metalgirl wrote: So my question is this: If I open a shop in my local area, can I expect that clients will travel 20-50 miles for this specialty extension work or should I open my shop more near the big city?

YES, they will travel.  I just got a call from a Houston girl.  I am setting up some kind of 'getaway' package and would love some advice!

metalgirl wrote: If I open my shop near the big city, I would most likely lose at least half of my current clientele because they won't travel to get their hair done. Right now, my clientele consists of about 50% 'normal' hair services (cuts, colors, etc) and 50% hair extension clients. I think the extension clients would follow me, but I don't think that the 'normal' service clients would follow, and frankly I can't afford to lose any income right now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I would stay where I am the most happiest- sounds like you are leaning more towards your locals.

Good Luck!!!

I would travel if the work is good and a decent price

WHICH IT IS!

agree with all the girls, go where you want to be ~ but also compare costs

Thanks  guys, I appreciate the input!

Hi Metalgirl,

Congrats on your plan to open your own salon. 

From the many emails I get from consumers looking for good hair extension people, I know for a fact that people will travel for someone great.  A good friend of mine does Great Lengths in Florida and he has people traveling from Europe to see him.  They tell their friends and so on and so on.

The guy in Dallas that I know who does Great Lengths...gets so many out of town visitors that a couple of years ago his wife created a special package with a couple of local hotels.

My friend Barbara who does GL in New York gets calls from all over the US and she actually travels twice a month to Wash, D.C. area because a pocket of customers popped up there.

The key is doing great work with fair prices and doing great advertising in the right locations.  And of course taking your time to make good business decisions when setting up and setting your fees.

You could stay in your local town but consider trying to find a place where you could work once or twice a month in the big city so that you could also harvest new customers from there but not have to drive all the time.  You might even consider doing a traveling show at some point like my friend in New York.  She is even considering coming to Dallas to work on a rotating basis because she gets so many calls.

When she travels to DC she "rents" a chair in a large salon there for just her time visiting.  The salon in D.C. books her appointments for her and she just shows up and does extensions.  Some of her DC clients have actually referred friends that have visited her in New York.

Based on what I've seen, anyone good with good pricing that does smart advertising and marketing can draw from just about anywhere. 

I think it is amazing that you are taking this step and wish you the best with your new biz.

Karen

Congrats Metalgirl!

I think a lot of sound advice has been given here...

Ultimately, you are more focused on going solo because of your passion/dedication to your extension business. (Not to say you want to give up your other services) In terms of profit...your driven to do this because of the extensions.

No matter where you go, people will follow and travel(especially for extensions) Now, the commute(I drive 40 mn.) It's not always fun, but I wouldn't let that be the deciding factor.

For those who don't follow...you'll be amazed how quickly you rebuild!

From personal experience: I moved salons, after being at a Mega Salon/Spa for 5 yrs, I moved(10-15 mn. travel from the Salon) towards downtown. I lost a large percentage of clientele.IT WILL HAPPEN. Some people are creatures of habbit. With that said...I rebuilt quickly! With NO commision(55%) goin to the man ! So, in the end it mathed out...my demographic was a higher area allowing me to raise my new client haircuts, etc. to match that area. The icing on the cake...I'm not workin to make HIM money. Now I'm workin to make ME money!

Good luck and trust your instincts and your heart!

~Gina

I think a salon only for hair additions is an awesome idea!  Good luck to you metal!  (For some reason, I thought you already had your own salon  ) 

Bridget,

I currently rent a small (60 square feet) room in a salon right now.  I am finding out that the 'closet'  is not really big enough.  It works for now, but I am wanting a place that's super comfortable for my clients, where I can have a big TV for their viewing pleasure and a refridgerator in which to  keep snacks and beverages for my clients.

hey syren-

i am in so cali- were u at girl? we should hook up for coffee!

Hi, 

I've actually done what you are asking about 12 months ago in the UK.

Much of the advice is pretty good, but I think I can expand on some of the areas that need to be taken into consideration if you are going to specialize in Hair extensions only. 

I did just what you are thinking about; in June last year I rented a small venue on the High Street, in the UK and set up a dedicated hair extension studio.

I found that it was important to become a specialist not just in a couple of techniques, but all credible technique.  The reason being, I found that all of a sudden people with problem hair wanted my advice because they found it frustrating that most hair extension providers concentrated on the fashion side more so than people with genuine problems. 

