Passion will keep you going when the going gets tough.At Sola Salon Studios®, we lease individual studios where you can operate your own boutique salon. Salon owners at Sola customize their own studio, set their own schedule and prices, and enjoy the freedom and benefits of salon ownership without the risk associated with opening a traditional salon. If you’re looking to make the move to a salon studio, you’ll be happy to hear that at Sola, you simply get more. We invest thousands of dollars in each studio, providing the highest-quality fixtures and the ideal amount of cabinets specifically designed to accommodate salon professionals. With many other salon studios, you will be provided with only a shampoo bowl and chair. At Sola, your studio will be equipped with the following: A custom build-out designed specifically for you that includes pull-out color drawers, abundant storage, soft-touch closures and retail shelving Oversize sliding glass door with lock and floor-to-ceiling walls to allow you the privacy to play the music of your choice and enjoy one-on-one conversations Individual ventilation in each studio High-end hydraulic chair and shampoo bowl Full-spectrum lighting to emulate natural light Instant and abundant hot water supply Utilities and Wi-Fi
included In addition to the physical amenities, you’ll find that being at Sola will allow you to manage your own schedule, avoid salon politics and drama, and create the ideal atmosphere for you and your clients. At Sola Salon Studios®, we have your back. Our detailed start-up manual provides you with all of the necessary forms, tips, and information to help get your business set up and ready to go: Start-up checklist Forms and tips to obtain your salon license and other licenses and permits Details on studio setup: insurance, equipment needed, paint and more Credit card processing tips Retail support and distributor contacts By joining the largest community of independent salon owners in the country, you will have access to liability insurance, disability insurance (available in certain states), discounts on retail, special offers for online scheduling, continuing education programs, industry events and more. Additionally, we host cocktail parties, family picnics and gatherings to strengthen our local Sola communities.
At Sola, you will become the business owner of your own boutique salon. You set the prices for your services and choose the retail products you want to sell, and you keep 100 percent of the profits. You’ll have a key to your studio and can work when you want, with sole access to your supplies and equipment. Why rent a chair or booth when you can have your own salon for about the same cost? Our studios can be modified to accommodate hairdressers, skincare professionals, nail stylists, massage therapists, spray tanners and more. We design our studios with flexibility so that we can work with you to fit your salon needs. Yes, we have floor plans to accommodate more than one salon professional and will work with you to provide the best accommodations for your business. We want your studio to reflect your personality, so feel free to paint the walls, bring in your own décor, play your own music, and create the atmosphere that is best for you and your clients. Are you ready to take control of your professional life?
Imagine setting your own hours and prices in a studio that reflects your taste in music, color and style. This is the right opportunity for you if you have an established clientele and are ready to: Be your own boss Escape the salon drama Manage your own schedule Set your own prices Sell the retail products you love Customize your own salon studio Join our community of more than 7,000 like-minded salon professionals to experience a level of creative independence and career support you won’t find anywhere else. At Sola you have access to your studio 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our main doors are open during regular business hours; however, if you have a client at 8 am or on a Sunday when the main doors are locked, you can buzz your clients in via the call box. This allows you to take appointments during the hours that best fit your schedule and the schedules of your clients. You set your own schedule, with 24/7 access to your studio You set your own prices and keep all profits from retail sales You can personalize your studio You can play your own music and have private conversations You work in a drama-free environment To reserve your studio, contact us via our Contact Us form, or give us a call!
