7 Steps to Become a Successful Nail Salon Owner 

Suppose you are a nail salon owner who started his business journey in the wellness industry 1 year ago. The vision and motivation that drive your passion for becoming a nail salon owner from the nail stylist is to provide a more exceptional user experience for your clients. To ensure a remarkable user experience, you made the ambiance of your nail salon more promising. Moreover, you also hire world-class nail stylists to give your clients the service that they have always dreamed of.

Initially, your nail salon gathered the attention of many clients to whom you provided an exceptional experience. However, with the passage of time, your salon begins to lose its client base, which leads to frustration. In this frustration, a question might arise in your mind: whether your clients have lost interest in nail care. 

As per Scottmax’s research, the global nail salon market in 2022 was valued at $10.1 billion and is expected to grow by 7.5% CAGR between 2023 and 2032. Moreover, As per Worldmetrics’s research, the nail care products market is expected to grow by 7.5% CAGR between 2021 and 2027. Thus, this statistical analysis reveals that with each passing year, the global nail salon market is expecting growth, which means that clients still have an interest in nail care. 

But, still, you have not found the reason that leads to a loss in client retention rate. Running a nail salon as an owner requires intense dedication and data-driven decisions. Here, we are going to discuss the traits of a successful salon owner and the 7 steps that they have taken to maintain consistency and growth in their salon business. 

Traits of successful nail salon owner 

Before understanding the steps to become a successful nail salon owner who consistently draws the attention of its clients and generates revenue, it is essential to understand the traits of a successful nail salon owner. Understanding these traits enables you to keep calm while handling clients. 

Moreover, it gives you the path to a more practical approach to salon management. Here are the traits of the successful nail salon owner that enlighten your path during your journey. 

Solid vision 

All successful salon owners have one thing in common that enables them to take the steps for continuous growth: a solid vision. Before thinking about money and fame, they consider how they can make their client’s wellness experience more promising. Apart from this, successful nail salon owners also keep an eye on the market trends and adapt to them. As they understand one thing: to grow in the wellness industry, having a solid vision with diversification is essential. 

So, to grow your nail salon business, you have to have a solid vision—a vision that enables you to accept changing market trends. After identifying your vision, you have to stick to it and be patient. Thus, this solid vision enables you to make decisions that are more data-driven, along with the influence of adaptability. 

Self-promotion skills 

Another important trait that makes a nail salon owner successful in the wellness industry is learning the art of self-promotion. If you want to make your nail salon successful, you have to make sure that your salon branding is done through word of mouth. A word-of-mouth marketing strategy enables you to become a name of the trust to which clients get attracted to your nail salon. Moreover, you can also use different social platforms, such as Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, etc, to attract clients to your salon. 

You can simply post about your nail salon offering on these social platforms and build a strong community that believes in your vision. However, if you are using nail salon software to streamline your nail salon operations, you can also use its feature marketing, which not only enables you to attract clients but also helps you develop communication with them. Thus, learning the art of self-promotion enables you to become a business magnet that attracts new clients while retaining the existing ones. 

Organizational skills 

Without having organizational skills, you are not able to manage your nail salon operation effectively. Every successful nail salon owner has this basic trait that not only enables him to make data-driven decisions but also helps him streamline nail salon operations. Successful nail salon owners are good at streamlining salon operations, from appointment bookings to staff management. 

These skills not only enable them to create an environment where clients have an exceptional user experience but also help them in attracting new clients. Apart from having good management skills, successful nail salon owners also use nail salon management software that provides them with complete assistance in streamlining salon operations and ensuring an environment where clients can have a remarkable user experience. 

So, if you want to make your nail salon successful by attracting new clients to your place, you have to learn organizational skills. These skills not only enable you to attract clients but also help you out in ensuring an environment of calmness that your clients can enjoy. You can also use nail salon software that acts as your assistant in streamlining nail salon operations. 

Open communication 

Another important trait that you must have to acquire is the skill to communicate openly with your staff and clients. As every successful nail salon owner has this important skill. They conduct weekly meetings with their staff, communicate with them directly about any changes and ask their staff for suggestions. Moreover, if they are going to implement new changes in the business model or launch a new service in the nail salon, they communicate directly with their staff and explain to them how they came to this decision so their staff can gain their perspective. 

