Whether you’re a maverick with makeup or you’re a dab hand at hairdressing, there are plenty of opportunities to put your skills to work. The beauty industry is booming, so why not enjoy a slice of this lucrative pie? Starting a beauty business is relatively simple. You can start small, advertising your services to a select group of people, and grow your profile from there.

And since most people are looking for beauty services after work hours, you can easily fit it in around your job. You don’t have to give up your primary source of income to follow your dreams.

When the time comes, and you want to turn your side hustle into a full-time business, there are a few things you will need to consider before you get started. Read on to discover the five steps to starting a successful beauty business in 2020.

Define your brand

This might seem like a step for a way further down the line, but defining your brand early on can help to save you a lot of confusion further down the line. Defining your brand is about more than just designing a logo and printing business cards. Your brand is all about who you are as a stylist, beautician, and beauty therapist.

What do you offer that no one else can offer? And if you offer similar services, what can you do better?

You might specialize in alternative styling, glamorous makeovers, or even working with children. If you define your brand early on, you’ll find it a lot easier to do the rest of the steps.

Find your location

Location doesn’t have to mean signing an expensive lease on your own premises. You could start your business mobile and expand from there. Or you could operate your business from your own home. You might even want to rent a chair in an existing salon that you love.

Think about the costs, benefits, and downsides of each option and then choose the one that makes the most business sense. You can always change your structure in the future when you have established a name for yourself.

Hire your staff

If you are planning to open your own premises, you might need to think about taking on extra staff. Do you have any friends who are thinking about taking a similar path? You could combine your skills and offer a more extensive salon experience.

If you are going it alone, you need to think about how you will manage all of the aspects of running your own business. You’ll need to stay on top of things like accounting, marketing, and customer service.

Do you have the time for all of this on top of building your beauty business? If not, you should think about getting help. Working with freelancers can help to keep costs down in the early stages of getting your business up and running.

Get organized

One of the most important aspects of running a business is staying organized. Using an old diary to book appointments and stay on top of payments isn’t going to cut it. Instead, you should think about getting salon software to help you stay on top of things.

Packages like Salon Iris will help you get started by offering things like online appointment booking, your own app, and even send automated appointment reminders. If you want to show your clients that you’re offering the real deal, you should think about investing in the right software packages.

Spread the word

Now you know exactly what you’re going to offer, and you’ve got the infrastructure in place to help get you started. It’s time to start spreading the word.

Social media can be a great place to start, but don’t invest all of your time into platforms you don’t own. If you run your business entirely through social media, you could run into problems if Facebook or Instagram ever decides to change their algorithm.

Instead, you should start your own website and use social media to promote this. By running your own website, you’ll always be able to call the shots.

You’ll also be able to benefit from organic search traffic, which could help to bring in a steady stream of new customers every month.