We would love to set up a confidential tour of our studios to determine which setup is best for you. After getting the appropriate salon license, most of our stylists move in and start working right away! All you need to do is bring your back bar, towels, personal equipment and any decorations you like, and you’re ready to open for business.Is the hair salon’s traditional business model under going one of the most important transformations in its history? Hairdressers have long argued their excellence in a traditionally managed salon, with one or many employees. Fifteen years ago, however, the idea of renting chairs or ‘booths’ started to appear on the West Coast of America. The concept involves a salon owner offering chairs for rent to freelance hairdressers. Today, the phenomenon has exploded and has become a popular feature in the world of hairdressing.‘Booth Renters’: A phenomenon born in North AmericaPragmatic and truly entrepreneurial, Americans were quick to realize the benefits to be gained from the “booth renting” formula: on the one side, a salon, which maximizes the profit of its space, and on the other, a freelance hairdresser, who benefits from a professional environment, in exchange for rent, or commission on their services.‘
Booth renters’ are spreading rapidly, particularly in Florida and California, but a little less in the North East of the country, which tends to be more conservative. Cyrus Bulsara, president of PCR, a strategic consultancy firm specialized in the field of beauty, talks about a ‘tsunami’ and announced that in 2015, 50% of salons will offer this type of chair rental formula – a figure which could eventually reach 75 %.As a result of this competition, traditional chains such as Regis, JC Penney or Hair Cuttery, are suffering. Conversely, Daniel Sadd, who launched his booth rental formula in a small salon in Ohio in 1993, today boasts around 50 salons across the country.An increasingly widespread practice In the UK, the popular site Gumtree is packed full of ads. Rentmychair.co.uk is entirely dedicated to beauty professionals, who would like to rent space. Australia and New Zealand are not far behind. Cleve Mc Millan, star hairdresser and businessman, runs a blog dedicated to chair rentals, and promises people the possibility of earning up to 4000 dollars per week, thanks to this new business model.
Chair rentals are popping up in developing countriesFrom Brazil to Venezuela, to Colombia, the Internet ads are numerous, as is the legal counsel available on how to establish chair rental contracts. In Casablanca, Vision’hair created a concept called, “free co-location” which proposes the provision of chairs in a fully equipped space. The business assists freelance hairdressers with the signing of contracts, and supports the salon owner, who would like to offer their premises for rent. In La Reunion, Lucien Chézaud, offers a new business model through Actua hairdressing, in a bid to create employment.A more discrete breakthrough in old Europe France, Belgium, Germany, Spain… are not total strangers to this phenomenon but remain cautious. In a small salon in the 3rd arrondissement (area) of Paris, Baya took the plunge a few weeks ago and put an ad on the Internet to rent a chair and ensure a fixed income. In Saône and Loire, Bernard Jannin founded L’Hair Unique, armed with the conviction that young professionals want to start their own business but often lack the funds to invest in a salon.
L’Hair Unique offers consultancy services to around twenty salons renting chairs to professional hairdressers and nail technicians.For 200£ per week, Allessandra offers space to rent in her black and white, Baroque-styled salon in Hammersmith, London. “Renting seats is an effective way to create a fixed income,” she explains. “And the tenant is free to choose his/her hours. It is also a way to be your own boss.”Indeed, in a society that promotes individual freedom and the ability to organize time and work as desired, chair-rentals offer this opportunity. Moreover, managing a business, however small it may be, enables people to promote their expertise, gain customer loyalty, choose their own products and prices and potentially earn a more comfortable income.For the tenant, this formula can also be an opportunity to access a well-located space, without having to take a loan or having to commit to a long-term lease. They can also enjoy a pleasant working environment and the presence of other hairdressers.
The salon also benefits from this arrangement. The guarantee of regular rent enables them to balance the books and optimize space. The presence of young tenants is also an effective way to make the salon more dynamic.The profession is adapting to deal with the practiceThe chair-rental concept certainly seems to be a win-win model and it is for this reason that it has enjoyed such success. However, there are some concerns about the practice if it is not properly governed. Jon Gonzales, founder of the training center in California, fears the emergence of a black market. Similarly, Michael Levine, hairdresser for over 20 years and owner of several salons in Vancouver, fears that this formula could lead to isolation, unbridled competition and the loss of skills-transfer.Recognizing the need to better organize this market, the hairdressing world now offers professionals a variety of options in order to ensure that chair rentals are always successful and represent a real alternative to the traditional business model.
This is evident in terms of the legalities of chair rentals. Many professional beauty association sites emphasize the need for legal professionals to establish lease contracts that specify the duration of the lease, the rent, the items available (switchboard, card payment machine etc.), freedom to organize hours etc. Also Bernard Jannin of Unique Hair notes that, “these types of contracts can not be improvised.” In France, in 2010, the Ministry of Trade and Crafts, established that there was a risk that renting chairs could be considered as outsourcing, and therefore viewed as salaried work. This is why Bernard Jannin offers an innovative contract dedicated to hairdressers, which helps to avoid the pitfalls, associated with ignorance of the law.Nowadays, there are many tools and information available for tenants who rent chair space. In the USA, consulting firms offer tenants seminars and training modules dedicated not only to understanding these contracts, but also to providing coaching in marketing or financial management.