Thus, open communication with the staff helps successful nail salon owners to gain their trust. Apart from open communication with staff, they also communicate with their clients openly. Successful nail salon owners notify their clients before any change and also ask about their suggestions on the change. Thus, it enables you to gain the client’s trust and loyalty. So, to grow your nail salon successfully, you must ensure that you communicate openly with your clients and staff and gain their trust and loyalty. 

Steps to become a successful nail salon owner

To ensure the success of your nail salon, you have to ensure that you have taken the steps that every successful salon owner has taken. These steps not only enable you to grow your nail salon financially but also enable you to bring in new clients while retaining older clients. As per Podium’s research, a 5% increase in client retention rate enables a nail salon owner to increase profitability by 25–95%.  So, it is essential for you to follow the 7 steps that enable you to establish your nail salon as a brand and also help you to grow your nail salon financially. Here are the 7 steps that every successful nail salon owner takes to grow their business.         

Develop a comprehensive business plan      

Whenever, you are going to start your nail salon, you have to make sure that you have outlined the basic business plan that states your salon’s vision, target market, operations, financial projections, etc. This business plan acts as a roadmap that enables you to reach the success that you always dreamed of. However, if you are an established nail salon business but still facing issues, you need to revamp your business plan. You have to identify the areas of flaws and take data-driven steps to rectify them.  

Thus, a comprehensive business plan helps you to make a deep market analysis that gives you insights into your client’s preferences and demographics. So, you can tailor your nail salon business model based on these insights.  Moreover, revamping your existing business plan helps you attract new clients.  

According to profileTree’s research, 71% of the fastest-growing businesses have well-written business plans. Moreover, if these plans are revamped, the business’s success ratio doubles.             

For example, You started your nail salon in your locality around 1 year ago. When you started your nail salon, you conducted market research and finalized each and every decision about your business based on these insights. However, you lose your client base. After your client base, if you want to grow your business and attract your clients back to your nail salon, you have to ensure that you revamp your comprehensive business plan that enables you to do market research. Thus, it enables you to grow your nail salon by attracting clients and making your wellness business financially stable.  

Ask your clients what they want 

After establishing your nail salon business, you have to ensure that you regularly ask for feedback from your clients. The client’s feedback enables you to identify the flaws and also gives you suggestions to rectify the shortcomings.  As per Zonka’s research, 51% of the clients never do business with a brand after having one poor client experience.  So, the best way for you to understand what your clients want is to ask them in the form of suggestions. 

Moreover, feedback from the clients also enables you to understand what are the trends of the nail salon industry. You simply have to understand that trend and offer your clients the desired service. This not only enables you to grow your business financially but also enables you to gain your client’s trust and loyalty.      

For example, You are running a nail salon where you offer your clients nail treatments. Your clients come to your place for nail treatments. However, with each nail treatment, you give your clients a slip in which they can write down suggestions about your nail salon services or any changes they desire.  Thus, it enables you to understand what your clients want from your nail salon. Therefore, you can implement all these suggestions and gain your client’s trust and loyalty. 

Build your team 

If you want to ensure the continuous survival of your nail salon in the wellness industry, you have to make sure that you build a team. A team that trusts your vision and decision. Thus, it enables you to ensure a remarkable user experience for your clients. 

As per IHSRA’s research, around 81% of nail salons fail to survive the first year of their business. So, to survive in the wellness industry, you have to make sure that your nail salon falls into the remaining 19%. Having a team of highly talented stylists and colorists who trust you and give their 100% to your nail salon enables you to become part of the 19% that survive the first year. 

So, to grow your nail salon, you have to make sure that you have hired the highly skilled and trained stylist and made investments in their training. This investment not only enables you to ensure exceptional client experience but also helps you in attracting new clients. 

For example, You started a nail salon in your locality where you have to compete directly with 5 other nail salon owners. All these 5 nail salons operate in your locality for around 4–5 years. These nail salons offer up-to-date services to their clients. However, the team hired by your competition lacked expertise and was quite rude, which offended the clients. Thus, to grow your salon and to move one step ahead of your competition, you have to ensure that you hire a team that is polite in nature and has all the necessary skills to ensure client satisfaction.  

Offer new products or services 

If you want to attract new clients while ensuring financial growth, your nail salon must offer new products or services. Clients are attracted by changing market trends, and if your nail salon offers those trends on time, you are at a high stake in attracting clients and enhancing your salon’s profitability. Whether you are going to bring new market trends to your salon or amend the membership and subscription service, you have to keep an eye on what your clients want. 

