"How a British Hairdresser Became the Owner of Four Salons in the UAE within Seven Years: A Remarkable Journey"

Dubai: Like a lot of different business visionaries, English ex-pat Tara Rose Kidd took a risk when she began her most memorable salon out of a manor in Abu Dhabi, given her restricted admittance to assets and business skills.

However, little did Tara know then that in a long time since her pioneering plunge, she would now be running a sum of four salons, utilising 60 or more staff, while likewise preparing to open her fifth outlet soon.

She stated, "I started my business by setting up my first salon in 2015 in a villa in Khalifa City A. Because it was literally just me setting out on my own, the start-up expenses were quite different from what we’re doing now and the subsequent salons I’ve opened."

"From the get-go, it began with my better half and me taking out an individual credit and utilizing cash we'd saved to get the business rolling. Although it wasn't necessarily the most intricate plan, it was precisely what I required at the time to get things moving.

Costs of starting a salon on your own Tara, who has lived in the UAE for 14 years, estimates that she invested approximately Dh400,000, with the building's rent accounting for the majority of her initial costs, which were approximately Dh300,000. She went on to explain in detail how the set-up and business license fees were approximately Dh30,000.

"The inside fit out of the salon and furniture was around Dh50,000 and I spent one more Dh40,000 on stock and supplies. I didn't have to worry about staffing costs or getting visas for other people because it was just me at first," she added.

“In comparison, by the time I opened my third salon in Mamsha Al Saadiyat in 2020, the total cost to open and operate the salon was greater than Dh1.7 million. From the structure to planning and fitting out a salon, and furthermore staffing it, the expense is multiple times what I spent on my absolute first salon."

Even though the initial investment may have been significantly lower, Tara explained that the risk was significantly greater for her because she had never run a business before. I have, however, gained knowledge by opening additional salons over time. She continued, "I've opened four salons already, and I'm currently working on opening my fifth in Al Quoz, Dubai."

Overall, staffing and other unanticipated additional costs contributed to an increase in costs. The cost of furnishing, stocking, and creating the space in a salon increases with its size. Yet additionally on the grounds that we have developed, we can truly fit the salon to our accurate dream."

Problems encountered and lessons learned?

When Tara first started out as an entrepreneur, she had worked as a hairdresser for nearly a decade. Therefore, I had the skills to cut, colour, and so forth; However, I had no idea how to run a business or be a leader. Thus, that was my first significant obstacle. She continued, "I had to quickly learn everything about the salon's business side."

This was because "I knew I needed to invest money into growing the business side of things in order to really be successful." When other competitors at the time were saving money, I knew I had to invest in growing my business, which meant hiring specialists to help me grow over time.

In an effort to expand her business, Tara implemented a commission structure as an incentive for her employees. This strategy has also been demonstrated to increase product and service sales and bring in additional customers.

"While there are salons that offer higher and lower commission structures for beauticians than we do, yet truly, we fall in the upper centre of the reach. The expense of maintaining a business is one element and with our model of re-putting once more into the business, we take a gander at when we are offering the most noteworthy commission, nothing remains to be put once again into the business," she said.

"While a developing group and having specific people in the administrative centre has expanded the, generally speaking, working costs, it merits the venture being placed in as it's offered more vocation potential learning experiences for the beauticians and more by and large business learning experiences for the brand."

How can you improve your financial situation?

For Tara, her family generally trained her to find a new line of work, save for a house and leave nothing to chance. Notwithstanding, she decided to contribute the reserve funds she collected through her earlier long periods of work into her underlying new company as opposed to putting resources into a home.

She went on to say, "The strategy I prefer (and chose at the time) is to invest to increase my income rather than invest the capital in a down payment for a home, which would then be exclusively tied up in the property."

"With cash restricted in a property, I wouldn't have the opportunity to send capital for speculation valuable open doors with much better returns. You need to be able to pay for many of the best investment opportunities right away and be able to move quickly. Instead of investing in a home, which would leave me no better off from a cash flow perspective because I would continue to make mortgage payments for many years, my strategy for the future has always been to invest to increase income.

Additionally, Tara was never taught much about investing or taking risks as a child. The path was always steady and secure. I had never truly discovered that facing a challenge and putting resources into something that could be dangerous was a choice. I had no monetary foundation truly when I began my business and this was the sort of thing that I needed to advance as I began the business and it started to develop," she said.

First Method: Maintain an average of 60% of salary to cover monthly living costs Tara has been successful in maintaining an average of 60% of salary to cover monthly living costs. All my everyday costs are followed through bookkeeping programming connected to my financial balances so I can monitor those specific costs and my ways of managing money, in the meantime actually planning in all the tomfoolery, relaxation and retail shopping I appreciate," she noted.

"While I won't be guaranteed to adhere to an individual backup stash plan, I find that ensuring that I've saved somewhere close to three to a half years of what I want to live on is the best sum for me. I feel a little more at ease and in charge this way.

"Despite the fact that I maintain my own business and am not utilized with the gamble of losing employment, it is vital to have the option to support myself and my family should a crisis emerge. After that, we will invest the remaining savings in either our businesses or our property.

Methodology #2: Re-contribute however much you jar of your benefits once again into the business

Everything revolves around reinvesting for Tara, especially with regard to taking on an investment funds procedure as a business person. " The rule I follow whenever you have more money or income is simple: reinvesting. Additionally, I try to discover new ways to generate income. At first, this was putting resources into my better half's business, a Dubai-based vehicle sales centre," she added.

"I'd invest about 60% of the net profit in new stock for my husband's dealership at the beginning of the investment from my end, after paying out expenses like a salary for myself or whatever other expenses were to be allocated."

After that, Tara and her husband also started a property company in the UK, which is still open and continues to invest in commercial-to-residential conversions through joint ventures.

Again, it's all about creating multiple income streams for retirement. I believe it's basically only not to restrict yourself by depending on just a single revenue source and not to restrict reinvesting by attempting to save excessively," she exhorted.

System #3: When it comes to adopting a savings strategy as the owner of a business, Tara basically refers to this as "building from what you want to achieve financially and working backwards." This is because she wants to achieve her financial goals first.

"Beginning with the net benefit that is our objective, we decide how we really want to attempt to make this conceivable. Anything that might seem to be - be it re-interest into the business or conveying capital for venturing into new region of our business," she made sense of.

“I've begun to look into various strategies for expanding the salon umbrella, including forming partnerships with various individuals or businesses in the industry. In the big picture, there are many different ways to build real wealth.