Ferncroft Business Loans, a small-business funding service in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, helps hair salons, nail salons and barbershops in Sheboygan County request equipment financing, working capital and term loans from lending partners. This page covers salon equipment, build-outs, how booth rent and commission models read to a partner, retail product stock, and county figures for beauty and nail salons.
| Beauty salon employers, county | 34 (CBP 2023) |
|---|---|
| Beauty salons without payroll | 197 (NES 2024) |
| Nail salon employers, county | 9 (CBP 2023) |
| Barber shops without payroll | 25 (NES 2024) |
How a Salon's Money Moves
A salon can be paid at checkout, by card or cash, so receivables may be small. The costs that need financing are front-loaded: the build-out with plumbing for shampoo bowls, ventilation for nail and color work, chairs and stations, and a first order of retail product. After opening, the swing comes from how the chairs are filled.
Salons range from a single-chair suite to a multi-station shop, so funding needs differ.
Booth Rent vs Commission: How It Reads to a Partner
In a booth-rent salon, stylists pay the owner a fixed rent and keep their own service revenue, so the owner's income is the rent roll. In a commission salon, the owner collects all service revenue and pays stylists a share. A partner reviewing the bank statements sees different pictures: rent deposits in one, service deposits in the other. Neither is better; explain which model you run so the statements make sense.
Salon Equipment Financing
Styling chairs, stations, shampoo units, dryers, pedicure spas, nail tables with ventilation, and point-of-sale systems are financed through equipment financing. Salon equipment financing companies may sell through suppliers; compare their offers with a partner's by total cost. Pedicure spas and shampoo bowls connected to plumbing can be harder to finance than freestanding chairs.
Build-Outs and New Locations
Opening a new salon or moving to a larger space can involve plumbing, electrical, ventilation and finishes; compare the quotes for the build-out and the equipment. A term loan fits a build-out; the equipment can go on equipment financing. Partners will want contractor bids and the lease. Permit timing matters; see the zoning and permits checklist.
Working Capital and Retail Product
Salons that sell retail product may buy it in case quantities, and a new stylist's first weeks can bring wages or guarantees before the book fills. A one-time working capital request handles either. Some salons may be offered merchant cash advances because of their card volume; an advance is not a loan, and its total cost should be compared in dollars with a working capital loan.
Illustrative only. A salon adding a stylist on commission might guarantee $600 a week for the first eight weeks while the new book builds: $4,800 to plan for before the added chair pays its way.
How to Get a Business Loan for a Salon: The File to Assemble
- Card processing and bank statements
- Your model (booth rent, commission or a mix) and the number of chairs filled
- Equipment quotes and contractor bids for a build-out
- The lease and its remaining term
- Any existing equipment leases or advances
Solo Stylists, Suites and Single-Chair Shops
Some stylists and barbers work on their own, in a rented suite or a one-chair shop. For a solo operator, the business and the owner are financially close: partners may look at personal credit and personal bank activity alongside the business account. Keeping business deposits in a separate business account, even for a one-person shop, gives a partner a clean record to review.
Moving from a booth to a suite, or from a suite to a shop with several chairs, can be the step where financing enters the picture for the first time.
Before Signing an Equipment Lease
- Ask for the total of all lease payments and the end-of-term purchase price.
- Check whether the lease can be canceled if you move or close.
- Find out who repairs the equipment while it is leased.
Salons and Barbershops in Sheboygan County, WI
Sheboygan County had 34 beauty salon employers in 2023, with 213 employees, and 47.1% had fewer than five (CBP 2023, NAICS 812112); 14 had a ZIP 53081 address. Nine nail salons had employees (NAICS 812113). The Census did not publish an employer count for barber shops at their own code in this county file.
Separately, 197 beauty salons, 25 nail salons and 25 barber shops operated with no payroll in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics). Those counts come from a different program and year and are not added to the employer counts.
Countywide numbers sit on the Sheboygan, WI page; every sector is on the industries hub.
By Ferncroft Business Loans · Updated