Neighborhood, Location, Building, & Neighbors

Today we’re going to discuss waxing salon locations or neighborhoods and how they affect you, your work, your customers, and your business. This post is both for professional waxing estheticians working at a salon or starting their own business.  We’re going to discuss 3 main topics; foot traffic and ancillary services, population density, and median household incomes. In my opinion, each of these topics hold equal importance on your overall waxing success.

You know the old adage, “Location, Location, Location.” Well, it works with salons and waxing too, for sure. Now you might be wondering “how can I control the location if I’m just going to be working at a salon, not starting my own?” Easy, don’t apply just anywhere, be deliberate with your applications. You choose where you want to work by only applying where you want to work! It’s great to find a position with a reputable waxing salon, but are they busy enough for you to make a healthy living?

Whether you work for a waxing only salon, full service salon offering waxing services, or rent a room inside a multi-suite independent salon like Sola Salons you need to consider the location.  I would not just apply online. Be sure to visit the physical location where you’ll be working.  Was it easy to find on Google Maps?  What was the traffic like in the area? Was it easy to find parking?  You might want to visit after the sun goes down and see how the lighting is for parking and safety. Safety should not be ignored, if you don’t feel comfortable, your clients won’t either. 

Are there a lot of other businesses in the same building, parking lot, across the street? What type of businesses are there?  A fitness center, Target, Costco, Starbucks can be great anchors for foot traffic. Big Lots, Walmart, or Dollar Store may be indicative of foot traffic not having expendable income for beauty services.

Regardless of all the other factors, if the parking directly adjacent to your salon is difficult to access it will cause problems.  At the very least, you’ll experience a lot of late clients and missed appointments. A great location is really more common sense than anything else.  However, if you don’t properly evaluate your choice then you’re rolling the dice.

Being part of a full service salon or renting a room inside a multi-suite salon can be an invaluable choice. Beauty clients for hair, nails, skin, tanning, etc are essentially prequalified waxing clients. Being inside the same business makes it very easy to get referrals and grow your business by osmosis. I have experience with this personally and I highly recommend this route when possible.

Being in a downtown setting like the ground level of a high rise can be incredibly beneficial to volumes of foot traffic.  Having a location that is really easy to visit without driving from work or home can be a great choice.

Additionally, if the local area isn’t the best for high volumes of residential or commercial visitors, but has heavy traffic from a nearby highway or highways then it might be a winner.  If your location is really easy to access by a freeway on the way to work or home or during a lunch break then you’ll have no trouble getting clients.

Every metropolitan area has a variety of areas, neighborhoods, or subdivisions with varying income levels. Some of the most affluent areas may seem like a great choice, but can have a much higher average age of the residents.  Don’t forget to consider the average age of your customer base. 

If you’re in a neighborhood full of first time home buyers or an area with more apartments they may be great for finding younger potential waxers. However, if you’re in a college town you may struggle to find consistency. Although a lot of college students wax, they don’t always do so regularly.  Not only are funds often inconsistent, but they usually leave during holidays and over the summer months -which are the best time for waxing.

To summarize, In my opinion the ideal area isn’t necessarily the most affluent or the most economically challenged.  It’s the middle income level with lots of affordable housing for first time buyers and renters.

What I hope you’re able to take away from this information is to choose your location with deliberate intent.  Don’t just take any job or the most inexpensive rental space. When starting your new career consider what side of town will allow for the best outcome. Ensure you have either 1. heavy foot traffic, 2. a great anchor business, 3. are inside a full service salon or multi-suite salon, 4. are adjacent to heavy highway traffic, or a good mix of these. Regardless of where you choose, convenient parking is incredibly important both for customers making their appointment times and feeling safe and comfortable. Don’t be a victim of being a perfect waxing professional with a bad location, you deserve better.