NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Emily Pemberton, owner of home salon Brick House Beauty, discusses the benefits of a home-based business and shares her tips for opening your own

What space do people need to set up a home salon?

“One of the easiest ways is to set up from a spare bedroom, basement or dining room. More complicated options include adding an extension conversion to your home, which is what I did, or you can have purpose-built cabin. Opening inside your home will have a lower cost implication and you likely won’t need planning permission.”

What legalities do you need to consider?

“Depending on the structure option you choose, you may need to secure various permits and permissions from your local council, and you’ll also need to remember that the square footage impacts whether you need to pay business rates.

“Regarding planning permission, when I went to the council, I set up as a garden room that would be used as an office, and then changed the use once it had been established. I was advised that by my architect and it was fine.

“One of the big issues is that the council can refuse you or they can limit the number of clients you have because of parking. My previous house was a terrace in a cul-desac, and I knew that if I had 15 clients a day, it was going to contribute to the traffic that was in that road. I then chose a house that was bigger, so it meant that my one or two clients an hour really didn’t impact the amount of traffic.”

Are there any differences to licensing and insurance?

“Some treatments require specific licences, which you will need to meet the requirements for. For example, I offer microneedling, so the council needed to certify that I had a hot water supply, proper needle disposal, and washable sides and flooring.

“Your mortgage may have a clause that prohibits you from working from home. If it does, you need to notify the supplier and they may ask you for additional insurance, because there is a risk imposed by more footfall and your treatments.”

What are some of the benefits of an at-home salon?

“It helped me to build my client base because some clients are intimidated by big salons. Some suffer with anxiety, they may be going through a tough time, and knowing that it’s just me and them, it does really encourage them to stay as a client.

“You can catch up on other errands if you have a cancellation or if you have a gap. You can do a dog walk, you can have lunch and you can manoeuvre that with your diary. You’ve got no commute time.

“You can pop in to turn your heating or air con and your equipment on, without having to start work early. When I used to have a high street salon, I used to have to be in there an hour before I was due to start and I would be turning everything on, whereas now I can do that and then I can just pop back in, have my breakfast and carry on. It offers flexibility.

“My costs are also lower. So, when I look at how much it cost me to do my extension, obviously I had to take a loan to do that. But now I’ve finished paying that loan back, and because it’s a bricks and mortar, it will have added value onto the house as well. Before, when I was on holiday, I was still paying the rent. If I was off sick, I was still paying the rent.

“Also, you don’t have to hold a lot of stock for retailing. The way I work it is that a client can place an order on Shopify or through Fresha, and then I just drop ship it. I don’t need to carry thousands of pounds worth of stock like I used to, which is a huge cost saver.”