If you’re reading this post, you’ve probably thought about going into business for yourself and being an independent cosmetologist. Many people start their beauty career working as an employee in a salon as a hairstylist, nail tech, or esthetician, but have set a goal to be self-employed. A report by Modern Salon showed 53 percent of salon professionals said their clients went up when they went independent. This shows there is room to create the lifestyle you want and still earn money.
Your reasons for wanting to branch out and go independent may vary. Flexible schedule, more client opportunities, freedom to offer more services, and potentially higher profits are all reasons beauty professionals go solo.
Is a Self-Employed Beauty Career Right for You?
Working in a salon is perfect for a lot of people, it’s predictable and steady, it gives people an opportunity for stability.
For some hair stylists, they feel the need to manage their own clientele and make their own schedule. They have an entrepreneurial spirit which cannot be quelled. If you have the confidence, the technical skills, and the business acumen to handle this leveling up, going independent may be the right step for you.
But working for yourself takes some planning and organization. Here are some useful tips for launching an independent cosmetology business.
1. Make a Cohesive Plan
Even if this is a long-term plan, you’ll have to know these things before you go independent.
How much money does it take for you to break even?
What is the normal rate for commercial space in your city?
What is your retention rate?
What is your cost of acquiring a new customer?
How much will you need to save to cover the costs of opening a new shop?
Start thinking about all these things and the financials before you go out on your own.
2. Get Enough Experience to Make the Transition
This should go without saying, but you’ll need plenty of experience before you go independent. When you work for yourself, you’ll deal with each and every client personally, so you’ll need to learn how to manage your time on the floor efficiently, and have the skillset and experience to do a wide range of hair styling and hair coloring techniques.
The part you may not be prepared for is the business management aspect of running an independent hairstyling business. Take your time and pay attention to learn and understand all the aspects of the salon business before going solo.
3. Build up Your Portfolio
Before you launch your own business, and even while you are building your client list, you should be showing off your work! Get photos of all the different things you can do, and the outstanding work you do for clients. You can share those on social media, but be sure to save them elsewhere, like Google Drive or Dropbox. You can use your best work as showcase examples in your portfolio when you launch your own brand.
4. Set up a Legal Entity and Business Structure
Okay, so you’ve planned everything out and are ready to make the transition from employee to business owner. One of the first things you need to do is to set up a business entity. Are you going to be a sole proprietor, an LLC, or a corporation?
Most small businesses register as a limited liability corporation (LLC) because there are legal and financial protections that a partnership or sole proprietorship do not have. Research this decision carefully and make the best choice for your business. You’ll also need to publish a DBA (doing business as) announcement in your local market.
5. Create a Separate Bank Account for Your Business
One important thing is to have a separate bank account for your business, that the payments run through. This will help you track taxes and expenses correctly. Some businesses hire an accountant to make sure your books are balanced and taxes are paid on time.
6. Leave Time for Admin
One major difference between working as a hairdresser in a salon and running your own independent shop is you are now responsible for the administration duties for your business. Tax returns, expenses, budgeting, marketing, client retention and customer relations are all your responsibilities, in addition to the hairstyling.
You’ll have to be disciplined with your finances and be sure to set aside money for business taxes, and retirement, as well as your own personal living expenses out of your salary.
7. Establishing Your Pricing
When you think about your pricing, consider how many clients you expect to have each month, what your monthly expenses will be, and how much profit margin you will need to keep your business running. Pricing is an important part of your business success.
8. Use Social Media and Other Marketing Channels
Marketing for hairstyling, barbering, nail art, and cosmetology is heavily reliant on social media and online marketing. When your potential clients are looking for a local hair stylist, they look at photos and videos on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. These are powerful tools to showcase your skills, and understanding how each platform works is essential to attracting new clients.
Instagram is one of the most important platforms to leverage, so be sure to publish photos and videos that highlight how you make clients look their best. Use hashtags that target what people are looking for in your area and tag each post (Examples: #sacramentohair, #sacramnetohairstylist, #sacramentohaircolorist, etc). Many clients look on Instagram to discover their next hairstyle, so use this to promote your business. Publish as many posts as possible to show off your skills.
TikTok is also influential as over 1.2 billion people use it each month, including 137 million people in the US (Statista, 2025). TikTok is one of the most popular video streaming apps in the world. Creating short videos that show your cosmetology talents that are tagged appropriately can help attract new customers.
Having a personal website and focused brand can also help bring attract new clients to your business.
It’s also important to put your business on Google Maps and make sure you have a profile on Yelp, so people can find your solopreneur business in search engines.
9. Network Strategically
Once you’ve launched your solopreneur salon, stay in touch with other beauty professionals by going to expos, conventions, and local business groups.
10. Keep Learning New Techniques
The beauty industry is constantly changing – you can stay up to date with what is in fashion and learn new techniques by following beauty industry news, getting new training, attending seminars, and studying instructional resources for new hairstyles.
Become a Licensed Cosmetologist in About 30 Weeks
If you’re interested in becoming a fully-trained and licensed cosmetologist in California, Paul Mitchell the School at Campus Sacramento has a cosmetology and hairstyling training program taught by some of the best instructors in the industry. If you want to know more about this distinguished program, or need more information on financial aid, curriculum, and start dates, contact our helpful Admissions team or call 888-675-2