Salon growth guide
How to write a salon business plan
A salon business plan covers your services, clients, location, marketing, staff and numbers: startup costs, monthly costs, break-even and a 12-month projection. Use the SBA's standard sections, fill them with your own facts, and show how many visits a month cover your costs.
On this page
Rules, loan details and tax points checked on the SBA’s and IRS’s own pages on 2 October 2026. They change, so follow the links before you rely on them. Every number in the worked example is made up to show the math. Replace it with yours.
Do you really need a salon business plan?
If you’re borrowing money, yes. The SBA says lenders want “a business plan, expense sheet, and financial projections for the next five years” (SBA), and the same page says a break-even analysis is “usually a requirement” to take on investors or debt. A landlord or a partner putting money in will ask most of the same questions.
If you’re not borrowing, you still need the numbers. The plan is where you find out, before you sign a lease, how many clients a month it takes to pay the rent, the stylists and yourself.
Two formats, both from the SBA’s business plan guide:
- Traditional plan. Detailed, section by section. Use it for a lender, an investor or a partner.
- Lean startup plan. One page, the essentials only. Good for testing an idea yourself before you do the full version.
The outline below follows the SBA’s traditional sections, with salon-specific prompts added. Fill it in order, but write the executive summary last.
The salon business plan outline (fill-in template)
Copy the whole outline into your own document, then answer every prompt in plain sentences. Where a prompt asks for a number, use your own quote, lease or price list, not a guess. The notes after it explain each section and what a lender looks for.
Copy the whole outline
SALON BUSINESS PLAN: [Salon name]
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (write this last, one page)
- Salon name, type of salon, the clients you serve
- Location or target area
- You: license, years behind the chair, management experience
- Services and price range
- Amount you need, what it's for, how you'll repay it
- Break-even in visits per month, and when you expect to reach it
2. COMPANY DESCRIPTION
- Legal structure and ownership shares
- The gap you fill for clients nearby
- Two or three things you'll do better than nearby salons
3. SERVICES AND PRICING
- Service menu: price and time for each service
- Average ticket per visit, including add-ons
- Retail: what you'll sell, share of visits that buy
- How prices compare with nearby salons and cover your costs
4. MARKET AND COMPETITION
- Target client: age, hair needs, visit frequency, travel distance
- How many of them live or work nearby (with source)
- Competitor table: 5 to 10 nearest salons, prices, rating, reviews, hours, specialty
- Your gap: what clients nearby can't easily get today
5. LOCATION
- Address or shortlist, and why
- Lease: rent, shared area charges, length, renewal, build-out terms
- Square footage, stations, shampoo bowls, dryers
- Zoning, state board premises rules, city and county permits
6. MARKETING PLAN
- Before opening: existing clients, waitlist, Instagram, Google profile
- After opening: Google and Maps, reviews, social, referrals, apps
- Keeping clients: rebooking, reminders, no-show policy
- Monthly marketing budget and what it buys
- New clients needed per month, and how you'll count them
7. STAFFING MODEL
- Who works there at opening and at 12 months
- Pay model for each person: commission, hourly, salary, booth rent
- Who handles bookkeeping, payroll, cleaning, social media
- Hiring plan, and what happens if a stylist leaves
8. OPERATIONS
- Hours, booking system, payments, suppliers, stock tracking
- Sanitation routines and insurance
- Timeline: lease, build-out, licenses, hiring, opening day
9. FUNDING REQUEST
- Amount needed: startup costs plus cash reserve
- Your own money in the deal
- Loan or investment, term, how you'll repay
10. FINANCIAL PLAN
- Startup costs (one time), with quotes
- Monthly fixed costs and per-visit costs
- Break-even in visits per month
- 12-month projection by month, then years 2 to 5 by year
- Income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement
11. APPENDIX
- License, resume, lease or letter of intent, quotes
- Credit report, personal financial statement
- Full competitor table1. Executive summary
What to write: who you serve, where, who you are, your services and price range, how much money you need and how you’ll repay it, and your break-even in visits per month.
What a lender looks for: the whole plan on one page. The SBA says this section should include your mission, your service, your leadership team, employees and location, plus financial information if you’re asking for funding. If the lender reads only this page, could they explain your salon to a colleague?
