How to Start a Beauty College
Open a high school yearbook and you'll quickly spot students destined for beauty careers. Cutting edge hair and over-the-top makeup made these creative souls everyone's source for trends and innovations. Some went on to study theatrical makeup. Many went to cosmetology school. The savviest of the bunch chose a loftier career. They opened their own beauty college---a goal that offers not just artistic satisfaction but a way to control one's financial and professional destiny.
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Things You'll Need
- Competitor analysis
- Funding
- Facility
- Licenses and permits
- Floor plans
- Equipment and furniture
- Accreditation (optional)
Instructions
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Undertake as much personal and advanced training as time and money allow in the field of hair cutting and color, innovating and styling new looks, makeup application, nail care, massage therapy and other beauty disciplines. Pursue a college degree in business education, if possible. Obtain professional licenses and credentials and pay your dues by working at a variety of jobs in the beauty industry.
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Survey beauty schools and colleges in your area using the Internet and local phone directories. Pay visits to these facilities. Pick up brochures, class catalogs, tuition rates and other pertinent literature and collect operational data--hours of operation, apportionment of classrooms to lab space and financing plans offered to cash-strapped students. Evaluate each competitor by creating a list of strengths and weaknesses.
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Apply for financial help. Look to investors, banks, credit unions and organizations dedicated to underwriting small business start-ups. Offer potential lenders a business plan that details your assessment of the market your beauty college will serve, its goals, objectives, a competitor analysis, a projected budget and marketing strategies. File for licenses and permits required by state government to operate your college.
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Find a location that is zoned for your needs, turning to your zoning commission if you need a variance to occupy the building. Contract with a plumber to evaluate the building's infrastructure as it relates to your need for multiple washing stations and other plumbing upgrades needed.
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Design classrooms for optimal sight lines---for example, large, overhead mirrors are great for showing students hair styling methods being demonstrated at the front of the classroom or lab. Get help with your building layout by using a computer modeling program--such as a salon planner--to virtually create room arrangements to scale so you maximize every square foot of building space.
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Order gently-used classroom, laboratory and salon fixtures from a commercial distributor to moderate your furnishing costs. Ask hair product and cosmetic sales representatives and manufacturers for in-kind donations of display units, product samples, styling chairs, trolleys, manicure tables and other essentials in return for your agreement to promote their brands at the college.
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Apply to the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (NACCAS) for accreditation. Hire the best instructors you can find---knowledge and schooling are important, but dynamic beauty professionals with energy, enthusiasm and a passion for training often make the difference between a low student enrollment and a waiting list for admission.
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Tips & Warnings
To make your beauty college stand out from the crowd, offer something no school in your area does--such as special pricing, a friend-get-a-friend program or another idea--and promote that signature element at every opportunity.
