I’m sure its most people’s dream to have something of their own that they have worked hard to achieve, something that they are proud of and will keep working to improve it, make it the very best it can possibly be……
For me it was my very own salon!
Not just any kind of salon, but one that would stand out from the rest, one that reflected my personality and who I am. A salon that people would want to work at, be proud to work at, one that clients would enjoy and feel comfortable in, and a salon that everyone can be themselves with no judgement or bitchiness.
I knew all of this was going to take a lot of hard work as there is more to it than just finding a building, filling it up with the right equipment, and hoping that it all works itself out. So I decided to keep a diary to track the progress, highs, lows, money spent and timescale…
Hope you all enjoy the insight of what went into it 😊
JULY 2017
04/07/2017 - Today I think I might have found the perfect building that could potentially be the new salon! I’m really excited to see it. Currently it’s a jeweller’s so will need a lot of work done, but I love the big window, size and the location.
07/07/2017 - Just back from the visit and it looks amazing!!! Really light and bright with the big window, good size of floor space. I’m already trying to picture where everything can go. MASSIVE staff room! The girls will be over the moon with that 😊
The jeweller that is in the building just now told me they will be out in September, so I have got until then to decide and get the wheels in motion!
20/07/2017 - Brett and I have been on holiday and have non-stop talked about everything we will need to do to open the new salon, what we would like it to represent, what we would like it to look like, what we think it would cost and weighed up the pros and cons. I think we may have finally made a decision!
AUGUST 2017
17/08/2017 - Now that we have decided we are going to try and secure a new building, we have to change our business model and try to come up with the money to fund a new salon. Weekends and nights are now spent forming a plan.
I’m so lucky that Brett is good at this sort of thing and has an idea of where to start, he’s much more of a logical thinker than me lol.
Meanwhile I’ve been looking online, writing things down and creating a pin board of what I would like the new salon to look like……. it’s very exciting and I can’t wait to start buying stuff 😊 #thefunpart
SEPTEMBER 2017
02/09/2017 - The time has come for a final decision 😊 after a second viewing with all the previous tenant’s equipment out we can clearly see the space we have and its perfect!! I’ve phoned the company that owns the building and they have asked me to put my lawyer on to them… Time for us to find a lawyer and get the ball rolling!!!!
07/09/2017 - I’ve found a lawyer who is willing to help us and we have set up a meeting… slightly nervous as I’ve never had to deal with lawyers before.
12/09/2017 - We have also had to think about how to come up with the money to fund everything… I’m extremely lucky in the fact that both my parents are willing to help invest with a loan after we talked them through our business plan. We also managed to secure a big bank loan to bump it all up…… this is starting to feel very real now!
OCTOBER 2018
02/10/2017 - Went out for drinks with the family and managed to get my uncle Graeme to take on the renovations of the new place when we get it…… so happy with this he’s such a good joiner. It takes a weight off our minds knowing someone we trust can help.
10/10/2017 - Update on lawyers meeting…. Our lawyer Hugh said we are playing with the big boys now! and will have to go through a massive contract to make sure we are all good to go… We really want to be open for December in time for Christmas, as this is usually a busy time for us, so have advised Hugh to read it quickly haha.
21/10/2017 - Brett is playing about with different layouts on how to use the space to its full potential, how many styling stations will comfortably fit in and where the beauty room should go 😊
NOVEMBER 2017
05/11/2017 - The end of last month was the cut-off date to a huge discount on the big equipment like styling chairs, backwashes etc... even though we haven’t officially signed anything, and a lot could happen from now until then, I had to go for it! There was no way I could pass up that discount. People will say we are stupid for doing it, anything could go wrong, it’s a massive amount of money, we might not even get the place blah blah blah, but what’s life without a little risk lol.
Let’s hope we can find somewhere to store everything! It takes a while to get delivered so that’s a bonus.
17/11/2017 - There is a lot of toing and froing from both sets of lawyers discussing rent, rates, service charges etc… all in, our salon rent will triple from what it is just now! (GULP) I think its time to start looking for more staff! Hugh is really sceptical (I suppose he wouldn’t be doing his job right if he wasn’t), he keeps finding things in the contract that he wants changed. I think its clear we will not be in by December now. Our estimations where way off especially considering it needs a full renovation!
30/11/2017 - Brett has decided to revamp our website, so it better reflects our image 😊 It’s all looking really good. We have included our mission statement and a new meet the team page since we now have more people on the team.
DECEMBER 2017
03/12/2017 - Very exciting phone call from Hugh 😊 we have moved faster than Hugh would have liked and want to sign the contract and pay the deposit, so everything is in place, Brett and I are going down to get it done straight away.
07/12/2017 - Can’t believe it, we have just signed the contract and they gave us the keys straight away! We quickly go to our new shop to have a look!! Making sure it still looks the same as what we remembered haha.
11/12/2017 - My uncle Graeme said he is all good to start the renovations in January…. it’s all beginning to be VERY real now.
I still haven’t told the girls at work about the new salon so I’m waiting until the Christmas night out they will be so happy! Its been a nightmare keeping it all a secret I literally want to shout it from the rooftops! I can’t believe how I’ve managed to stay silent this long!