2. Company description
What to write: your legal structure (sole proprietor, LLC, partnership or corporation) and who owns what share. Then the gap you fill. For example, no one nearby specializes in curly hair, or the area has no salon open in the evening.
What a lender looks for: a clear reason clients will choose you. The SBA’s guide asks you to name your strengths, such as experts on your team or a strong location.
3. Services and pricing
What to write:
- Your service menu with prices and the time each service takes.
- Your average ticket: what a typical visit brings in, including add-ons. If you’re already behind the chair, pull this from your booking app’s reports.
- Retail: what you’ll sell and roughly what share of visits will buy something.
- How you’ll set prices: compared with nearby salons, and checked against what each service costs you in product and stylist pay.
What a lender looks for: prices that cover costs. A long menu matters less than proof that your best-selling services leave money after the stylist and product are paid.
4. Market and competition
What to write:
- Your target client: age range, hair needs, how often they visit, and how far they’ll travel.
- How many of them live or work nearby. The SBA points to free data such as the Census Business Builder for local population and business counts.
- A competitor table: the five to ten salons nearest your location, their prices for your top three services, their Google rating and review count, their hours, and what they specialize in.
- Your gap: what clients nearby can’t easily get today.
What a lender looks for: research, not opinion. The SBA’s market research guide says a competitive analysis should cover competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, your window of opportunity, barriers to entry, and indirect competitors. For a salon, indirect competitors include home-based stylists and suite renters near you.
Tip: Do the competitor table on your phone, the way a client would. Search “hair salon near me” from your future address, open each profile, and note what you see first. Our Google Business Profile guide explains what makes one profile win the click over another.
5. Location
What to write:
- The address, or the shortlist, and why. Parking, foot traffic, visibility, neighbors that draw your client.
- The lease terms: rent, any shared area charges, length, renewal options, and who pays for the build-out.
- Square footage and how many stations, shampoo bowls and dryers it fits.
- Zoning and licensing: the state board’s rules for salon premises and any city or county permits. The SBA says to research “your own state, county, and city regulations” (SBA).
What a lender looks for: that the space fits your plan. If your projection needs six stylists, the floor plan must hold six stations, and the lease must run long enough to pay back the build-out.
6. Marketing plan
What to write:
- How the first clients will find you before opening day: your clients from your current chair, a waitlist, Instagram, and a Google Business Profile set up as soon as your address is real. See how we launch a salon 8 weeks before opening day.
- How new clients will find you after opening: Google and Maps, reviews, Instagram or TikTok, referrals, and any booking-app marketplace.
- How you’ll keep them: rebooking at checkout, reminders, and a no-show policy that protects your chair time.
- Your monthly marketing budget and what it buys.
- How many new clients a month you need, and how you’ll count them.
What a lender looks for: a link between marketing and the visit numbers in your projection. “We’ll post on Instagram” is not a plan. “We need 40 new clients a month in the first quarter, and here is where they come from” is.
For the details, see how to get more clients for your hair salon for the whole system, how much salon marketing costs to set a budget from real published prices, and how to get more Google reviews for a new salon’s first reviews. A free review QR code at the mirror from day one helps. Once you are open, turn this section into a working one-page salon marketing plan with a 12-month focus and a monthly scorecard.
7. Staffing model
What to write:
- Who works there at opening and at 12 months: stylists, assistants, front desk, and you.
- How each person is paid: commission, hourly, salary, booth rent, or a mix.
- Who does what you don’t: bookkeeping, payroll, cleaning, social media.
- How you’ll hire, and what happens if a stylist leaves and takes clients with them.
Commission or booth rental? This choice changes your whole financial plan.
| Commission | Booth or chair rental | |
|---|---|---|
| Stylist pay in your plan | A variable cost on each visit | None. Stylists pay you rent |
| Your income | Service and retail revenue | Rent from each chair |
| Control over services, prices and hours | Yours | Mostly the stylist’s |
| Tax set-up | Payroll taxes if they’re employees | Stylists generally run their own business |
Hourly or salaried pay is a fixed cost instead: it goes in your monthly fixed costs, not your per-visit costs.
