So You Signed Your Lease...Now What?

By signing your lease for your brand new studio at Sola, you have just made an exciting and positive change for your life and career. Since becoming your own boss and opening your own salon comes with new challenges and responsibilities, it's not unexpected to take a break from cloud nine and ask, "Where do I start?"

Here's a quick list of tasks and items you should focus on in the first few weeks of running your own Sola studio.

Lean Into Sola Tools

• Set up your booking and payments through Sola's partnership with Vagaro, giving you industry-leading scheduling, payment processing, and client management tools right from day one.

• Build out your Sola profile via Vagaro. Sola profiles will stand out on search engines when potential clients are looking for a new beauty professional to book an appointment with. A complete profile with beautiful pictures, a robust bio, hours, and a booking link makes it easy to turn that traffic into booked appointments. And the best part? It's free to all Sola professionals!

• Visit the Sola Blog to find marketing ideas, tips, and success stories from other Sola owners.

• Take the initiative to walk around and meet the other Sola pros in your location. This is not only a great way to cross-promote your business to attract new customers, but also to get to know your amazing Sola community!

"Compared toother suites, Sola isn’t just my landlord. Our Sola owner is a friend and a business partner. He is theretohelp us andmake sure we succeed. At Sola, compared to a booth-rental salon, you are the true owner. You gettochoose the vibe of your salon, downtothe wall color." - Lindsey Couch

Protect Yourself and Your Business

Now, you may be tempted to run to IKEA, HomeGoods, or Target and start picking out some décor (who wouldn't?!). But first and foremost, let's get all the important business stuff taken care of. Ask your manager for assistance with the business licensing requirements in your area - and make sure to utilize Sola's start-up manual to guide you along the way!

Create Your Culture

Now that you own your salon, you get to do things YOUR way! You're in complete control of creating your salon's culture and identity. An important step is to create the vision for your salon and really think about what your salon is going to offer and the experience you are going to provide that will set you apart. It's all about building a unique brand and client experience. Think about your target clientele and why they would want to visit your salon over another. What problems are you going to solve that will bring your guests back again and again? What feelings do you want your guests to have when they arrive and leave your studio?

Read more about salon inspiration from The Organized Stylist.

Build Your Brand

When creating your brand, you'll want to consider everything from your logo to colors to your brand voice. The branding process will take time and does not need to be completed before your first appointment! Brands are constantly evolving.

One thing to consider: hire a professional! If you want a logo but aren't sure how to create one, hire a designer. They can also help you determine the right colors, fonts, and images for your marketing.

Tips on building a brand:

• Be authentic

• Have a unique voice

• Be consistent

• Create value for your customers

• Consider the experience in your salon as part of your brand

Choose Your Paint, Artwork, Music & Décor

Now's the fun part: create the space of your dreams that you will love being in every day and that your clients will love to visit! Your salon should match the experience you want to evoke for your clients. When it comes to designing your studio, you'll want to think about setting a mood. Think about the full experience. Do you want bright colors and loud music or soft hues and sweet melodies? These decisions will come back to the brand you are aiming to create.

Choose Your Products

You can't service clients without products, and you definitely can't strive to pay your rent in retail if you don't have any products to retail. Choosing which path to take when it comes to picking products can be exciting for some and intimidating for others.

Before you commit to any product line, there are a few things to think about:

• Decide what you value and whether or not your current line compliments those values

• Consider the performance of the product

• Consider the price and whether it's within your guests' budgets

• Consider the values of the brand you chose as well

• Consider continuing education

• Is there a brand you'd love to educate for one day? Educating your guests is a good place to start 😉

Above all, pick a product line that excites you! The more you love the products you use, the easier it will be to professionally recommend them to your guests.

Now, Let's Get Those Clients

Marketing is the key to your success, and you have options: digital marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, and even print and direct mail.

"The biggest piece of advice I can offer to help someone make a smooth transition is to take the time to create a business strategy. Focus on your numbers and know how many clients you need to do to break even and how many you need to sustain yourself. This may seem overwhelming, but it prepares you to work hard and achieve your goals without fear." - Kelsey Morris

Also consider…

• Sending out a text or email blast to let your clients know about your new salon. Consider offering a special incentive for those who visit your new salon within the first month of opening.

• Giving first-time clients a special gift

• Handing out business cards with contact info to the other Sola pros in your building. It's possible that you offer services that they don't.

• Creating social media accounts for your salon that are separate from your personal accounts and start posting (don't forget your brand voice and always aim to CREATE VALUE!)

Congrats 🎉 You're officially running your own salon, taking your success into your own hands. It's time to bask in the glory of owning your own business.

Here's to your first chapter at Sola.