Hair Salon

3 Hair Salon Success Stories [2025]

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Updated: April 14th, 2025

Hair salons offer a wide range of beauty services including hair-cutting, waxing, nail treatment, massages, and complementary care such as aromatherapy.

With the increased demand for high fashion beauty services, starting a hair salon could be a profitable venture.

To start a hair salon, you need a strong business plan and find a niche that attracts a local client base. To succeed, hire knowledgeable and experienced employees, and encourage them to maintain a good customer service culture,

In this list, you'll find real-world hair salon success stories and very profitable examples of starting a hair salon that makes money.

1. Urban Betty ($6.6M/year)

Chelle Neff, founder of Urban Betty, started her business by opening her own brick and mortar salon after five years of being in her own salon suite. She gradually expanded her team and transitioned from contractors to all commission-based employees. Eight years later, Urban Betty has two locations and over 50 employees, generating $3.3 million in revenue.

How much money it makes: $6.6M/year
How much did it cost to start: $69.9K
How many people on the team: 81

How I Went From Hairstylist To Running My Own $3.3M Salon Business

This case study follows the founder of Urban Betty, who started her salon business with only one contractor, and now has two locations with over 50 employees, growing from 1.5 million to 3.4 million in revenue from 2014-2018, and investing around 2% of its gross income every year in Yelp, Google, and Facebook Ads.

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2. Antonio’s Barber Shop ($1.5M/year)

Antonio Camilleri, a seasoned barber with over 18 years of experience, opened his first barbershop in Leister, UK, after working as an apprentice and further improving his skills in the Netherlands. Recognizing a gap in the market for old-school barbering in Malta, Antonio moved back and opened the official Antonio's Barber Shop with 8 chairs, quickly growing to 14 barbers across 2 locations. With an annual turnover of 1.5 million euros, Antonio's Barber Shop offers top-notch customer service, a range of grooming products, and a barbering academy.

How much money it makes: $1.5M/year
How much did it cost to start: $500K
How many people on the team: 25

How I Started A $125K Barber Shop, Beard Grooming Brand And Barbering Academy

Antonio Camilleri built Antonio's Barber Shop from a small two-chair operation to two locations servicing over 250 daily clients and €1.5M in annual revenue with a product line generating a 30% profit.

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3. Natural Girl ($360K/year)

The founder's admiration for natural textured wigs led to the idea of posting content about textured hair on her Instagram page. She received inquiries about the availability of the products, which validated her business idea before entering the market.

How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $3
How many people on the team: 0

I Turned This Instagram Page Into A 7-Figure Business

Natural Girl Wigs is a 7-figure business, reaching six-figures just six months after launch, by creating Afrocentric extensions and protective styles catering to black women all over the world, with strategies including Instagram and Whatsapp, viral word-of-mouth, and targeted Facebook ads and email marketing.

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Read by 3,413 founders