating.”
Phorest has therefore set up a number of initiatives including a free 6-part salon management course to help salon owners combat their feelings of despair and strengthen their skills as business leaders,
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