Location

One of the most exciting parts about opening your own business and becoming your own boss is choosing your work location. The following are your options:

1. Opening your own studio
2. Renting a salon suite/beauty room
3. Working under an employer

Opening Your Own Studio

Although, opening your very own studio may be the dream for many artists, it is not the most practical and cost-effective route for a beginner. Opening your own studio can be very expensive and requires a lot of work. As a studio owner, you must pay for renovations (paint, flooring, etc.), furniture, equipment, utilities and make sure the workplace is up to code with local authorities. Opening up a studio typically costs tens of thousands of investments to begin. There are additional permits you must obtain such as a body art facility permit and more. As a new artist, this may not be the ideal location.

Renting a Salon Suite/Beauty Room

There are salon suites that allow independent artists (PMU artists, hair stylists, nail technicians, etc) to rent out a small suite. Some popular salon suite franchise are Sola Salon and Phoenix salons. Places like Sola Salon and Phoenix salons are large retail spaces that divide the area into smaller individual suites to rent out to beauty artists. This option is the most ideal one since the start-up cost is typically very low and moving in is made simple. There are no renovations or body art facility permits that you need to worry about. The salon suite has a ready to use sink and some salon suites even provide storage and a beauty bed. The utilities and WiFi are typically covered. This option makes it easy for beginner artists or new beauty business owners to get started.

Since there are many other salons in the building, it makes networking easy! You could network with other beauty artists and help promote each other’s business by referring your clients or collaborating with other artists to host a giveaway. There are many upsides.

Working Under an Employer

Applying for a job at a Permanent Makeup Salon can have many benefits, however, this option is usually rare. Working under an employer usually means that the space and supplies are covered by the employer and that they will typically mentor you and help you grow your clientele. This option has many advantages because you will have a mentor, and you won’t have to worry about the studio maintenance, inventory, paying rent or insurances. Working at an established PMU studio can be very convenient but you will have to split a commission rate with your employer. The reason this option is rare is because there are not many existing large PMU studios, let alone ones that are looking to hire. Most PMU artists are self-employed with no employees.

My best advice is to start with renting a Salon Suite. The rent may seem large initially, however, from the perspective of a business owner, the overhead expense is very low compared to other alternatives as well as other business venture investments.