30 steps, every rule from an official source

How to open a salon: the step-by-step checklist

Opening a salon takes about 30 steps in 7 stages: plan and price it, set up the business, license the salon with your state's board, fit out the space, bring on your team, get found before you open, and pass the opening inspection. Pick your state and business type and the checklist fills in your state's license, fee and inspection rule, the cost range for your kind of business, and the offices you register with. The state license is the cheap part ($123 in the middle state); the space is not.

Official sources read on October 18, 2026. Where each rule comes from

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Leave the team open to see the steps for employees and for booth renters.

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  1. 01

    Plan it

    Decide what you are opening and what it will cost before you spend on it.

    1. 1.Decide how your chairs will earn

      Commission employees, booth renters, or a mix: the choice decides your payroll, your insurance, who owns the client list and which licenses your team needs, so make it before anything else.

      The federal line is control, not the word on a contract. Employees are owed things renters are not, in OSHA's words: "Employees also have rights to a minimum wage, workers' compensation, and other benefits. Independent contractors do not."

      Official sources: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Health hazards in nail salons; Internal Revenue Service, Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee?

    2. 2.Price the opening

      Opening a hair salon costs $180,990 to $390,200, going by the middle of the low and high estimates in 5 franchise disclosure documents filed in Minnesota, and most of it is build-out and equipment. Pick your type of business above for its own range; a space that was already a salon is usually the biggest saving available.

      Keep working capital for the months before the books fill: rent, payroll and product while the client list grows.

    3. 3.Write the business plan

      A lender or landlord will ask for one, and writing it is how you find out whether the numbers work: services and prices, chairs and hours, what a full week brings in, and what is left after rent, payroll and product.

    4. 4.Line up the money, and free help

      Savings, a bank or SBA-backed loan, equipment financing or a partner. Before you sign anything, use the free counseling the SBA funds: "SBA and our network of partners offer free or low-cost counseling and training in your area."

      Official source: U.S. Small Business Administration, Local assistance

    5. 5.Pick a name you can keep

      Check it three ways before you print anything: that your state will register it, that nobody holds a trademark on it, and that you can get the web address. The SBA's advice is to "check your prospective business, product, and service names against the official trademark database".

      Official source: U.S. Small Business Administration, Launch your business

  2. 03

    License the salon

    What your state's board requires of the salon itself, on top of each stylist's own license.

    1. 13.Read the board's salon rules before you sign a lease

      Most states license the salon as a business, separately from each stylist, through your state's cosmetology board. Boards set rules for the space itself (sinks, sanitation, ventilation, separate rooms), so read them before you commit to a building.

    2. 14.Apply for the salon license

      Apply to your state's board once you have the address. The state's fee for a new salon is $123 in the middle state. Pick your state above for its exact license name, fee and renewal.

    3. 15.Put a licensed person in charge

      Boards generally want a licensed practitioner responsible for the salon; your state's rules say who and when.

      Whether the owner needs a license varies by state; many states' pages do not say.

    4. 16.Check every practitioner's license

      Each stylist, barber, nail technician or esthetician who works in the salon needs a license of their own, renters included. Check each one and keep a copy on file.

  3. 04

    Fit out the space

    Lease, build-out, equipment and the safety rules that come with salon chemicals.

    1. 17.Sign a lease the board can license

      Before you sign, confirm the space is zoned for a salon, has the plumbing and electrical capacity for shampoo bowls, and can meet the board's rules. A space that was already a salon saves most of the build-out. Ask the landlord for a rent-free fit-out period.

    2. 18.Make it accessible

      A salon is a public accommodation under the ADA. "The ADA also requires businesses to remove architectural barriers in existing buildings and make sure that newly built or altered facilities are constructed to be accessible to individuals with disabilities." Build it into the fit-out: the entrance, the path to a station, the restroom.

      Official source: U.S. Department of Justice, ADA update: a primer for small business

    3. 19.Plan for chemical safety

      Hair smoothing treatments can release formaldehyde, even from products labeled free of it. OSHA: "If salon owners decide to use products that contain or could release formaldehyde, then they must follow the requirements in OSHA's formaldehyde and hazard communication standards."

      Nail products carry their own risks: "Workers exposed to chemicals found in glues, polishes, removers, emollients and other salon products may experience negative health effects." Plan ventilation into the build-out, not after it.

      The duty sits with employers: "Employers must provide protection against workplace hazards for their employees; independent contractors are responsible for their own occupational health and safety protection."

      Official sources: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Hair salons: facts about formaldehyde in hair products; Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Health hazards in nail salons

    4. 20.Order equipment and opening stock

      Chairs, stations, shampoo units, dryers, sterilization and laundry, then backbar and retail stock. Order as soon as the lease is signed so a late delivery does not hold up the inspection, and track stock from the first delivery so you know what each service uses.

  4. 05

    Bring on your team

    Employees and booth renters are different relationships with different paperwork.

    1. 21.Get the employee or renter question right

      Calling a stylist a renter does not make them one. The IRS looks at behavioral and financial control and the type of relationship: "Businesses must weigh all these factors when determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor." A renter who sets their own prices and hours, buys their own product and keeps their own book looks like a business; one you schedule and supply looks like an employee.

      Official source: Internal Revenue Service, Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee?

    2. 22.Register as an employer and report new hires

      Before the first payroll, open a state withholding and unemployment insurance account, and report each new hire to the state's new hire registry. Every hire also completes Form I-9: "All U.S. employers must properly complete Form I-9 for every individual they hire for employment in the United States."

