You can start your business today…seriously.
There are only 5 things you need and you can do it on the cheap.
1. ABN (Australian Business Number)
This is the first step to starting your own business. Every business in Australia has to have one and setting up as a Sole Trader is the easiest (and cheapest) way to get started.
You’ll need to make sure you register for GST if your business will generate over $75000 in sales. Downsides are you are responsible for your own income tax, superannuation and GST (if applicable). You can’t “employ” yourself in this model but it’s a perfect place to start the Solo Stylist journey and test the waters before committing to bigger goals. You can always look at different financial structures as your business grows.
You can find all of the details here: https://www.abr.gov.au/
2. Space
You need somewhere to work. With a chair and a mirror, some power and maybe a basin. It depends on what style of freelancing you’re doing…maybe you’ll mix it up? That’s the beauty of freelancing…you can do what you want.
Maybe you want to do 1 day mobile if you have housebound clients or visit shelters or homes. You might need your own portable chair and mirror? Or you might rent a chair in a fully equip salon and just tell your clients where you’ll be operating out of. This could be 1 space or could be across multiple sites. It can be even across multiple towns or cities…the choice is yours. All you need is to find a space you like working out of at a price you are comfortable paying (a good guideline is 10-20% of your daily takings depending on what’s included with the rent).
3. POS (Point Of Sale)
Get yourself a mobile POS system. Having a digital appointment book and cash register helps keep all of your client details, records and transactions on something as simple as your phone or iPad is a godsend. You can take payment or bookings anywhere.
I personally use Square Appointments and do everything through my phone. It’s just easy, and the best thing…it’s free (I personally use the $40 per month subscription for some extra features). You can create online booking options as well to help free up your time.
Link a Square reader to it ($50) and you have mobile payment system setup and ready to go. At 1.9% transaction fee this is amazing value when you look at what it costs for terminal rental with an EFTPOS machine through your bank. Unless you can get your bank to be under 1% in fees then this is a no brainer for a Solo Stylist. You could avoid fees altogether and take cash only or bank transfers but my personal view on this is cash jobs sound unprofessional and waiting for bank transfers is asking for non payments and time wasted chasing unpaid services.
If you are interested in signing up with Square this link will get you free processing on the first $1000 you take using Square https://squareup.com/i/CRHAIR1234
4. Website
How are people going to find you if you don’t have a website? You can setup your online profile just with social media (Facebook, Instagram) but you never own that information and with so many people being hacked on social media these days there’s a very big risk that if it goes down you won’t be able to access it for a while. Don’t rely 100% on social media for your business…it’s too easy to lose.
Building a 1 page website for your business is easy. It’s all you need to just have a presence online then use your social media to guide all traffic to this webpage. Use something as easy as https://carrd.co/ (from as little as $15 per year) to make yourself look more professional, let your clients know where you’re operating from and how they can make appointments and contact you.
5. Tools
These things I’m sure you already own but make sure you’re your tools are a reflection of your work. We’re already a looked down upon industry and not taken as seriously as we should be. Once we go mobile it’s taken even less seriously by society. Purchase the highest quality tools you can afford. Trust me…your work shines when you have the right tools for the job. Expensive scissors cut better, expensive dryers make work faster, the right products give better results. Don’t skimp on tools if you want to be take seriously.
It can be this simple…
Costs can be as low as:
ABN – $0
Rent – $0 (mobile) – $150 (rent a chair)
Square – $50
Website – $15
Tools – $0 (if you already have them)
Total – $215
Test the waters…start it as a side project and see if it’s for you or not. Start off with 1 job a week or 1 day a week in your own time. If being a Solo Stylist is where you want to be…this is the best way to start…you don’t have to risk anything. What have you got to lose?
Key Points:
- You can start a business today
- You don’t need as much as you think to start
- For less that $250 you could be a Solo Stylist tomorrow
Until next time…
Craig
The Solo Stylist
P.S. Not sure if freelancing is right for you?
Download the free “Are You Ready to Freelance?” Checklist and find out where you stand.