How to open a hair salon: from the paperwork to your first client

Saturday, 7.30 p.m. You've just swept the last of the hair off the floor, your arms ache, and you're fully booked three weeks ahead. Clients ask for you by name — but the pay at the end of the month is the same no matter how many of them pass through your hands. If that thought has been going round your head for more than six months, this guide is for you: step by step, from the paperwork to the moment your first client sits down in your chair.

Step one: registering the business and choosing how you're taxed

Before you look at a single premises, sort out the legal side. For running your own hairdressing business in Croatia, the most common route is an obrt — a sole-trader craft business. Here's the order that saves your nerves:

1. Check your qualification. Hairdressing is a licensed trade ("vezani obrt"), which means you need the appropriate vocational qualification or a master craftsman exam — or you employ someone who has one. Check the exact requirements for your situation with the Chamber of Trades and Crafts before anything else, because whether you can open the business in your own name at all depends on it.
2. Ask about flat-rate taxation. To begin with, while you work alone and your income is below the prescribed threshold, a flat-rate obrt is the simplest option: less bookkeeping, predictable monthly costs, easier planning. The thresholds and amounts change, so don't copy them off a forum.
3. Find an accountant before you register, not after. One hour of conversation with an accountant before opening is cheaper than three months of wrong decisions. Have them work out what the business will really cost you each month — contributions, flat-rate tax, their fee.
4. Register the obrt. It goes through the e-Obrt system or at the state administration office. The registration itself is the quick and cheap part of the story.

Important: this is not tax or legal advice — the figures and requirements change, so check everything specific with your accountant.

Premises: smaller than you think

For a start with one workstation, 20–35 m² is plenty. A bigger space means higher rent, higher bills and more fitting out — and your client sits in one chair, not across fifty square metres.

What actually matters:

• Water and ventilation. A backwash unit needs a water connection, and colours and products need airing. A space without them makes the conversion thousands of euros more expensive.
• Minimum technical requirements. Premises for a hair salon have to meet the prescribed sanitary and technical requirements. Before signing a lease, check whether the space can meet them at all — ask the owner whether a similar business has already operated there.
• Location isn't everything. The high street sounds tempting, but hairdressers don't live off passers-by — they live off clients who come back and book ahead. A quiet street with parking and 30% lower rent is often the smarter choice.

As a ballpark: rent for a smaller space outside the very centre varies by city, but the difference between a "prime location" and a "good location" can easily be €200–400 a month. Over a year, that's the level of one solid investment in equipment.

Equipment: what a minimal start costs

You don't need everything at once. You need one complete workstation and hygienically sound premises. Ballpark figures for new mid-range equipment:

• Styling chair: €150–400
• Backwash unit: €400–900
• Workstation with mirror and counter: €200–500
• Dryer, straighteners, scissors, clippers (professional grade): €400–800
• Trolley, steriliser, gowns, towels, small kit: €200–400
• Opening stock of colours and products: €500–1,000

All together: roughly €2,000–4,000 for one workstation, plus fitting out the space. A used chair and backwash unit in good condition can cut your entry cost by a third — what your client cares about is cleanliness and your hands, not the chair's year of manufacture. You buy the second workstation only once the first one is fully booked.

A price list from day one — and stick to it

The most common mistake when opening: "I'll be cheaper at first to attract people, then I'll raise my prices." That's a trap. A client who comes for the lowest price leaves the moment someone else is cheaper — and raising prices on existing clients is always an awkward conversation.

How to set a price list that makes sense:

1. Add up your monthly costs. Rent, bills, contributions, the accountant, materials, equipment instalments. Let's say that comes to €1,500.
2. Realistically estimate your working hours with clients. If you work 8 hours a day, you're with a client for maybe 6 — the rest is breaks, cleaning, ordering stock. That's around 120–130 hours a month.
3. Divide, then add your own pay. €1,500 of costs over 120 hours is €12.50 an hour just to cover costs — before you've paid yourself a single cent. Your hourly rate has to be noticeably above that.
4. Write the price list before you open, and publish it. On the door, on Instagram, on your booking page. A client who knows the price in advance doesn't haggle in the chair.

