It has been a while since I’ve conducted interviews for our entrepreneur series. Thus today, I am interviewing two women, Annette Roche and Monique Hale, who are the owners of successful hair salons. They provided very useful tips to those who are interested in starting their own salons.
Annette Roche: Co-Founder of Nappstar
Annette and her sister, Melissa, are the co-founders of Nappstar, a salon that focuses on locs and natural hairstyles. Full disclosure – I have been a loyal customer of Nappstar for almost 6 years. Recently, the sisters founded Fashion Dreads, a company that sells loc extensions.
For more information about their companies, you can visit the websites for Nappstar and Fashion Dreads.
Annette Roche
Jean-Louis Law: If you could give aspiring salon owners some tips about starting a salon, what would they be?
Annette: Make sure you know how to save money, get coaching to help with business growth and believe in yourself.
Jean-Louis Law: What has surprised you the most about running your business?
Annette: The level of growth you want to have is all depending on yourself. The more you push yourself the more results you will see. Taking risks are so worth it. Even if they don’t work, you will learn something valuable.
Monique Hale: Owner of Extension Bar LA
Monique is the owner of Extension Bar LA, a salon that focuses on you guessed it – extensions! This salon is based out of Los Angeles, CA. You can find more information about Monique at the salon’s website.
Monique Hale
Jean-Louis Law: If you could give aspiring salon owners some tips about starting a salon, what would they be?
Monique: Do your research before signing anything. Also, ask a lot of questions, know your rights as a tenant and know ahead of time if you have to deal with the city.
Jean-Louis Law: What has surprised you the most about running your hair salon?
Monique: How many details you have to worry about, like from payroll to social media. I have two kids and it’s like my third baby. I have to take care of it in every way to make it thrive and succeed. I’m sleeping less and working more just like with a newborn.
Words from Jean-Louis Law
As a business, there are some things that new hair salon owners must think about. Below, you will find two of them:
- You must obtain a cosmetology license.
This process varies from state to state. For more information, visit beautyschoolsdirectory.com.
- Be careful about how you classify the people you hire to work for the salon. You may think someone is an independent contractor, but they may actually be an employee. This is important because there are certain legal obligations that come along with having employees.
For more information about running a business, visit our blog or contact us at info@jllaw.net or 347-946-0597.
