How To Open a Salon

The idea of owning a salon has been in the back of your mind for a while, and now you want to make it a reality. But how to open a salon that is a cut above the rest? The truth is that opening a salon is a lot like starting any other type of small business: there’s research, licensing, hiring and plenty of decision-making involved before you can open your new salon’s door to clients.

Below, we’ll answer all of your questions around how to open a salon, from an initial opening checklist to a full guide of common questions.

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How much does it cost to start a salon?

According to BusinessDojo, how much it costs to start a salon business can range from $70,000 to $210,000* for a mid-market salon.

Startup costs for any salon business can vary significantly, but largely depend on:

• Size of the salon
• Location
• Licences and permits (use BizPal to find the ones you need)
• Business structure (i.e., chair rental versus hiring employees)
• Equipment
• Operational costs
• Marketing effectiveness
• Optimizing your scheduling

Since your goal is to be profitable as quickly as possible, planning is key. Establishing your salon startup costs, forecasting your revenue potential and finding your break-even point will help you estimate overall costs

First, determine the fixed costs that you incur on a monthly basis. Fixed costs are your salon’s expenses that don’t change with sales volume, and are typically non-negotiable (we call them fixed for a reason). Some of these include:

• Insurance
• Rent and lease agreement
• Utilities
• Equipment

Variable costs, on the other hand, are easier to manipulate, which can help you cut costs and save money. These are the costs of labour and materials that change with sales volume. Variable costs associated with opening a salon include:

• Labour costs
• Products and tools used by hair stylists
• Shipping and delivery costs to replenish hair products
• Advertising and marketing

Opening a salon in 10 steps

Before we dive into the details, here’s what you’ll need to accomplish as you prepare to think about how to open a salon:

1. Define your salon concept

Whether you want to become the go-to destination for curly hair or you’re picturing a high-end salon with award-winning stylists and complimentary Prosecco upon arrival, your salon concept should be woven into every aspect of your business, from the services offered to your style of customer service. Your concept should also be reflected in the name of your salon, your design, your decor and your price range.

2. Create a business plan for your salon

Your salon business plan should lay the foundation of your operations to serve as a roadmap as you turn your vision into a reality. It should also give potential lenders and investors a clear overview of your business if you decide to secure external funding. Be sure to include an executive summary, company description, industry analysis, geographic analysis, target market analysis, sample services, marketing plan, management strategy and financial plan.

3. Register your business

In Canada, the registration process depends on the structure of your business. Are you planning on operating a sole proprietorship or partnership? It’s important to make sure you are aware of the specific registration steps of your province or territory. (Check out this guide to register a business in Ontario to get an idea of what to expect.)

If you want to incorporate your business, you can do so federally or provincially. The best option depends on where you plan to open locations. A federal corporation allows you to operate under your business name across Canada. A provincial corporation limits you to the province of registration.

You might think about trademarking your salon’s name, too. This can be done through the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. Read more about filing a trademark application here.

Obtain a Business Number (BN)

Before you hire anyone, make sure you have a Business Number (BN) with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). This nine-digit number is used to identify your company for tax and payroll purposes. You need it to open a payroll deductions account, which is a mandatory step for employers. This allows you to remit income tax, Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance (EI) contributions. For more information, consult the CRA’s resource page for hiring and managing employees.

You’ll also need a BN to collect and remit the GST/HST once you exceed the small supplier threshold, which is $30,000 in taxable revenues in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters.

4. Select the right location

A salon’s location can make or break its success. If you want to serve a younger clientele, being next to a university can be a smart choice. If your price points are going to be higher than average, you might want to go for an affluent area. Think about visibility and foot traffic, and evaluate the size and interior shape of the salon premises to decide if it’s the best fit for your business goals.

Location impacts costs, so weigh up your options carefully. Think about whether you want to choose to spend more on rent to be downtown – and access downtown crowds – or want to open your doors in a suburban area where there aren’t many salons to compete with.

5. Order salon equipment

What kind of salon equipment do you need to purchase? Salon equipment makes up a large portion of your startup costs. To stay on budget and make smart spending decisions, create a basic checklist of the materials needed for your salon. Every salon needs the following:

• Salon stations that include a chair, mirror and storage space for hair and styling products.
• Shampooing stations with a chair, shampoo bowl and storage space for products.
• Drying stations for use during colouring services.

The amount of equipment you need depends on the size of your salon and the number of employees you decide to hire. Most salons have one station per employee but hair stylists with opposite working schedules may be able to share a station.