Your first 20 clients: where they really come from

Twenty clients who come back every 4–6 weeks are the foundation of a salon that survives its first year. Here are three channels that work — and none of them costs a thing:

Instagram — but before you open. Don't wait for the grand opening. Open the profile the moment you sign the lease and document the journey: fitting out the space, the chair arriving, the first blow-dry model. People love following an "I'm opening my own place" story. Post the work you're doing now (with the client's permission) — before/after photos are a hairdresser's strongest currency.

A Google Business Profile. It's free, and it's exactly where everyone who types "hairdresser + your town" ends up. Fill in everything: photos, opening hours, the exact address and your booking link. To Google, a salon without a profile practically doesn't exist.

Referrals with a little nudge. Your first ten clients get a simple offer: "bring a friend and you both get 20% off your next appointment". A recommendation from a happy client is worth more than any advert — just give her a concrete reason to recommend you this week, not "someday". In Appointa you can use a promo code for this, so you can see exactly how many new appointments came in through that offer.

And one honest rule: if you're leaving an employer, don't quietly walk off with the client list. The ones who want to follow you — will follow you on their own the moment you announce where you are. That way you stay on good terms with your former boss, and that town is smaller than you think.

Set up online bookings before you open, not "once I've settled in"

When you work alone, you're the hairdresser, the cleaner, the buyer and the front desk. And the front desk is the worst part: a client messages you at 10 p.m., you reply in the gap between two colour jobs, and half the arrangement is left hanging in the messages. So set up online booking before you take on your first client — while you still have the time.

Here's what that looks like in practice with Appointa: you get your own page at appointa.hr/s/your-salon, enter your services, prices and opening hours, and put that link in your Instagram bio and on your Google profile. The client books herself in, at midnight if she likes, and the appointment lands in your calendar. The day before the appointment she automatically gets a reminder by e-mail and push notification, and — with the SMS add-on enabled — by SMS if she doesn't have the app. Without reminders, typically 10–20% of appointments fall through because someone simply forgot. For a hairdresser working alone, one lost appointment is an hour of staring at an empty salon.

Along the way you also get your client records in one place: which colour formula, when she last came in, how many times she's cancelled. If you already have a client list in Excel or on paper, you import it and you're not starting from zero. The Starter plan is free, so setting up bookings costs you nothing until you grow.

Conclusion: the numbers to take away

To fit it all in one paragraph: a minimal start is roughly €3,000–5,000 (equipment plus a deposit and basic fitting out), the paperwork is sorted within weeks if you check the licensed-trade requirements first, and 20 regular clients coming back every 4–6 weeks covers your core costs. Set your price list before you open, launch your Instagram and Google profile before you open, switch on online bookings before you open. Everything else — including the second chair and your first employee — comes when the numbers say it's time.

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Your own salon doesn't have to mean appointment chaos — set up online bookings before your first client sits down in your chair. Try the demo for your industry — free, no card required. And the Starter plan is free — up to 30 appointments a month.

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Frequently asked questions

How much money do I need to open a hair salon?

For a start with one workstation, roughly €3,000–5,000: equipment (€2,000–4,000), the rent deposit and basic fitting out. Used equipment can cut your entry cost by a third. On top of that, add a reserve for the first 2–3 months of fixed costs, because filling the calendar happens gradually.

Do I need a master craftsman exam to open a salon?

Hairdressing is a licensed trade in Croatia, so you need the appropriate vocational qualification or a master craftsman exam — or you employ someone in the salon who meets that requirement. Check the exact requirements for your situation with the Chamber of Trades and Crafts before registering. This is not legal advice — confirm the details with your accountant or the Chamber.

Can I start on my own, with no employees?

Yes — most salons start exactly that way, and financially it's the healthiest beginning. One workstation, lower rent, no wage costs. The downside is that you're also the front desk: that's where online bookings and automatic reminders help the most, so arranging appointments doesn't eat into your working time. You hire a second person only once you're fully booked several weeks ahead.