Whether you’re a first-time entrepreneur or veteran investor, joining a successful franchise brand is a smart and gratifying business decision.
You get to experience the rewards of opening your own business with the backing of a tried-and-tested operating model and ongoing support from the franchisor, as well as a network of your fellow franchisees.
However, there is fundamental knowledge of hair salon franchise opportunities that you should have before deciding to invest in business ownership. Here are some of the most important facts you need to know:
You Need Sufficient Capital to Invest in a Hair Salon Franchise
When you invest in a hair salon franchise, you’ll be required to pay a franchise fee upon signing of the franchise agreement. In most cases, the fee ranges from $20,000 to $50,000 – depending on the brand and type of agreement being awarded. This money goes directly to the franchisor and gives you access to the brand’s business systems and manuals, trade dress, and other resources and tools you’ll need to open the salon.
The franchise fee is one part of a larger initial investment, which includes payments for:
- Training
- Real estate and construction
- Rent
- Furnishings, decorations, and equipment
- Signage and graphics
- Inventory and supplies
- Marketing and advertising
- IT infrastructure
In sum, the total costs can range from around $100,000 to more than $300,000, depending on the franchise brand. As a way to better ensure you have sufficient capital to invest, many franchisors will require a minimum amount of liquid capital and net worth.
Take a look at this article that shows the costs associated with opening a children’s hair salon franchise.
Hair Salon Franchise Opportunities Are All Different
The U.S. hair salon industry is worth over $64 billion, and the market’s overall revenue has seen steady growth over the years.
The salons that contribute to the overall industry revenue are fairly diverse. Some salons specialize in men’s and women’s hair care. Within those categories, there are unique value propositions that each brand may bring, including branding, target customers and in-salon experiences.
Meanwhile, an estimated $5 billion of the total revenue comes from children’s haircuts, making it a significant niche of its own.
One of the most attractive aspects of being part of the children’s hair salon industry is its recession-resilient nature. Regardless of what shape the economy is in, parents will still take care of their kids, including getting their hair cut.
Aside from just being willing to spend money on their children’s health and wellness, parents typically lack the level of skill needed to give their child a great haircut. The experience can often be scary and stressful for children and parents, and it takes a trained professional to keep everyone happy.
You Don’t Need Previous Salon Experience
One of the fundamental strengths of a hair salon franchise is the fact that the business model has already been developed, tested and refined, which means franchisees don’t need prior experience in operating a hair salon. Franchisors invest significant capital, time and resources into developing the tools and processes that franchisees can deploy in their local markets and hit the ground running when opening their hair salon.
That being said, it’s still important to have an understanding of business management principles and potentially have experience in managing a team or financial management. These are skills that are transferrable across business concepts – even without them, you can still successfully own and operate a hair salon franchise.
Here are just a few examples of backgrounds that successful Pigtails & Crewcuts owners had before deciding to open a children’s hair salon:
- Stay-at-home mom
- Restaurant manager
- Chief financial officer
- Pilates studio owner
- Project manager
- Real estate agent
Specifically for a children’s hair salon franchise, you must have a passion for caring for children. While the parents are the target audience from a lead acquisition perspective, their children are the ones who are your primary customers. How well you deliver an exceptional experience to the kids you serve will have a strong impact on the success of your salon.
For more information, take a look at our blog post about why you don’t need salon experience to be a successful Pigtails & Crewcuts franchise owner.
Hair Salon Franchises Become Part of Their Community
Hair salons quickly become a part of the local community. It’s not uncommon for a children’s hair salon in particular to become a social meeting spot for parents and kids alike. When parents find a salon and stylist with whom their child is comfortable, they often build a relationship with them and become a loyal, longstanding customer.
Pigtails & Crewcuts franchisees are passionate about getting involved in their communities. From partnering with organizations that battle teenage homelessness to simply being a place of comfort and stress relief for families, our franchisees find ways of integrating themselves in their community and fostering that relationship.
You Have the Opportunity to Open Multiple Hair Salon Franchises
Franchises are designed to be replicable across different markets and geographies. Accordingly, many hair salon franchise brands allow qualified individuals to open multiple locations.
Qualifications can vary, but generally speaking, potential multi-unit franchisees need to have experience overseeing operations and managing teams of people. You’ll need to be able to run multiple salons but not be hands-on with day-to-day operations, so it’s essential to build a team capable of being the operator while you maintain high-level oversight.
Meanwhile, multi-unit ownership requires a higher level of capital investment. For each unit, you’ll need to pay a franchise fee, as well as cover the other costs associated with opening a salon. To ease the financial burden, some franchisors offer a discount on the franchise based on the number of units a franchisee agrees to open.
For example, the Pigtails & Crewcuts franchise fee is reduced from $30,000 to $22,500 per salon for a 3-unit agreement and $20,000 per salon for a 5-unit agreement.
Finally, you don’t need to invest in multi-unit ownership from the get-go. Many franchisees open a single salon, get comfortable with the model and systems, and then decide to open more locations.
What Differentiates Pigtails & Crewcuts’ Hair Salon Franchise?
When you invest in Pigtails & Crewcuts, you’re investing in more than a children’s hair salon franchise. We’re leading the children’s hair salon in the franchise industry. We have grown our brand for over 15 years, and we know what it takes to succeed in the hair salon franchise space.
As a Pigtails & Crewcuts franchisee, you get to occupy a niche in that market within an established, respected and beloved brand with a business model that has proven itself successful. You don’t have to waste time building your concept and testing whether or not it will work – Pigtails & Crewcuts salon owners have shown it works.
At the same time, you have the benefit of our peer-to-peer network of franchisees. Pigtails & Crewcuts franchisees frequently trade tips and strategies for running their businesses and ask their fellow salon owners about everything from operating the point-of-sales system to overcoming hiring challenges.
Get Started
Are you ready to learn more about franchising with Pigtails & Crewcuts? Download our free franchise information packet here!
