Working out of your home is ideal if you have small children, or simply want to be your own boss. You have the freedom to schedule appointments when it’s convenient for you, and you’re always available at home should you have a family emergency or other situation. Unless you previously owned a salon, you probably need to invest in some basic salon supplies for your home beauty business. You won’t need everything that a professional salon has because you’ll only be seeing clients one at a time, which means you only need to invest in one hair salon chair , one wash basin, and so forth. Before purchasing a lot of equipment you’ll need to figure out which services you’ll offer and whether or not you may want to expand in the future. b Setting Business Goals for Your Salon When you first open your business, set goals that are realistic and simple to accomplish. How many haircuts can you reasonably schedule in a day? Do you have the experience and training to offer manicure and pedicure services? Will you have one day set aside just for nail services and waxing, or will you schedule all services for any day of the week? Once you know how you want to operate, you can start investing in furniture. If you will be offering services beyond haircuts and colour, such as eyebrow waxing, manicures, and pedicures, you will need a manicure table, pedicure station, and a reclining salon chair for waxing. A wash basin is necessary to shampoo hair and rinse out colour, so your salon room will need to have additional plumbing added. Some at-home salons put the wash basin in the bathroom to avoid having to add plumbing, but that’s a personal choice you have to make based on how you want your home salon to look. Buying Beauty Supplies and Products To save money you can order wholesale beauty products such as salon style shampoos, conditioners, hairsprays, straightening serums, mousses, and other products. You will also need a supply of colour, hair tools such as a blow-dryer, straightening iron, curling irons, and trimmers, and a good selection of polish colours. Don’t forget to have a supply of towels and hair cutting capes on hand, too. Once you have the salon room set up and ready to go, begin marketing your services to friends and family. Many people work from home so that they can have a flexible schedule, so you may choose to work part-time or keep your business to only a certain number of clients. However you choose to work it, having a home business is profitable and liberating.