A small reception area is also necessary for most salons. You’ll want a seating area for clients waiting to see your stylists, as well as a front desk to check in for appointments.

6. Choose the right point of sale

What’s the best salon software? You’ll need a modern point of sale (POS) that doubles as a salon management tool to cater to customer expectations and streamline operations.

Through your POS, you should be able to take whatever form of payment your clients want to use, including chip cards and NFC (mobile payments like Apple Pay). You may also want to look for a POS that offers buy now, pay later (BNPL) payments for more expensive treatments in person and online, as Payments Canada data shows that Canadians aged 18-34 are significantly more likely to be using BNPL compared to other age groups.

When assessing different payments processors, ask the following questions:

• What is the setup process like? Look for a payment processing system that is easy to set up. With Square for Beauty, you can get started right away. Sign up for free and select your hardware or set up Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android to turn your smartphone into a payment terminal. There’s no need for an appointment with a technician or clunky hardware. Following the setup instructions to connect your hardware is usually straightforward, but if you need a little help, Square offers multiple support channels and tutorials.
• How fast will deposits hit your bank account after a transaction? You want to get paid for your services quickly and not endure lagging processing time. With Square, you can get paid as soon as the next business day.
• Is the payment processor secure? A payments system should have the right security measures and be PCI compliant. Ask about chargeback protection and fraud detection to get a better sense of how protected you are. Square offers built-in PCI compliance, end-to-end encryption and active fraud prevention to help safeguard your business and customers.
• How will you get charged? Look for a payment processor with clear pricing and no hidden fees. With Square, you only get charged a small transaction fee when you make a sale – there are no long-term contracts or monthly fees.

But don’t think of your payment processor as a silo. Ideally, you want your payment processor to be integrated with a point of sale that can help you run your entire business. The right salon point of sale should integrate your payment system with other operations — like appointments, marketing and team management — to make your day-to-day management more efficient. Square for Beauty includes an ecosystem of tools to cover your business needs, from Square Appointments and Square Shifts to Square Marketing.

I really love the sleek design of the new Square Stand. Customers instantly know that they can insert the card or tap – everything is right on the screen, it’s obvious and very convenient. It makes the payment process easy, just a part of the conversation. I also really appreciate the flexibility of the system to act as a POS hub for multiple businesses and revenue streams – tracking sales, appointments and customer communication.”

Halim Touidjine → Founder of L'Atelier

7. Pick the right scheduling and booking software

The right POS system can act as a receptionist and support your salon scheduling strategy. By integrating online scheduling with your POS system, customers can access hair stylists’ calendars and book appointments 24/7. This reduces the workload of your team, since you spend less time answering the phone and catching up on voicemail messages from customers looking to book or confirm appointments.

You can also create appointment notes on clients, like the hair colour formulas used in their balayage, and all customer information is saved in a customer directory for a smoother experience and checkout. If you get customers’ consent through a credit card authorization form, you can also save the card information on file for recurring purchases like blowout bundles or monthly root touch-ups, which encourages long-term loyalty and boosts recurring revenue.

Additionally, you can access sales reports, customize discounts, sell online and manage inventory in real time with Square, all of which give you a holistic view of your salon and help you manage your business from anywhere.

Once we added Square Appointments, it was like night and day. We went from pen and paper to digital bookings. Artists had access to their schedule, they could check it remotely and look ahead at their week. Especially with multiple locations, and as we were growing, I couldn’t see all those paper appointment books at the same time. Now here I am, with a click of a button, I can see every store, every schedule.”

Jamie Randolph → Owner of Steel N' Ink

8. Outline your offerings and services

Your services are the centerpiece of your salon and should reflect your concept and brand. Think of your offerings strategically. Do you want to serve a high volume of professionals in the financial district of your city? If so, you probably want to keep your service list streamlined to get customers in and out the door quickly. On the other hand, if you’re envisioning a full-service salon where people can get treatments like Hair Botox or specialized services like hair extensions, you’ll want to build a more comprehensive menu that explains the benefits of each service.

Service descriptions are a marketing tool that can help convince new customers to try your salon, so they should be concise but appeal to your audience. For example, instead of just listing the prices for a blowout for short and long hair, add enticing descriptions such as, “Whether you’re looking for bombshell volume, boho beach waves or a sleek and glossy finish, our hair stylists will bring your vision to life.”