How you set it up has tax consequences. The IRS decides whether someone is an employee or an independent contractor by looking at behavioral control, financial control and the type of relationship (IRS). Its Publication 583 warns that if you treat an employee as a contractor, you can be liable for their employment taxes plus a penalty. Ask an accountant before you decide.
What a lender looks for: a staffing plan that matches the visit numbers. If the plan says 300 visits a month, show who does them and how many hours that takes.
8. Operations
What to write:
- Hours, booking system, payments, product suppliers and how you’ll track stock.
- Sanitation routines that meet your state board’s rules, and the insurance you’ll carry. Ask an insurance agent what a salon your size needs.
- Your opening timeline: lease signed, build-out, licenses, hiring, soft opening, opening day. Our how to open a hair salon checklist puts these steps in the order that keeps one from blocking the next.
What a lender looks for: that you’ve thought past opening day. The timeline matters most, because every week of delay costs rent before any revenue comes in.
9. Funding request
What to write: the amount you need, split into startup costs and a cash reserve; what you’re putting in yourself; and whether it’s a loan or investment, the term, and how you’ll repay it.
What a lender looks for: a request that matches the startup cost sheet to the dollar, and your own money in the deal. The SBA notes that a new business’s loan eligibility “is typically based on its owner’s personal credit score” (SBA), so check yours before you apply.
SBA-backed options, as published on 2 October 2026. You apply through a lender, not the SBA:
- Microloans: up to $50,000; the SBA says the average is about $13,000, rates are typically 8% to 13%, and the maximum term is seven years. The worked example’s $60,000 loan is above the microloan limit, so it would need a 7(a) or a bank loan.
- 7(a) loans: up to $5 million. What you need to apply depends on the loan size and the lender.
10. Financial plan
For a new business, the SBA asks for forecasted income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements and capital expenditure budgets for the next five years, with the first year by month or quarter (SBA). The worked example below shows the four parts that matter most for a salon: startup costs, monthly costs, break-even and a 12-month projection.
11. Appendix
Your license, resume, lease or letter of intent, build-out quotes, equipment quotes, credit report, personal financial statement, and the competitor table in full.
Worked example: the financial plan
Example only, use your own numbers. Everything in this section is a made-up four-chair, commission-based salon, used only to show the math. These are not industry averages, typical costs or results. Your rent, prices, commission split and product costs will be different.
Startup costs (one time)
The SBA counts things like major equipment, permits and licenses as one-time costs (SBA). List every one with a quote behind it.
| Startup cost | EXAMPLE amount, replace with your quote |
|---|---|
| Build-out (plumbing for shampoo bowls, electrical, flooring, paint) | $25,000 |
| Stations, styling chairs, shampoo units, dryers | $18,000 |
| Opening back-bar product | $4,000 |
| Opening retail stock | $2,500 |
| Signage | $2,000 |
| Security deposit (two months’ rent) | $6,400 |
| Licenses, permits, legal and accounting set-up | $2,000 |
| Booking system set-up, website and brand | $1,500 |
| Pre-opening marketing | $2,500 |
| First insurance payment | $600 |
| Subtotal | $64,500 |
| Cash reserve: three months of fixed costs (3 x $7,450) | $22,350 |
| Total needed (EXAMPLE) | $86,850 |
| Owner’s own money (EXAMPLE) | $26,850 |
| Loan requested (EXAMPLE) | $60,000 |
The cash reserve is the line that’s easiest to leave out. A new salon usually takes time to fill its book, and the reserve pays the rent while it does.
Tax note: the IRS lets you elect to deduct up to $5,000 of start-up costs and $5,000 of organizational costs in your first year, reduced by any amount your costs go over $50,000; the rest is spread over time (IRS Publication 583). Not every line in the table counts: equipment and build-out are usually depreciated instead, and Publication 583 explains which costs qualify. Ask your accountant how this applies to you.
Monthly costs
Split every monthly cost into one of two kinds:
- Fixed costs you pay whether you see 50 clients or 500.
