The Beautician Business Plan – Starting a Trade in the Beauty Industry

Entrepreneurialism is at an all-time high in the UK, as record numbers of new businesses started to be created in the latter half of 2021. Many are fronted by people trying their hand at the business for the first time – and as such, many suffer from indecision related to inexperience. 

The beauty industry is one that has been battered by recent events, with the relatively recent removal of coronavirus restrictions making recovery slow. By that same token, there’s never been a better time to start out as a beautician. So, how would a beautician draw up a robust business plan?

Your Mission Statement

Drafting out a mission statement can be a useful exercise in defining your business goals, as well as the identity of your venture. In essence, a mission statement is a concise illustration of a business’ purpose, outlook, and values. It is used by businesses big and small to convey the essence of their existence to other employees and to potential investors. As a beautician, your mission statement might include your dedication to customer satisfaction or a specific approach to certain traditional treatments. 

Marketing Strategies

With your business goals and core values defined, you can begin to build a marketing campaign around those values. Authenticity is key, especially when providing as personal a service as beauty treatment; centring your marketing around your results, and encompassing the values of your mission statement, will garner the best response.

Marketing is a multifarious endeavour, with numerous avenues to audiences. Spending some time thinking about which avenues are best suited to your business would be beneficial. As a local service, you might benefit more from a localised offline flyer campaign than mobile service. Social media remains the best way to expand reach as a new business and can present unique marketing opportunities such as influencer collaborations or sponsorship.

Expenses and Overheads

You will need to understand the costs inherent to starting and running your business, in order to draw up an effective budget and calculate your monthly cash flow. The up-front costs of starting a beauty business can differ depending on your business model; a mobile beautician service will not need to account for the cost of permanent furnishings such as pedicure chairs, while a beautician opening up in a retail unit will have to include furniture and premises overheads in their budgeting.

Operations and Management

Your final considerations are those of logistics: the day-to-day running of your business. Draw up an operations and management plan to describe the delegation of duties and best practices for processes from locking up the building to banking. This will be your business’ logistical bible, and a useful point of information in the event that you are unavailable to help any staff.

Speaking of staff: what hours will you operate, and how many staff will you retain to work those hours? Will you be the only manager, or will you be hiring additional management staff to help you with the overall running of the business? Will you be taking apprentices? The answers to these questions can all have a profound impact on the running of your business, and on your budget.