Packages and memberships can also foster long-term loyalty and boost recurring revenue. More than one in three Canadian beauty professionals are already offering their customers these types of services, according to the Square Future of Beauty 2025 report, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to encourage customers to choose you and keep coming back.

9. Hire the right staff

How do you hire the right hair stylists? Before you start recruiting and interviewing, create a list of what you are looking for in an ideal candidate. Nail down the hiring and retaining process by considering these factors:

• Skill set: The candidate’s skill set and capacity to learn are both important to consider when interviewing. Think about the years of experience you want your stylists to have. Do you want each stylist to have proficiency in colouring? Or are you going to hire dedicated colourists?
• Attitude: A candidate’s attitude and work ethic determine their dependability, ability to work with others and overall customer service.
• Personality: A candidate’s personality should match the company culture you infuse in the salon. Whether you are aiming to be an upscale boutique or a family-focused shop, you want your company culture to be naturally instilled in your employees.

Make sure you’re following the correct procedures when hiring employees, You need to confirm their eligibility to work in Canada, register for coverage with your province or territory’s Workers’ Compensation Board and set up payroll deductions for income tax, CPP and EI. If you want to run a background check, you must obtain written consent and comply with federal and provincial privacy laws.

Once you’ve hired and onboarded your employees, you might feel like your job is done. Not so fast. The salon industry is competitive, and you often see hair stylists jump from one salon to the next. In order to prevent employee turnover at your salon, you have to provide your employees with reasons to stay. Here are a few ways to boost employee engagement and retain staff:

• Build strong relationships with your direct reports and encourage team bonding activities outside of working hours.
• Outline a career path and learning opportunities for employees, and give your hair stylists an opportunity to advance.
• Promote from within before you hire outside your salon; this encourages stylists to stay.
• Offer competitive compensation compared to salons in the area.
• Provide perks like employer-sponsored pension plans, health and dental coverage plans and flexible hours to keep employees feeling valued. Nearly half of Canadian workers say their employer’s health care and retirement plans are key to their decision to join a company, according to a Willis Towers Watson (WTW) survey.

You’ll also need to choose the right hair salon compensation model. You have a number of options for pay structures at your salon, including:

• Booth renters
• Independent contractors
• Salaried employees
• Employees with hourly pay
• Hourly pay with flat-rate or tiered commission
• Hourly pay with performance bonuses

Regardless of your decision, a tool like Square Shifts can take the guesswork out of managing your team’s time by letting you easily build a digital schedule, automate time tracking and streamline tip and commission management if that’s part of your compensation model.

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10. Create a marketing plan

How do you develop a salon marketing plan? It can be hard to figure out which marketing tactics to prioritize. Here are some tips to help your salon stand out and build up a loyal base of repeat clients.

Build a marketing strategy based on your salon

It’s time to go back to your salon business plan: What are your business goals and who are your target customers? What makes your salon unique or sets it apart from the local competition? Do you sell retail products or have a cafe on site? These are all factors to consider as you frame your business concept and market your brand.

Next, think about where your target customers find new products and services through a market analysis and determine where you want to direct your marketing efforts — whether that’s on social channels, through email marketing or via paid ads.

For a deeper dive into marketing strategies for your salon, consider new ways to attract clients to your business, such as posting in local Facebook groups or creating video content for platforms like Instagram and TikTok, and use these ideas to boost your marketing efforts.

I started doing LGBTQ+ Hair Night so people didn’t have to book a gendered haircut. They just put their name on a list and that’s what we called them. Many people who never set foot in a barbershop before started coming in because of that.”

Cait Bousfield → Co-owner of Good Fortune Barbershop

Stay up-to-date with industry and marketing trends

As a beauty business, staying up-to-date with the latest trends is key to winning new clients and keeping them coming back. Talk to your clients during their appointments about what their pain points are and what they’re interested in (this could be anything from products to treatments to how they want to hear from you).

Join industry forums or communities to stay on top of what’s happening. Follow influencers or other prominent leaders in your space on social media. And stay up-to-date with trends, industry reports and data-backed findings on what beauty customers want.

As you gather information, think about what applies the most to your business concept — what is your salon known for that customers want and how can you get the word out?

Also consider any new areas of opportunity. What are you learning about client interests and is there anything new you could incorporate into your salon to cater to them? Think: new services, live classes, online tutorials or group events. Be sure to talk to your staff and get their take on marketing opportunities and new ideas.

