Hi moms, is there anyone out there that has a business plan book and/or software on how to start my own business. I would like to start my own nail salon very soon and need material for the business plan. I am going to open a salon with quality and style. I know alot of people that are tired of going to nail salons with no quality with the execption of the ones that comes to you. What do you ladies think? Is that a good idea, I think it is, but by me being here in Chicago alone, I need some advice from mothers in the same boat as myself.
Thanks moms
Hi, M. M...
My husband actually helps people in the area to establish a business. He works with small (and big) businesses. His name is Edwin Contreras and his number is ###-###-####. He goes all over the Chicagoland/NW IN area. Go ahead and give him a call, and let him know that I (J., his wife) referred you. Good luck!
There is a bulding for sale or rent in the Elmwood Park area is on Fullerton
Hi there -
My husband and I opened a wine store in Andersonville about two years ago and while it isn't a nail salon i did go through the whole business planning / obtaining financing process.
You can find many different business planning books at any bookstore around - most come with a software package that has the financial models to assist in building out of the business plan. I don't necessarily think that any one book is better than the others...
Here is a little bit on what else helped us:
I took a class through the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center called Fast-Trak; it was a very good class that provided me with a lot of excellent resources in addition to the ability to vet my ideas. You can check it out at: http://www.wehaveanswers.org/
Another thing that I would recommend you do it read the book “E-Myth Revisited: Why most small business don’t work and what to do about it” by Michael Gerber. In this book Michael talks about the fact that for a small business to work you must have a great combination of a ‘technician’, ‘manager’ and ‘entrepreneur’ and that most ‘technicians’ go into business for themselves because they don’t want to work for someone else the rest of their lives (which is a great reason) but they aren’t really good ‘managers’ or ‘entrepreneurs.’
Additionally this book talks about the fact that you need to develop standard processes and organizational models to truly be successful. I wish I would have known this from the start because we are currently spending time going back to establish these standards and are finding that it is saving us time and energy.
On the financial note, and I don’t mean to be discouraging but typically the most money you are going to get from a grant or through the SBA is in the 20K-40K range, typically they are not comfortable lending start-up business any more money than that. I’m not sure, but I would imagine that you will need a bit more money than that – especially given your location, need for build-out etc…
One thing that we did was open a Home Equity Line of Credit to finance our business (our start-up costs were about $125K but the property we rented was in shambles and we sent a lot of money on that). We also worked for 1-2 years prior to opening to save some additional cash, which also helped.
One more thing - i went through this process without kids but while working a full-time plus job as a management consultant and it was an extremly time intensive process. My husband and I spent at least 20 hours per week for over a year and a half trying to get our store open - it was definitly a part time job. I'm not sure what your current job situations is, but if you are a stay at home (but still working) mother, i would suggest finding part-time daycare option so you can focus a portion of your day on this endevour. Like I said earlier, it will totally be worth it in the end but it isn't easy.
If and when you decide to move forward, I have some great contacts of individual who are willing to help and other helpful ideas. Please let me know if you would like to spend more time discussing the idea or need help with anything else. Because our business involved liquor, it was even more challenging to open so I have a lot of resources that we used for a variety of situations.
Good Luck,
JMK
Don't have any great advice, but wanted to let you know what a nail place/salon just closed by me: on Racine just south of Harrison and they had a nice big space that is now empty. The area is DYING for a great spa style nail place...and its right near UIC so you would pull in the college crowd. It gets lots of drive by traffic too.
Let me know if you want to look into it and I will get you the exact address.
I would talk with your clients/prospective clients and make sure you have enough business to make a profit. There are so many nail places out there, it is unbelievable. Plus, many day spas/salons that do nails too. So, you really need to make sure you know the market you are getting into and the needs/wants of the customers. I know for myself that I don't go to a nail place to get my nails done because I have heard of so many horror stories of infections, etc. from those places. I only go to a high quality day spa/salon. Whatever you decide, good luck!
Here is the site that I send people to when they ask me about business plans. Good luck:
Good Luck.. I get my nails done every two weeks. I love the place I go to but no one speaks English. It would be nice to talk with someone while getting my nails done.
Talk with your clients....
Hi
Where are you opening your Nail Salon ? I am a nail tech with
10 years experience, most of these years working in a salon.
I don't have business softwear, however I do know how to run
a salon, most especially a Nail Salon, so I would be more than
happy to help, just let me know !!
I'm in the New Lenox area