Potential clients would have problems such as thinning hair, bad hair cut, alopecia, medical condition, apart from wanting new hair for fashion, or just to give their own hair a rest.  I found I was dealing with all age group, my oldest customer being 95 years old after having an operation she became very down about her hair. 

I also found that career ladies wanting to change their looks, models and even guys would be coming to my studio.  Some people did not want anyone to see them, so privacy was important.

I had to become proficient in all types of hair, Caucasoid, Asian and African hair, understand the structures how they worked, the weakness and which technique worked with the client hair and life style.

What to do if a client’s hair was greasy, brittle, short or in very poor condition. What to do if a clients hair was very thick or had areas missing.

I found that these factors were also very important:

a) A set of Terms and condition (this protects the client and yourself)

b) Pricing.  Each aspect, treatment and service along with maintenance had to be clearly priced and available

c) Maintenance: Advising the client on how to look after their new hair, what to use, what to do if you went swimming etc, each client was given a maintenance booklet to take home.

d) Standard: had to be very high because per unit spend was high

e) Client records: Important again, keeping a track of hair type and hair colour code used was important and ensured that if the client was coming in that you had their hair colour in stock.

f) The consultation: Very clear descriptions had to be presented, clear price with a quotation and I would keep a copy of everything to follow up with afterward.

g) Portfolio: building a portfolio of clients said a thousand words, especially once they arrived for a consultation.

h) Deposit: I adopted a non refundable deposit.  This basically covered me for missed appointment because of the time factor involved and helped me gauge the seriouness of the client enquiry and order.

Setting the presidence for what you want to achieve i.e. being known as the best in the business is very important.  Striving for such a position will ensure that people will travel and use your service regularly.  All too often because of slopping work, most clients do not re-visit the hair dresser or extension practitioner because the job they did was short term gratification and not for long term relationship which then resulted in some of the negative description about hair extensions.

Clients are now traveling over 300 miles round trip to visit my studio, they also refer my services to their friends and family or work colleague simply because they see the end result. I have had clients from Europe and South Africa.  You never know who knows who when you have done a good job.

Because I special in hair extensions only, I find that I have also developed a good relationship with other hair salons who do not feel threatened but will send clients to me because I do not cross over into their business (A point to consider)

I now train other girls around the country to become Hair extension consultants, I cover topics such as Hair anatomy and growth cycle, hair loss problems and treatments, How to conduct a consultation, the paper work, 10 techniques, hair blending techniques, trouble shooting, history of hair extension.  All of this adds to becoming an expert, this give people confidence in your service.

So my point is.... focus on what you mean by specializing and what you will have to offer that is different to the mainstream.  If it is different, more professional, wider based then no matter where you are people will hear of you and travel to use your service even if you stayed in your small village.

Would like to wish you all the best

http://www.hair2hair.com - www.hair2hair.com

Dee

Hair 2 Hair wrote: most clients do not re-visit the hair dresser or extension practitioner because the job they did was short term gratification and not for long term relationship which then resulted in some of the negative description about hair extensions. Dee

Hi Dee!

I love this terminology!!!  We have something in common! 

Hey Dee, are you going to Expotel this October?

-Charlene

Hey Charlene,

What's Expotel?

Dee, that's some very good advice, thank you!

metalgirl wrote: Hey Charlene, What's Expotel?

Lisa- It's a beauty show in London

http://www.salonexhibitions.com/page.cfm/Link=5/t=m/goSection=4 - http://www.salonexhibitions.com/page.cfm/Link=5/t=m/goSectio n=4

You want to go?  AD will be there too!  What do you say?

Com'on LET'S GO!!!

I wish I could go, but I don't have the money to go overseas right now.  Too many salon expenses!

Also, this morning I went out to feed my donkeys, and I discovered that Sonya  had severed the tip of her tongue!  The tip was literally dangling off, it was disgusting!  So, after an emergency call to have the vet come out, I'm definitely out some cash!

metalgirl wrote: Sonya  had severed the tip of her tongue!  The tip was literally dangling off, it was disgusting!  So, after an emergency call to have the vet come out, I'm definitely out some cash!

ooooohhhhh Lisa  I'm so sorry to hear that.  I'll pray for her... 

But you'd better believe that I'll tell you ALL juicy stuff when I return!!!

Thanks Char for the kind thoughts!

Sonya Donkey is ok, the vet came out and actually decided it would be best to remove the tip (about an inch of tongue)  that was just hanging there.  She did that and gave me donkey pain killers and anti-biotics, and everything will be fine.  Donkeys are very resillant animals.  They are very sweet and highly intelligent and bond closely with one another.