There are so many important “firsts” when it comes to being a salon professional – your first client, your first space, your first employee. As exciting as those firsts can be, opening your second location is another huge milestone to get excited about. A second location is a natural next step in building your empire and is representative of your growth, success, and brand awareness as a business owner.

If you’re considering hiring for the first time, check out our workbook on becoming a boss. If you believe the time has come to expand your brand with a second location, read on.

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How to know when you're ready to expand

Similar to knowing when to raise your prices, there are a few telltale signs that it may be the right time to open up shop in a second place. If you’re seeing any of the below occurring consistently, it’s time to consider a second shop:

• You’re turning away new customers because you/your team don’t have time 
• You’re no longer able to accept walk-ins
• You have several clients traveling long distances for your services 
• You/your team is booked far in advance

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Where to open your next salon

It’s all about location, location, location. If you’re opening up a second space, you want to be sure it’s in an area that is easily accessible and makes sense for your demographic. Think about the clients you have who are traveling the farthest to see you and consider an area closer to them – they’ll make great ambassadors for referrals throughout their community.

In addition to picking the right area, create a checklist of all the things you want in a salon to make sure you’re hitting all your needs. This will be a little easier since you’ve done this before but you should take this opportunity to reflect on your current space as well. Think about what you love about it and what could be improved, so you can apply that insight to your next salon search.

Announcing your new location

Start building excitement for your new location as soon as you’re confident in your opening date. Doing this through social media will be integral to ramp up additional business in your new neighborhood – use hashtags that include the city name or area so people seeking salon professionals in that neighborhood will know you’re there.

For your current clientele, utilize GlossGenius’s Emailer or GlossUp feature to share the news and encourage clients to either start booking in the new location or pass the word on to their friends and family in the area.

Don’t forget to update your website! Take the time to break down the hours of operation for each location, including which stylists will be there, and on what days. This can be added to your About page so that new and current clients will find the information front and center.

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Balancing your time between two locations

As much as you might like to, you can’t be in two places at once, so it’s important to find ways to balance your time and provide consistency for each branch. The next best thing to cloning yourself will be promoting or hiring an assistant manager for each location to provide a consistent presence for each branch. This should be a person you trust to uphold your brand standards and create a positive environment for your team and your client base whenever you’re not able to be there.

Getting everyone on the same page is essential to the success of your business across multiple locations. To do this, round up your team and invite them all to your GlossGenius account with the Teams feature; be sure to also include this step in the onboarding of new employees. Once you’ve done this, you can sync and share calendars to ensure proper coverage and time off for everyone.

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Whenever and wherever you’re ready to open your next location, GlossGenius has got your back!