16/12/2017 - Christmas night out was last night and I told all the girls…. There was a lot of screaming and whooping couldn’t have asked for a better reaction 😊
31/12/2017 - Spent our time off at Christmas designing the new salon with proper measurements... well Brett has. I prefer to do the fun stuff like ordering all the new equipment picking colour schemes deciding on mirrors etc.. I think we have finally settled on a design that works well for everything, just need to send it off to my uncle now so he knows what’s in store for him.
JANUARY 2018
11/01/2018 - The work is finally beginning. I’ve been in the salon waiting on my big equipment delivery. Cheryl (Salon Manager) came with me as there is no way I could carry big backwashes in myself. So lucky we have that massive staffroom to store everything! Whilst we are in the salon Graeme comes in with the other trades to measure everything and check things out.
17/01/2018 - This is where the hard work really starts. We have ripped all the flooring up the sparky has been in doing his wiring, I have got a tiler to put down our nice new shiny floor tiles he’s been hard at work for about a week. Can’t wait to see it.
24/01/2018 - Just been to inspect the new flooring it looks amazing! SOOO happy it looks much better already! Graeme is all set to start next week when his materials arrive 😊
FEBRUARY 2018
04/02/2018 - OH MY GOD!!! We definitely underestimated how much everything was going to cost!! Back to the bank for ANOTHER loan. It’s all the little things you forget to take into consideration, I mean you can’t have a new salon without everything in it being new too!
On the upside Graeme is sending me progress pics and I sometimes pop in to see how everything is going…. Its so exciting seeing your vision coming to life he has built a beauty room a reception wall and a styling wall… so clever. The plumber is due to come in at the end of the month to plumb in the new boiler and the backwashes. The lights are all done, just need tweaked when other things get finished.
11/02/2018 - Cheryl and I have decided to make a start on the mirrors we’ve decided to do a melted crayon frame!
MARCH 2018
01/03/2018 - We have set a deadline to be open on the 17th of March!!! OMFG!
I really hope we can do it as I’m paying rent on 2 properties now. Graeme has finished with all the building work the painters are due to come in at the start of the week. Brett and I decided on making the walls and floor white as there is a lot of other colour going on from furniture etc..
02/03/2018 - ITS SNOWING!!! ☹ the painters are a week behind because of the weather warnings. We can’t do anything else until the painting gets done….. will we be finished by the 17th???
06/03/2018 - The front sign went up today!!! It looks so good… it lights up at night!
I’ve recruited my mum from Majorca to come and help with the big clean up 😊 Painting is finally finished. Brett has taken a week off work to help get everything ready too, so its all hands-on deck, every spare minute I’ve got I’m in the new salon tidying, cleaning, trying to sort through things gradually bringing a few bits down from the old salon, although I can’t really bring much just now as we still need to use it.
10/03/2018 - Graeme has come back and put all the shelves and mirrors up for us It looks very much like a salon now!
It’s the 16th Of March!!!! Last day of working in the old salon…… (I hope)
There is so much still to do! All the stuff from the old salon to bring down, unpacking all the boxes getting rid of all the rubbish…… I’ve lost count with the number of skips and van hires we’ve needed. All clean and sparky for opening the next day.
Brett has been coming in and out of the old salon all day taking things with him every time… it looks like we’ve been robbed lol
8pm and we have realised there is an issue with the internet that means we have no diary, no card machine and no music for the next day!!! Whilst I’m having a complete meltdown, Brett calmly rigs my phone up and makes it into a router!! How clever is that!
12am and I feel like we will never get finished. Myself, my mum, Brett and Cheryl are all working our socks off!
3am I am literally dead on my feet and panicking about not getting enough sleep for my clients the next day…. I’ve lost track of the all nighters Brett and I have pulled recently. Brett sends me and Cheryl home to bed, so we can still cut hair in the morning (LOL) and finishes up himself
17th Of March 2018
EEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!! The day is finally here!!!!! Literally never got up and ready so quickly with hardly any sleep! I’m so excited to see the look on all the girls faces when they see the new salon for the first time😊
We are fully booked today, so I have said to everyone to be at the new salon at 8am and we can all celebrate with a little glass of prosecco before we start.
Such a proud feeling opening the salon on the first day of business, the looks on all the girls faces when they saw it for the first time…. Priceless
WOULD I DO IT AGAIN?
I don’t think I would really do anything differently to what we have done, I have learnt a lot in the process. I would maybe try and research the cost of things more and try and anticipate what a long process everything is. There have been some lows, but the highs have without a doubt out weighed them! I couldn’t have done it without all the support from my family, friends and team.
I would say to anyone if they wanted to do something like this then go for it! You’ll never know unless you try, but have a solid plan and be prepared for the monumental hard work that comes part and parcel with it! I would also highly recommend that you have a good support network around you, there is no way possible I would have been able to do this without Brett. He has put in all the background work involved, the numbers, the boring stuff haha. This never stops.
I would say the hardest part for me was working full time whilst trying to get everything done, our weekends weren’t our own for months…. They still aren’t, the work is endless. The best part was seeing everything coming together, the vision coming to life and of course the look on everyone’s faces, the team members and the clients.
I’ve enjoyed (almost) every part of it, the highs, the lows, the challenges and the success of the end result. Would I do it again? Definitely! You never know there could be a whole world of Bespoke Salons 😉 #watchthisspace
Keira x