Lately, more and more people in my immediate circle have been stating that they want to become cosmetologists. Some are even developing this plan into opening their own salon. Most often, the question arises: how much does a cosmetologist with their own salon actually earn? Well, it’s not a question that can be answered with a simple “A” or “B,” but I will try to describe the issue of earnings for cosmetologists with their own business as broadly as possible.

 

Average earnings of a cosmetologist in Poland

Before we look at the specific case of a cosmetologist with their own practice, let’s first consider how much the average cosmetologist in Poland earns. I’m not the “alpha and omega,” so I’ll use the website wynagrodzenia.pl to check this statistic. It shows that:

 

• • Cosmetologists in Poland usually earn in the range of 3,700 PLN to 5,540 PLN.
  • 25% of cosmetologists earn below this range, and 25% earn above it.
  • The median salary is 4,530 PLN.
    The sample consisted of nearly 250 cosmetologists, and the last update was made in January 2023 (at the time I was preparing this article).

 

What do a cosmetologist’s earnings depend on?

The same website notes that cosmetologists’ salaries depend on, among other things, work experience, specific education, the size of the company they are employed by, and the region (voivodeship).
Interestingly – according to these statistics, almost 100% of cosmetologists are women. In my opinion, however, this is a bit of an overstated result, so I take all information from that site with a grain of salt.

 

How much does a cosmetologist with their own salon earn in Poland?

The question of how much a cosmetologist with their own salon earns looks completely different. Here, earnings depend solely on how many clients such a private salon serves. The internet suggests that experienced cosmetologists running their own business are able to earn even around 10,000 PLN per month – which, in my opinion, is a very impressive result.

Unfortunately, as is the case with running your own business – for every thriving company, there is often one that goes bankrupt. That is why it is very difficult to give a clear answer to how much a cosmetologist with their own salon earns – because one can earn a 5-figure sum monthly, while another will have to pour money into an inaccurately managed business.

 

What are the costs of having your own salon?

I include the following as the most important costs of running your own cosmetology office:

 

• • Rent, if you do not own the premises.
  • Service charges (utilities), which occur almost always.
  • Materials and equipment, including its depreciation.
  • Utilities, mainly water and electricity, which is simply more expensive for entrepreneurs.
  • Employees, provided, of course, that you don’t run the salon alone.
  • Accounting, meaning all kinds of taxes and health insurance.

Looking at it from a slightly different perspective, it might seem that a cosmetologist with their own salon can earn several hundred zlotys on a single treatment, which could translate into several thousand zlotys a day. However, reality is not so colorful, and running your own beauty salon means not only potentially high earnings but also equally high costs.

 

Is it worth being a cosmetologist with your own salon?

For it to be profitable for you to open your own beauty salon, you absolutely must have experience in both cosmetology and running a business. The profitability of this type of business depends not only on your predispositions but also on the location, the number of competitors, and the budget you can allocate for marketing and brand promotion.

I definitely do not recommend opening your own salon if you have no experience in running a company, nor do you have funds saved for the investment and plan to take everything on credit. Getting into debt is a risky approach, and personally, I wouldn’t sign up for anything like that.

To sum up: it can be both profitable and unprofitable. Just like in any business. If you expected one general answer like “yes, you will earn 20,000 a month,” unfortunately I have to correct you. In running your own beauty salon, what counts most is financial management and the ability to acquire clients, while the cosmetology itself… is just the background of the whole business.

 

What services to offer in the salon to increase profits?

I wrote more extensively about the most profitable cosmetic treatments in this article: What are the most profitable beauty treatments? Which ones will earn you the most. However, I warn you – it is a multiple-choice question where many correct answers exist. And again, experience and knowledge of the beauty market play the lead role.

If you plan to open your own beauty salon or are simply interested in this topic – I invite you to check my blog regularly.

Best regards, a manufacturer of endermologie suits. You can check my products here.