Turn customers into brand ambassadors

The final piece of the marketing puzzle is getting your salon some organic word-of-mouth marketing from loyal and satisfied clients. Consider offering gift cards or a referral program where happy customers can refer their friends in return for some sort of perk.

Set up a Google Business Profile and encourage customers to leave you Google reviews, which boosts your visibility in local search results and encourages potential customers to choose your salon.

Sync your Google Business Profile with Square and use Square Marketing to create automatic email campaigns to collect Google reviews after a completed appointment. You can choose who gets prompted, whether you want to target first-time visitors or people who still haven’t left you a review. Reviews get automatically added to your profile, and you can track your efforts in your Square Dashboard to see how effective your campaigns are.

What makes a salon profitable?

Profitable salons come in many forms, but repeat clients and diversified revenue streams are what tend to help salons succeed in a hyper-competitive industry.

Consider offering a client loyalty program to reward repeat clients. What you offer as part of your loyalty program is up to you, but points that clients can redeem for products and services, special offers and deals, free merchandise, invitations to special events or the chance to test new products and services before they’re released are all popular salon loyalty program options.

According to the Square Future of Beauty 2025 report, 67% of Canadian consumers found personalization to be one of the most valuable parts of a loyalty program. Of those consumers, 84% said they value exclusive discounts and 85% the ability to earn rewards (85%). With Square Loyalty, you can set up your loyalty program in minutes and choose whether clients earn points by visits, amount spent or items or categories purchased.

Once your loyalty program is up and running, it’s a very helpful tool to track client spending and boost profits.

Loyalty programs aren’t the only way to entice clients to return. Diversifying your revenue with new offerings also helps both interest and attract clients and allows your business to be more adaptable to financial pressure and industry change. Take note of how other businesses have successfully expanded their offerings.

How do I open a salon with no money?

Even if you don’t have adequate savings or enough funding up-front when considering how to open a salon, there are still a few options to consider.

Limit up-front costs

Consider leasing equipment so you don’t have to pay the full cost of your salon equipment up-front or opening your salon in an already established business, such as a salon suite or a booth rental. Both of these options allow you to bring on clients, market your business and build savings without having to take out a loan or pay the full rent for a storefront.

Recruit investors

There are plenty of avenues to raise money for your business. Here are a few to consider:

• Consider friends and family or people in your network or community that may be interested in investing in your salon.
• Attend industry events or conferences to make new connections that could help lead to funding.
• Apply to an accelerator program that can help broaden your connections and support new business growth.
• Look into an angel investor that will provide initial funding for an eventual return on their investment.

Before you commit to any kind of investment, do your due diligence to be sure the investment is sound, or consult a legal or financial advisor.

Apply for a small business grant or loan

If you’re set on a standalone salon that’s all your own, there are plenty of different types of business loans that can help you get there. Online lenders, banks, peer-to-peer lending sites and lenders backed by the Canada Small Business Financing Program are some of them.

If you use Square, you may be eligible for a customized loan that you can automatically repay based on a percentage of your sales.

How can I make running and operating my salon easier?

There are plenty of aspects that make operating your salon easier, like reliable staff and a consistent cash flow, but the right salon management tools and software can make or break your operations.

Square for Beauty is built for – and used by – salons across the globe, helping sync and simplify all sides of your business so you can save time and focus on clients and growth. Allow clients to book 24/7, take payments anywhere, automate scheduling and manage your entire team and multiple salon locations — all from a centralized point of sale.

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How to open a salon FAQs

Can I open a beauty salon in my home?

Yes, you can open a beauty salon in your home and it can be a successful business model. You’ll still need to register your business and look into your local regulations and permit requirements on BizPal, as you may need to comply with zoning rules and get public health approval before being able to serve customers from home.

Can you open a salon without a licence?

No, you cannot open a salon without a licence. You typically need at least a business licence and public health approval to operate a salon, and, in some provinces, you might also need trade certification to perform your services. For example, trade certification for hairstylists is compulsory in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

What is the cost to open a salon?

According to BusinessDojo, starting a salon can cost anywhere from $70,000 to $210,000* for a mid-market salon. Startup costs can vary significantly depending on factors like your location, the size and type of salon, how big your team is and what compensation structure you go with, as well as the equipment you choose.

What’s the best salon software?

The best salon software is a modern point-of-sale (POS) that combines the ability to accept multiple payment types with integrated tools that help you streamline operations and grow with your business. Square for Beauty is designed for the unique needs of salons thanks to features like online booking, shift scheduling, inventory management and more.