I have been a chair renter, I have owned a chair rental salon where I went on to mix chair rental and employment and I now 100% employ all my stylists.
I have seen the pros and cons to it all but one thing is for sure I would strongly advise NOT to mix both chair rental and employing.
One or the other can work well depending on what you want for your business but mixing the 2 is a recipe for disaster!
My advice would be to ask yourself these 3 questions
- Who do you want to be as a Salon Brand?
For example if you want to build a salon brand recognised within the industry you can’t rent chairs. As soon as you rent to individuals who run their own businesses you no longer have control of YOUR salon brand. You become a landlord rather than an employer.
- How much Money do you want to make from your Salon?
Do you want your salon business to make you rich or would you like a steady income stream of £30,000 per year? Renting chairs is NOT going to make you rich but can provide a steady income stream. For example if you rented 3 chairs at £1000 per month (£36,000) and you yourself as a stylist took in up to £43,000 you would stay under the vat threshold and could certainly make £30,000 a year from this business as long as you kept good control of your expenses.
- What lifestyle do you want to have?
How much time do you want to spend running your business? Building an employment business is not for the faint hearted, managing accounts, expenses, employees, HR, Paye, taxes, VAT once you go over the threshold, as well as keeping up to date with changing laws. However, the rewards can be significant.
Having complete control of your salon business and brand and taking it in the direction you want to go can only really happen when you are employing a team who share your values and vision. Being able to develop talent and make a name for your brand and team in the industry is very rewarding if you are full of passion. Financial rewards can be greater depending on how large you grow your business or how many other income streams you can leverage from your salon expertise.
When you have the answer to these questions this will help you make your choice of Chair Rental Vs Employing.
