SALON NAME
Your salon name will be displayed above the door to your suite, as well as on the directory in the lobby. It can be either your personal name or a business name. If you decided to use a business name, then it is important to choose a good, catchy name that people will remember. The Panabee business name generator (
www.panabee.com) can help. Also, visit
www.traviscountyclerk.org to make sure your name is unique in Travis County.
SALON DECOR
Next, decide on the decor of your salon. We want you to create your own environment; one that both you and your clients will enjoy, but at the same time will reflect the standards of the salon as a whole. What will the color scheme be? What sort of decorations do you want? Modern and sleek? Vintage? Shabby chic? Colorful? It’s up to you!
Your decor can act as a visual guide in choosing business cards and any other marketing you might do.
Click here for instructions on how to log in to a handy Sherwin Williams' color vizualizer and see what color suits you!
PHONE NUMBER
Decide what type of phone you will use for your salon. Do you need to get another phone number or will you use your personal cell phone? Google Voice (
www.google.com/voice) provides a great way to create a unique number that will ring on a cell phone, land line or both. Have your phone number ready so you can receive bookings by phone while you are transitioning to your new salon.
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Decide on what products and services you would like to offer. You might want to list these on your marketing materials (business cards, website or Facebook page), especially if they set you apart or give you a competitive advantage. If you choose to sell products, you will need a sales tax permit (
more info). Also, be sure you have all the equipment you need for your treatments. Remember, it’s your salon; so you decide what to offer and what rates to charge!
BUSINESS CARDS
Be sure you have your salon business cards designed and printed.
VistaPrint (
www.vistaprint.com) offers good solutions on designing
business identity kits and printed materials. Note that you should include the salon's address and suite number as the primary address on your business cards; otherwise, clients may get confused with your studio's suite number. Ask us if you need more information, or look at some cards from other beauty professionals to get ideas.
Additionally, you may want to print an "I'm Moving" card to give to customers or use one of the print-ready designs available on our
downloads page.
SPREAD THE WORD
Before you even open, it is a good idea to spread the word. Naturally, you should tell your clients and make sure that they have your contact information. But also ask friends and family to tell people where you are moving. Word of mouth is still the best marketing anyone can do!
As a salon owner, your name and business information will be found in our website directory. So it's important that you complete Your Profile (
click here ). The My Salon Suite corporate website is any easy way to point people to your new location (
www.mysalonsuite.com/austin).
Eventually, you may want to consider having your own website. We will be happy to link to your website from ours. It’s also a great idea to set up a Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media page for your salon. It is a pretty easy set-up, but if you aren’t sure or run into trouble, we will be happy to assist you.
