Learn how to set up a beauty business from home

According to the ONS, the proportion of working adults who completed some work from home in 2020 increased to 37% from 27% and 85% wanted to use a “hybrid” approach of both home and office working in the future. 

These figures come as no surprise as there are some serious benefits to working from home, from not having to travel, flexible working hours to a better work-life balance. 

If you’re considering taking the leap from being a mobile therapist or salon-based therapist to opening your very own beauty business from home, there are some things to consider. 

In this article, we’ll provide you with the relevant information and guidance to setting up a beauty business from home.

1. Check your mortgage or tenancy agreement

Before investing in your home beauty business, you should check with your mortgage providers, or landlord if you’re renting, that you’re allowed to run a business from your home. 

Depending on your mortgage or tenancy agreement, there may be a clause that prevents you from running your beauty or hair business from home. 

You will also need to consider whether you are required to pay Capital Gains Tax on the part of the property used for your business during a house move.

Check the suitability of your premises

Before investing in your home beauty business, you need to firstly decide whether your home is a suitable premise and environment for your business.

• Will you have a separate entrance for your beauty or hair business? For example, a side gate, converted garage, garden studio. 
• Will you have a room dedicated to treatments aside from your lounge, bedroom, dining room? Do you need to consider equipment setup and take down if using the rooms within your home.
• Do you have toilet facilities for your client’s to use? Will these be separate or the same to your own?
• Do you live in an area where there is demand for your services?
• Is there any local competition which may make it difficult to find and retain clients?

2. Ensure you have the right insurance in place

Even when running your hair and beauty business from home, this does not mean your standard household insurance will cover your home salon. 

You will need to take out separate insurance to your household insurance, like our salon insurance or self-employed beauty therapist insurance or hairstylist insurance to ensure you, your products & equipment, your clients and your premises are all correctly protected.

3. Make your local council aware of your business

You might be required to pay business rates to the council for your home beauty salon; this will be dependent on whether the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) (local assessor in Scotland) has given a relatable value to a part of your home.

You may also require permission from the council if you:

• anticipate getting lots of customers or deliveries
• want to advertise outside your home
• need a licence to run your business

For more information, please visit www.gov.uk.

4. Make time for a health and safety inspection

The health and safety of you and your clients is of paramount importance. Ensure you make time for a health and safety inspection to look around your home beauty and/or hair business to make sure it is compliant with the following legislations:

• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
• Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 2002.
• Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 2004.
   

5. Learn your tax allowances

As a business owner, you can include your business costs in your self-assessment tax return. That means a proportion of the cost for things such as council tax, heating, lighting, phone calls and broadband can be claimed back.

6. Getting a good work-life balance 

Whilst working from home has a lot of benefits - no commute, flexible working hours to name a few - it can also be difficult separating work life from home life at the end of the day. 

The following may help to introduce and maintain a good work-life balance:

• Make sure you implement routine working hours
• Create a distinction between areas of the home for work and areas of the home for relaxation and leisure 
• Allow time for exercise. Exercise is a great way to alleviate stress, boost energy levels and self-esteem. 
• Learn to say no, whilst we naturally want to say yes to clients even on our days off, try and find an alternative date and time for clients on the days you do work
• Don’t feel guilty about prioritising yourself and your own mental wellbeing. 

7. Creating a treatment menu at the right prices

If you’re considering setting up a beauty or hair business from home, you probably already have an idea of the treatments you would like to offer. 

Based on your qualifications, experience and knowing what you like or dislike doing, you can create a treatment list and identify the equipment you will need to purchase in order to kick start your home business.

When pricing your treatment list, take a look at your competitors. See what your competitors are charging, identify how much you need to charge per hour/treatment to make a profit and whether you want to utilise special offers/introductory discounts to build your client portfolio.

8. Products - for use and for sale

Whether you’re setting up a hair or beauty business, you’ll need to decide on the product you’d like to use for your treatments and services, but also whether you want to offer these products for purchase by your clients. 

You can ask yourself some of the following questions:

• What are the minimum product order quantities?
• Do you want to use/sell multiple product ranges?
• What products would your clientele be interested in?
• Do you want to use/sell a product which is available for purchase on the high street?
• Does my insurance cover the resale of products?

9. Make wholesaler contacts

When setting up a business from home one of the easiest ways to reduce costs and save money is to purchase your products and equipment from wholesalers. More often than not, they can give you specific deals on products which make it a more cost effective way to purchase your products.

Are you looking for salon insurance?

If you are looking for salon insurance or self-employed insurance, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on 0345 605 8670 or email us at info@professionalbeautydirect.co.uk for more information.  

Our insurance policies include public liability, treatment liability and product liability as standard, optional extras such as equipment theft and damage are available for an additional cost.