      The IRS lists every state's employer, unemployment insurance and new hire offices, state by state, on one page.

      Official sources: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification; Internal Revenue Service, State government websites

    3. 23.Set pay that holds up: commission, tips and minimum wage

      Commission employees are still owed minimum wage for every week. If you count tips toward it, federal law sets the floor: "An employer must pay a tipped worker at least $2.13 per hour under the FLSA," and where tips and wages fall short, "the employer must make up the difference." Many states set a higher minimum, and some allow no tip credit at all; the Department of Labor's state table lists, for example, where a "State requires employers to pay tipped employees full state minimum wage before tips".

      Official sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #15: Tipped employees under the FLSA; U.S. Department of Labor, Minimum wages for tipped employees, by state

  5. 06

    Get found and booked before you open

    So the chairs have clients on day one, not month three.

    1. 24.Create your Google Business Profile with an opening date

      You do not have to wait for opening day. Google lets a business that has not opened yet set its opening date: "You can enter a date up to one year in the future," and "After you enter the date and verify your business, your profile shows up on Google 90 days prior to your opening date." Add your services, prices and photos of the build-out as it happens.

      Official source: Google Business Profile Help, Add a business opening date

    2. 25.Launch a website clients can book from

      One page is enough to start if it answers what a client checks before booking: services and prices, where you are, your hours, and a booking button that works on a phone. Publish your price list and policies at the same time.

    3. 26.Choose booking and payment software

      Online booking, card payments, client records and reminders usually come in one system. Compare what each costs at your size and how it handles deposits and no-shows before you load your services into it: switching later means moving every client's history.

    4. 27.Write your policies and client forms

      A cancellation and no-show policy clients see when they book, a deposit rule if you take one, and an intake and consultation form for services that need it (color, chemical services, skin treatments).

    5. 28.Plan for reviews, the honest way

      Ask every client for a review after the visit and answer every review you get. Do not pay or reward clients only for good ones: under the FTC's rule a business "could be liable under Section 465.4 if they provide compensation or other incentives conditioned on the writing or creation of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment."

      Official source: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer reviews and testimonials rule: questions and answers

  6. 07

    Open the doors

    The last checks before the first client sits down.

    1. 29.Pass the opening inspection

      In 25 states the official pages require an inspection before a new salon may open or before its license is issued, so finish the build-out and sanitation setup first and book the inspection early. Pick your state above to see when yours comes.

    2. 30.Open with the first week booked

      Open bookings to friends, family and anyone who followed the build-out a few weeks ahead. Rebook every client before they leave the chair, and follow up with everyone who came in the first month: those visits decide whether the second month is full.

Method

Where each rule comes from

Every rule in the checklist is quoted from the agency that sets or enforces it, in that agency's own words, and each quote was checked against its page on October 18, 2026. Your state's license, fee, inspection and owner rules come from our state-by-state license research, read from each state's board; the cost ranges come from franchise disclosure documents filed in Minnesota. The order of the steps and the advice around the quotes are ours, and none of it is legal or tax advice: confirm with the agency before you file.

Questions

Opening a salon, answered

What are the steps to open a salon?
Plan it (decide between employees and booth renters, price the opening, write the business plan, line up funding, pick a name); set up the business (structure, state registration, a free EIN from the IRS, a business bank account, state tax registration, the city or county license, insurance); license the salon with your state's board; fit out the space; register as an employer if you hire; get found before you open (Google Business Profile, a website clients can book from, booking software, policies); then pass the opening inspection and open with the first week booked.
What do you need to open a salon?
The paperwork: a registered business (an LLC or corporation is formed with the state), an EIN, a business bank account, state tax registration if you sell retail products, a city or county business license where one is required, the salon's own license from the state board (49 of the 51 states and DC issue one), insurance, and a license for everyone who does services. Pick your state in the checklist above for its exact license name and fee.
How much does it cost to open a salon?
Opening a hair salon costs $180,990 to $390,200, the middle of the low and high estimates in 5 franchise disclosure documents; startup costs by business type breaks it down line by line. The state's salon license is a small part of it: $123 in the middle state.
Can you open a salon without a cosmetology license?
In many states, yes, as long as a licensed person is in charge. Of the state pages we read, 13 say plainly that the owner need not be licensed and 2 require the owner to hold a license; the rest do not say. Everyone who does services needs their own license either way. Salon license requirements by state has each state's rule in its own words.
Do you need an LLC to open a salon?
No. A salon can be a sole proprietorship, but then, in the SBA's words, "You can be held personally liable for the debts and obligations of the business." An LLC or corporation separates the business's debts from yours and is formed with the state before you apply for the EIN.
Can you open before the salon license comes through?
Not in a state that licenses salons: the business needs its own license before it may operate, and in 25 states the board inspects a new salon before it may open or before the license is issued. Build the inspection into your opening date and take bookings only for days after it.
Where does this checklist come from?
Each rule is quoted from an official source: the SBA, the IRS, the Department of Labor, OSHA, USCIS, the Justice Department's ADA guidance, the FTC and Google's own help pages, read on October 18, 2026. The state facts come from each state's licensing board, and the cost ranges from franchise disclosure documents filed in Minnesota. The order of the steps and the advice between the quotes are ours.

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How to Open a Salon: Step-by-Step Checklist (2026) | SalonAI