Scott smurthwaite's tips for opening a second salon

Once you are successfully running a salon and generating a profit, there comes a time when you start to think about growing the business.

Scott Smurthwaite of Cream Hairdressing shares his advice for when it comes to taking the next step and opening salon number two.

1. Make sure you approach your second site with a structured business plan based on hard figures.
2. Check out your competition in the area and learn what they have done right and wrong.
3. Realise that you cannot be at both salons at the same time and decide how you can overcome this by training other team members.
4. Make sure your first salon has been well established for several years before you consider a second business.
5. Know your town or city; take some time to get a feel for the place.
6. Make as many local contacts as you can - networking opens many marketing opportunities.
7. Learn new business and management skills if there are gaps in your knowledge.
8. Focus on recruitment, as moving existing team members means loss in revenue and a change in the dynamics of your first salon.
9. If you can, make sure you have an emergency fund, because there will always be some over-expenditure.
10. Talk to your product supplier who will have plenty of history in partnering salon groups, and its advice and training facilities are second to none.