How to open your own beauty salon in Prague in 30 days: Beauty Makers

This time, Around Prague decided to meet the founders of Beauty Makers, a trendy beauty salon in Prague, to learn all the ins and outs of starting their own business — the first steps, the difficulties, and the success that was anything but easy to achieve. The salon is owned by two young and wonderful women, Ksenia and Vlada.

AP: Tell us about yourselves — how long have you been in Prague, why did you move here, and how long have you been here?

Ksenia: My name is Ksenia. I’ve lived in Prague for almost five years. I moved here from Nizhnevartovsk, a city in northern Russia, to get a European education. But things turned out a little differently — in the end, I also finished school here, and this year I’m graduating from the University of Economics in Prague, majoring in informatics and statistics.

Vlada: My name is Vladislava, and I’ve lived in Czechia for four years. I was born in Ukraine, in a small mining town called Ternivka. I came to Prague completely alone to get a university education. I chose Czechia specifically because it’s an economically strong, developed country that’s still affordable. I’ve always loved discovering new places, traveling, and stepping out of my comfort zone, so moving to live entirely on my own in a foreign country was one of the best decisions of my life. I’m so glad the move only changed me for the better! I think my time in Czechia has made me independent, stripped away my rose-tinted glasses, and — most importantly — taught me that nothing in life comes easily. 

AP: How did you meet? How did the idea for a joint business come about? Who was the first to say out loud the idea of a salon, even a mobile one? Do you remember that day? What was it like? What did you feel that day?

Ksenia: At that point I’d known Vlada for about six months — we met through mutual friends and had crossed paths a couple of times in the same group, but we’d never really talked one-on-one. Then I saw an ad for a business conference in Prague. It caught my interest, since I’d never been to anything like that and wanted to pick up some knowledge outside university. I asked my friends to come along, but they said no. So I just posted the invitation on my Instagram story.

Vlada wrote to me right away, and we went together. After that we kept in touch and shared ideas, but we never thought we’d actually start something together — each of us was pursuing her own direction. At some point I decided to shelve my idea, because I was supposed to leave for America that summer. But things turned out differently. On March 8th I had a job interview scheduled, which I happily skipped, since a week later we were due to launch our mobile salon. Honestly, the decision to stay in Prague wasn’t an easy one — I weighed the pros and cons for a long time. But I’ve never once regretted it.

Vlada: Ksenia and I met about a year and a half earlier, but we didn’t really talk until she posted that Instagram story. I’d had the idea of a mobile salon for a long time, but I could never quite make it happen. After the conference, I realized I wanted to take it seriously, told Ksyusha about it, and she backed me up. At the time, Ksyusha wanted to create some kind of miracle hair treatment (laughs) and was looking for a lab and an investor. But we both soon realized that going it alone was very hard, so we decided to join forces and open a mobile salon together. I remember meeting her at Starbucks, sketching out a plan of action on a napkin, and just getting to work. Three or four weeks later, we’d already launched. What I love is that Ksenia and I think alike — we’re both hardworking, decisive, and driven.

AP: Why did you decide to open specifically a beauty salon in Prague? How did it all start?
Ksenia: I’ve been involved in sales for as long as I can remember — even at nine years old, I had a summer job selling newspapers. Of course, I later changed jobs a few more times and gained experience, but they were all still sales-related roles. What I love about this work is talking to people, so even now, when I come into the salon, I happily take over from the receptionists and chat with clients myself, giving advice and recommendations.

How did it all begin? In February 2018 we started out as a mobile salon. That idea seemed really appealing to us, and it didn’t require much investment — a mobile salon meant no rent for premises, for instance. But we soon realized it wasn’t quite what we wanted, that it wasn’t our format, and we decided to open a proper studio with a pleasant atmosphere, quality services, and full instrument sterilization, which, in my experience, is either missing or seriously lacking in Czechia. We approached opening the studio with great care, so our staff would enjoy working there and clients would enjoy being there, while keeping our prices pleasant and affordable for Prague. 
Vlada: I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, so I was constantly thinking about starting my own company. The first idea was a mobile beauty salon, since it didn’t require major financial investment, but still let us gain experience in the field and see the business from the inside.

As Ksyusha rightly said, the mobile salon became our first project, and it allowed us to grow and open our own studio. After a month of running the mobile salon, we realized we wanted more. We studied the market, worked out a business model, drew up a clear action plan, and set ourselves a goal: open a beauty studio within a single month. It seemed unrealistic, but I read business books intensively and completed both manicure and business courses. We believed in ourselves and were ready to work day and night. In the end, our salon opened its doors on June 2, 2018.

AP: How many people work at the salon? What services do you offer?

Ksenia: If we count only the people who are in the salon every day, that’s more than ten people. A lot is outsourced — accounting, graphic design, copywriting, and so on. 

Vlada: We offer manicures, pedicures, lash lamination, brow shaping, and hair removal. Our range of services used to be much wider, but we decided to narrow it down — we dropped makeup, hairstyling, and lash extensions.

AP: What are your plans for the future?