- Per-visit costs that rise with every client: stylist commission, back-bar product and card fees.
| Fixed cost per month | EXAMPLE amount |
|---|---|
| Rent, including shared area charges | $3,200 |
| Front desk or assistant wages | $1,800 |
| Loan repayment (use your lender’s quote) | $800 |
| Marketing | $500 |
| Utilities, internet and phone | $450 |
| Accounting, licenses, repairs and other | $400 |
| Insurance | $200 |
| Booking and payment software | $100 |
| Total fixed costs (EXAMPLE) | $7,450 |
| Per-visit cost | EXAMPLE rate | On an $85 average ticket |
|---|---|---|
| Stylist commission | 45% of the service | $38.25 |
| Back-bar product | 8% of the service | $6.80 |
| Card processing | 3% of the payment | $2.55 |
| Total per-visit costs (EXAMPLE) | $47.60 |
Your owner pay is missing on purpose. We add it at the end of the break-even, so you can see both numbers.
Break-even, step by step
The SBA’s formula: fixed costs ÷ (price minus variable costs) = break-even point in units (SBA). For a salon, the “unit” is a client visit and the price is your average ticket.
Example only, use your own numbers.
Step 1. Add a cushion to fixed costs. The SBA suggests adding about 10% to cover miscellaneous costs. $7,450 + 10% ($745) = $8,195 a month
Step 2. Find what each visit leaves you. Average ticket minus per-visit costs. $85.00 minus $47.60 = $37.40 per visit
Step 3. Divide. $8,195 ÷ $37.40 = 219.1, so round up to 220 visits a month
Step 4. Turn it into a day. At 26 open days a month: 220 ÷ 26 = about 8.5 visits a day, or about 2.1 per stylist per day across four stylists.
Step 5. Add your own pay. If you need $3,000 a month to live on: ($7,450 + $3,000) + 10% = $11,495 $11,495 ÷ $37.40 = 307.4, so 308 visits a month, about 11.8 a day.
The mistake to avoid: dividing fixed costs by the full ticket price. $8,195 ÷ $85 = 97 visits. That leaves out commission, product and card fees, and in this example it would understate the real break-even by 123 visits a month. A lender who checks the math will see it.
What to do with the answer: check it against your capacity and your marketing plan. Can your chairs and stylists handle 220 visits in the hours you’re open? Does your marketing plan bring enough new clients, on top of your regulars rebooking, to get there? If not, change the plan now: a cheaper space, fewer chairs at first, a higher average ticket, or more of your own clients moving with you.
12-month projection
Start low and build. The visit numbers below are made up to show the layout. Base yours on the clients you can bring with you, your waitlist, and the new clients your marketing plan can realistically win.
Example only, use your own numbers. Cash here is before owner pay and taxes. It uses actual fixed costs ($7,450, including the loan repayment), not the cushioned planning figure.
| Month | Visits | Revenue ($85 x visits) | Left after per-visit costs ($37.40 x visits) | Cash left after fixed costs | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 120 | $10,200 | $4,488 | -$2,962 | -$2,962 |
| 2 | 150 | $12,750 | $5,610 | -$1,840 | -$4,802 |
| 3 | 180 | $15,300 | $6,732 | -$718 | -$5,520 |
| 4 | 200 | $17,000 | $7,480 | $30 | -$5,490 |
| 5 | 220 | $18,700 | $8,228 | $778 | -$4,712 |
| 6 | 240 | $20,400 | $8,976 | $1,526 | -$3,186 |
| 7 | 250 | $21,250 | $9,350 | $1,900 | -$1,286 |
| 8 | 260 | $22,100 | $9,724 | $2,274 | $988 |
| 9 | 270 | $22,950 | $10,098 | $2,648 | $3,636 |
| 10 | 280 | $23,800 | $10,472 | $3,022 | $6,658 |
| 11 | 290 | $24,650 | $10,846 | $3,396 | $10,054 |
| 12 | 300 | $25,500 | $11,220 | $3,770 | $13,824 |
Three things to read from a table like this:
- Your lowest cash point. In the example, it’s -$5,520 at month 3. Your cash reserve must cover it, with room to spare if visits come in slower. Here the $22,350 reserve covers it about four times, but only before owner pay. If you also take $3,000 a month from month 1, the low point becomes about -$23,360 at month 9, more than the whole reserve. So either fund your living costs separately for the first year, or build owner pay into the reserve.