Offering new products or services to clients not only enables you to enhance the financial stability of your nail salon but also enables you to gain your client’s loyalty. As per Zendesk’s research, nearly 3 out of 5 clients said that offering market-trending products or services enables them to feel loyalty toward the brand. So, it is essential for you to ensure that your nail salon offers new products or services to your client’s time to time. 

For example, You started a nail salon in your town where clients love to have manicures and pedicures. You started to offer these services to your clients. However, with the passage of time, your client’s preferences change to gel polish manicures and dip powder manicures. But, still, you offer your client the same old services. This leads to a decrease in retention rate of clients as well as a decrease in your salon’s profitability. 

Establish pricing and revenue streams 

In your nail salon, you have to ensure that you offer your clients a price that is market-competitive. This price enables you to attract clients to your place. Moreover, you also have to ensure you diversify the revenue streams for your nail salon to maximize profitability. You can start to sell the beauty products of other companies or create your own salon products that you sell to clients and earn more profit. 

You can also sell the space of your nail salon to other vendors who can sell their products, and they just pay you for the space. If you are using nail salon management software to administer your salon, you can use its facility rental feature. This feature enables you to manage the rental space and helps you to enhance profitability by renting space. Diversifying the revenue stream for your nail salon not only enables you to lower the price of your services but also enables you to attract new clients. 

For example, you own a nail salon in your locality, in which you start to offer new services. However, the price that you provide to your clients is quite higher than the market. Apart from this, your salon also doesn’t sell beauty products. This higher price and not selling the products leads to a decrease in client retention rate and decreases your salon’s profitability. So, it is essential for you to ensure that your salon offers market-competitive prices and has diverse revenue streams that enable your business to earn more profits. 

Reward your clients 

A good client experience is not about giving them world-class wellness treatment. It also depends upon rewarding them for their dedication to your nail salon. This small gesture of goodwill enables you to foster a sense of belonging among your clients and also helps you promote your business through word-of-mouth marketing. 

As per Mailmodo’s research, 65% of the clients want the brand they are using to offer them a reward for their loyalty. 72% of the clients stay loyal to a brand that offers them special bonuses and discounts. Moreover, 56% of the clients again make a purchase from a brand that offers them rewards. 

Thus, it is essential for you to ensure that your nail salon offers clients rewards in the form of bonuses or special discounts. You can give your clients bonus points as a reward that they can use to get special discounts on the membership or use these points to get a beauty product. However, if you are using nail salon software in your business, you can use features like promo codes or loyalty programs to enhance your client’s satisfaction. 

For example, you are running a nail salon in your town, where you offer world-class services to your clients. However, you don’t reward your clients for their loyalty and consistency to your nail salon. At the same time, a new nail salon starts to operate in that place, where the owner offers all the services that you provide, except the owner rewards its clients with special offers and discounts. Rewarding clients enables your competition to attract your clients and it affects your nail salon’s profitability. 

Implement marketing and branding strategies

To ensure the success of your nail salon, you have to ensure that you have effective marketing strategies that enable you to attract the target audience. You have to make sure that you have built a strong brand identity by offering a remarkable client experience. This remarkable client experience enables you to establish your brand image through word-of-mouth marketing. Thus, it enables you to attract new clients and enhance your salon’s profitability. 

Get Everything You Need to Manage Your Salon.

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• Manage staff online
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• Automate communication
• Manage appointments online

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Apart from word-of-mouth marketing, you also have to ensure that your salon business has a strong online presence on different social platforms such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Facebook, where you can post daily updates about your nail salon. These posts enable you to attract new clients and boost your salon sales. You can also reach new clients by using an email marketing approach. However, if you have nail salon management software as an assistance in your salon, you can use the built-in feature of email marketing to reach new clients and gather their attention toward your salon. 

For example, you run a nail salon in which you offer world-class nail treatments to your clients, but your nail salon has no online presence. Thus, the lack of an effective marketing strategy reduces your salon’s target audience and it also affects your salon’s profits. So, it is essential for you to implement an effective marketing strategy for continuous growth. 

Final thoughts

As a nail salon owner, you have to pay special attention to ensuring a more customized wellness experience for your clients. This customized experience not only enables you to attract new clients but also helps you to survive in the competitive wellness industry. So, if you want to ensure a more remarkable client experience, you have to follow these 7 steps that all successful nail salon owners follow.