Choosing a Location Series: Rent a Space
Renting a room out of salon or commercial space may be the next right step for you in growing your lash business. The 3 different rent/lease spaces have pros and cons to each and we're going to go through what each situation could look like so you can evaluate which location might be the best fit for you!
Renting a room out of a salon or spa space
As a room renter, your room (or in some lash specific businesses... your bed) is the space you are paying weekly or monthly for to run your business from. You may or may not be provided with equipment like a light, treatment table, and lash supplies, but that would be something you would have addressed in your lease/rent contract. A benefit of this type of location is that you are likely not directly paying for utilities, Internet, water and trash which if you signed for a commercial lease, you might be accountable for, so that's one less aspect of running a business you don't have to worry about. But pretty much everything else is on your own. You have your own booking software, your own business phone number, your own website, and you are probably providing your own supplies. You are completely separate from the business you are working within so there's a lot of independence and control you have over how your business is run. Renting a room also usually means shorter lease lengths or month to month payment options. So if you're not sure you want to commit to a 2-5 year lease quite yet, you can usually negotiate a shorter lease length with the salon owner. A huge plus of renting a room out of an established salon is that you most likely have access to their existing clientele who may have been on the search for a lash artist, and well, you just magically appeared at where they get their hair done. Convenience for the client wins the day! Your marketing may only need to go as far as the salon doors if they've been around awhile which may save you from panicking and using daily deals or Groupons to get the word out about your services.
LASHPRENEUR LIGHTBULB: Make friends with some of the other service providers who work with you. Trades and cross-referrals would be hugely beneficial to you as your service provider buddies would become your walking, talking billboard. Most client's see their beauty service providers as the go-to person to ask for referrals for other services they might be interested. You could even create a special discount card for the stylist to hand out to their clients who express interest in lashes.
Renting/Leasing a Commercial Space
Taking on a commercial lease is not for the faint of heart and it's a fairly large commitment to running your lash business. Here are the 4 key considerations you need to take into account if you think leasing a commercial space is the next right step to growing your lash business.
1). Have an Existing Clientele
I already had a small clientele to start from my previous corporate spa job and being mobile for a few months while I searched for a location.
If you are just starting out and you haven't gone through an entire year of being on your own to know the cyclical nature of the beauty industry, this is not the next right step for you. If you're going to jump into a commercial lease, you need you to have your ducks in a row and have some ability to make money to start paying off the initial expenses associated with taking on a commercial lease (security deposit, first and last months rent, build out, etc.). Know where your next paycheck is coming from unless you've got a support system at home where you don't need to make a pay check for a few months. Most businesses do not start being profitable until after the first 2 years. That's not to say that necessarily applies to the lash industry, but it is something you'll wqant to take into consideration. You may be taking a pay cut for a while until you become more settled and have gotten your initial start up costs down.
2). Potential for Growth
The growth possibilities were there if I grew my business and needed to expand.
If you're comfortable with signing a commercial lease, you're probably starting to think big picture and long term goals. You may go into a commercial space with a plan and goal of expanding your lash business to be more than just you in a room. You could ever want to hold trainings, hire staff, heck, you could offer a variety of
service within a commercial lease. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination and commitment to see it through. In my location, there was a fully built out spa that was available that was 3 times the size of the space I ultimately decided to go with. It was beautiful and it served as a daily motivator that someday I would grow my business to be able to take on that space. It ended up being rented out after 14 months of me walking past it every day and my business changed directions, so it was fate that it didn't work out, but it served as a great reminder of what was possible for growing my business, should I have chosen to do so. Make sure any commercial space you are considering has the potential for growth so you're not held back by a cramped space and a 4 years left on your lease when you want to hire a staff.
3). Length of the Lease I was fortunate enough to negotiate a 6 month initial lease length in case business ownership really wasn't for me.
Commercial leases are usually in terms of years. Property managers and owners of commercial spaces, especially in a retail center, don't want to deal with wishy-washy people and having to find a new tenant every 6 months. There's too much money lost for them when spaces are vacant for long periods of time. I was fortunate enough that there were several vacancies at the location I was interested in which gave me negotiating power to determine my lease length since there weren't a whole lot of potential tenants knocking down their doors to rent a space. I started with 6 months to ensure that location would be worthwhile enough to build a clientele and run a business. Most commercial spaces are around a 2-5 year lease term. Again, knowing your game plan going into renting out a space for that long is key. Your business goals and direction will likely change multiple times within that timeframe, but having a plan for how you'll cover your expenses, and even an exit strategy should you need to shut down the business should all be considered in your negotiations.
4). Don't Get In Over Your Head
I found a great smaller office space in a retail center where the rent was very reasonable, utilities were included and I knew I could cover the overhead costs for a couple months with the small clientele I had at that time. I knew I wasn't getting in over my head!
I've seen it far too many times that lash artists think just because they grew a steady clientele from being mobile or out of their home in 6 months, that they felt they were ready to expand, take out a huge loan for building out a commercial space to fit their needs, and take on a 3 year lease of a huge space (we're talking 2000-3000 sqft) where they would have to hire a staff and run a business when they still had the service provider mindset. In my view, this is setting yourself up to fail before you even start. I do not want that for you. I want you to take bite sized chunks of business ownership as you go along your Lashpreneur journey until you have the confidence and know how to run a business successfully, how to consistently attract new clients to your business and create a business that suits your dream life. Slow and steady wins this race for sure.
If you're ready to branch out on your own and you don't have much of a clientele to start, I would recommend going the room rental route to get your feet wet in running a lash business. If you've mastered that and are ready to take your lash business to the next level, it may be time for you to grow into a commercial space and realize your dreams of running a large and successful lash biz!
What type of location did you lash out of when you first started your lash business and where do you lash now? Leave your comments below!
Have a good one!
Tara Walsh
The Lashpreneur
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