- The month you break even. Month 4 on actual costs (200 visits covers $7,450). The 220-visit target with the 10% cushion arrives in month 5, and the running total turns positive in month 8. Lenders will ask what happens if it’s later. Run a slower version and check the reserve still covers the low point. In this example, 25% fewer visits pushes the low point to about -$14,160 at month 8 before owner pay. The $22,350 reserve covers that, but not owner pay on top of it.
- Whether you can pay yourself. In the example, the salon barely covers $3,000 a month of owner pay by month 12. If that’s your situation, plan to keep working behind the chair, or change the numbers.
Then add retail sales, a second line for any booth rent income, and taxes, and build the cash flow statement and balance sheet the SBA asks for. An accountant or a free SCORE mentor can check it.
Before you send it: the lender checklist
Check each line, and fix any that fail before a lender sees the plan:
- Executive summary fits on one page and states the amount you need.
- Every startup cost has a quote or lease behind it, and none are copied from a template, ours included.
- Cash reserve covers the lowest point in your projection, including a slower version and your own pay (or your living costs are funded separately).
- Break-even uses what each visit leaves you, not the full ticket price.
- Break-even fits your chairs, stylists and opening hours.
- Your own pay is in the numbers. If the salon can’t pay you, you’ve bought a job with a lease attached.
- Marketing plan says how many new clients a month, from where, and at what cost.
- Staffing model matches the visit numbers, and the pay model is checked with an accountant.
- The lease runs at least as long as the build-out takes to pay back, or has a renewal option.
- Google profile and Instagram are set up before opening, not in opening week. Your first reviews and bookable posts take time.
- Projections run one year by month, then up to five years by year.
- Your personal credit is checked and your own money is in the deal.
- License, lease or letter of intent, and quotes are in the appendix.
Where to get free help with your plan
The SBA’s local assistance network offers “free or low-cost counseling and training in your area”. SCORE mentors give advice on business planning and financing at no cost, and Small Business Development Centers help with business planning and financial management. Bring your filled-in outline: you’ll get much more from a session if the numbers are already on paper.
Check your marketing plan before you open
The marketing section is easy to leave thin, and it drives every visit number in your projection. Run the free Salon Profile Check on your phone, the way a new client would, to see what your Google profile, Instagram and booking path show today. If you’re opening in the next few months, see how we launch a salon 8 weeks before opening day, so your Google profile, Instagram and booking link are live when the doors open. Already open and planning to grow? Winflow’s free diagnostic covers your Google profile, Instagram and booking path, written up by people, not software, in your inbox within 48 hours.
Questions owners ask
What should a salon business plan include?
The SBA's traditional plan has an executive summary, company description, market analysis, organization and management, services, marketing and sales, a funding request, financial projections and an appendix. For a salon, that means your services and prices, your local competition, your location and lease, how you'll fill the chairs, your staffing model, and your startup costs, monthly costs, break-even and projections.
How long should a salon business plan be?
Long enough to answer a lender's questions, and no longer. The SBA describes a one-page lean format for planning yourself and a longer traditional format for lenders and investors. If you're asking for a loan, use the traditional format and put the detail in the appendix.
How do I calculate break-even for a salon?
Use the SBA's formula: fixed costs divided by (price minus variable costs). For a salon, the price is your average ticket, and variable costs are what each visit costs you: stylist commission, back-bar product and card fees. Divide your monthly fixed costs by what's left per visit to get the visits you need each month.
What do lenders look for in a salon business plan?
The SBA says lenders want a business plan, an expense sheet and financial projections, usually five years, and that a new business's loan eligibility is typically based on the owner's personal credit score. They also look for a break-even analysis, a clear funding request and evidence you understand your local market.
Can I use a free salon business plan template?
Yes, as a structure. The outline on this page is free to copy, and SCORE, an SBA resource partner, offers free business planning mentoring. A template only helps once it's full of your own numbers and your own local research.
Should my salon plan use commission or booth rental?
It depends on how much control you want and how steady you need income to be. Commission puts stylist pay in your variable costs and gives you more control over services and the client experience. Booth rental gives you fixed rent income, but the IRS looks at control over how the work is done when deciding who is an employee, so get advice before you choose.
Want a second pair of eyes on your salon?
Our team reviews your Google profile, Instagram and booking path by hand, and tells you the fixes that matter most. Free, in your inbox within 48 hours.