Ksenia: In four months of operating we’ve already expanded — we recently added two new manicure stations. In August alone we had several hundred visitors, and September saw a 40% increase. We’re growing every month, and I have a feeling we’ll soon outgrow our current space. Early next year we’re planning to open another salon and expand our range of services. We’ll definitely be adding haircuts and hair coloring, as well as hair-care treatments and cosmetology. 

Vlada: Of course, we’re planning to build an entire network of studios. Right now we’re working on a unified concept that will guide how we grow and open future salons. Because we went through the whole opening process and handled all the paperwork ourselves, we gained enormous experience that will help us a great deal when opening future salons.

AP: While opening the salon, did you run into any funny or interesting situations?

Ksenia: There really were a lot of funny moments, but I always smile remembering how us girls carried armchairs and laminate flooring ourselves. Honestly, I can’t even remember now why it happened that way, but I learned then that when people let you down, you can’t lose control of the situation — you have to act fast. 

Vlada: Probably the funniest story is how we announced the studio’s opening date while the salon was still in the middle of renovation and total chaos. We didn’t have a team of stylists lined up yet, the company registration was still being processed, the furniture delivery was delayed too, and only two weeks were left until opening. So we slept five hours a night and hauled construction materials ourselves, because deliveries were taking forever.
We only got the furniture and had the laminate flooring laid three days before opening; the day before opening we assembled everything, got the remaining materials, and finished registering the company.
I’m so grateful that my mom dropped everything and flew in to help us — otherwise we’d probably never have managed to get everything done in time. I remember filming Instagram stories to show what stage we were at and getting just one response: “Are you sure you’re opening tomorrow? You’ll never make it!” But when I posted the video from opening day, everyone was stunned!   

AP: How hard is it for a foreigner to open a salon in Prague?
Ksenia: I can’t say with full certainty whether it’s hard to open a salon — we had our own difficulties, and we still do. For example, finding good stylists is a real challenge; we poached some from other salons and trained others ourselves. The more we do this, the more we learn about the industry. Of course, prior experience in the field would help, but I think your personal qualities matter much more — the ability to handle stress, act decisively, and make fast, correct decisions, because business has no patience for slowness. And if you really want to build something worthwhile, you need to understand that you’ll have to work very, very hard.

Vlada: Most of the difficulties when opening came down to finding financing and sorting out legal issues. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get answers to our questions even from lawyers. Putting together a team of professional stylists is one of the hardest tasks when opening a salon.

AP: What advice would you give to people planning to start their own business in Czechia?

Ksenia: Go for it! Especially if you’re young — the sooner you start, the better. Either you’ll realize it’s simply “not for you” and move in another direction, or it’ll work out, and while you’re still full of energy, drive and enthusiasm, you’ll pour yourself into your venture and achieve results. 

Vlada: Advice for anyone planning to start a business in Czechia. First, be proactive and make decisions quickly — there’s no time for long deliberation. Second, try to handle everything yourself and always stay in control, especially when opening a business in a foreign country — you need to understand the local laws and how things work here. Third, whatever you decide to do, always focus on quality service. That’s genuinely a weak spot in Czechia, so by offering decent service you’re already ahead of the competition. Don’t forget that a well-packaged product is 80 percent of success.

AP: Where do you look for new clients? How do you earn their trust? How do you show them loyalty? What do you do in tricky situations when a difficult client shows up?

Ksenia: Most of our clients come through Instagram. We’ve never bought followers and never will — every one of our followers is a real person who messages or calls us to book an appointment. Word of mouth has started working for us too now, which we’re especially happy about.

We always try to find a way out of any situation. Working with people isn’t easy, especially when those people are women who are unhappy with the quality of a service. Dealing with this has made me more understanding myself when I visit other places, because there’s a human factor on both sides — the stylist’s and the client’s. Unfortunately, there are things that can affect the quality of a service and the overall impression of the salon. We always try to warn clients about this in advance, but if such situations do arise, we make concessions and do everything we can to resolve the conflict and keep the client. I think that’s the right approach, since we can’t afford to lose clients.

Vlada: 90% of our clients come from online, mainly Instagram, as well as collaborations with influencers and social media ads. Only 10% walk in off the street. We love and respect our clients, and we treat them accordingly — we offer good coffee, champagne after a tough work day, and we stay open every day until the last client leaves. Most importantly, we provide quality service. Difficult situations do come up sometimes — there’s no avoiding that — but we do everything we can to reach an agreement with the client and offer them a bonus; we never get into conflicts.

AP: How do you see your future in Czechia — not just in business but in life? Would you like to stay in Czechia and keep growing your business here?

Ksenia: I love Prague. Maybe someday I’ll move permanently to another country, but honestly, I can’t even picture which one yet.

Vlada: I can’t say for sure yet whether I’ll stay living in Czechia, but I do know that, business-wise, we’ll be expanding beyond Czechia’s borders. Right now I’m completely happy with life in Czechia; the one thing I desperately want is to travel more. And I hope we manage to build our business in a way that gives us the freedom to manage our own time.

We thank these wonderful women for the interview and wish them every success in business!