MENU
SEARCHWithout careful lease planning, salons can struggle to gain traction and ultimately maintain profitability, making it vital to seek favorable lease terms. Summit Salon Business Center's Lynn Chisholm helps you navigate these complex agreements.
Summit Salon Business Center's Lynn Chisholm helps salon owner navigate complicated lease negotiations.
Commercial leases have long been the foundation of brick-and-mortar businesses, providing business owners with a space to operate and grow their ventures. However, over the past few decades, the landscape of commercial leasing has evolved significantly, influenced by economic shifts, technological advancements, and changes in consumer behavior. These developments have had profound effects on small business owners, shaping their opportunities and challenges in today’s market.
For brick-and-mortar businesses operating on tight financial margins, such as hair salons and restaurants, lease agreements play a crucial role in financial sustainability. High rent costs can quickly erode profitability, making it essential to negotiate terms that align with revenue expectations.
An industry standard recommends that lease expenses and long-term debt payments remain under 15% of total sales just to break even each month. This benchmark ensures that businesses have enough cash flow to cover operational expenses in the initial years and ultimately grow sales to reduce your monthly rent and long-term debt payments as a percentage of total sales.
Without careful lease planning, businesses will struggle to gain traction and ultimately maintain profitability, making it vital to seek favorable lease terms.
Historically, commercial leases followed a straightforward structure, often spanning five, ten, or even twenty years. These long-term agreements provided stability for both landlords and tenants, ensuring predictable revenue streams and cost structures. Rent escalations were standard, tied to inflation or fixed annual increases, allowing business owners to plan their finances with some degree of certainty.
While commercial lease structures have become more adaptable, small business owners still face several challenges:
Rising Costs: Prime commercial real estate remains expensive, particularly in high-demand urban areas.
Complex Lease Agreements: Lease contracts are complex and filled with legal jargon that may be difficult for small business owners to navigate. Terms are also now sometimes less than five years causing lack of stability for long term salon goals.
Uncertain Economic Conditions: Market fluctuations, such as inflation and shifts in consumer spending, continue to make long-term lease commitments risky.
To thrive in this evolving landscape, small business owners should:
Negotiate Lease Terms: Always seek to negotiate rent structures, renewal options, and exit clauses to ensure flexibility.
Consult Experts: Work with real estate professionals or legal advisors to fully understand lease terms and avoid unfavorable agreements and have wording added that protects tenants.
Leasing a commercial space is a significant investment, and the terms of your lease can impact your business for years. If you’d like professional assistance in reviewing your lease and ensuring you make the best decision, I offer a free consultation to discuss the leasing process and answer any questions you may have. Contact Lynn Chisholm at leasing@summitsalon.com for more details.
Pagoda, a new AI-native operating system for scheduling, payments, patient records, marketing, and client communications, launches at Skinovatio Medical Spa in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
At a panel discussion hosted by L’Oréal Professionnel in Paris in early July, French Philosopher Sophie Galabru explored the cultural shift where women are increasingly choosing natural, personalized color results over traditional grey coverage. In an exclusive interview with SALON TODAY, Galabru and L’Oréal Professionnel Colorist Pierrick Beringer discuss this shift and how salons and colorists respond.
At Salon Blonde, Director of Operations treats the staff as the salon's most important guests, while her wonderful 'nerdy' side, loves data, systems, and numbers. Find out how she makes Salon Blonde tick.
In an exclusive interview with SALON TODAY, Salon Owner Salvatore Minardi reflects on his past 18 months as Intercoiffure America Canada's World Talent Exchange Ambassador and how his experiences will help encourage cultural and artistic exchange and support greater engagement between ICA and the global organization Intercoiffure Mondial.
Everything you need to know about client retention as a salon owner.
Owner Shelby Bills says her general manager, Sydney Osborne, reminds her of the power of leading with heart. Find out how Osborne became a great leader in our lastest installment of Meet the Manager.
In her latest blog, Kati Whitledge identifies the five stages salon owners go through when a team member leaves the salon unethically, offering advice for each stage.
The beauty and wellness businesses pulling ahead aren’t just working harder—they’re using AI to capture demand, personalize pricing, and convert more of every guest interaction into revenue. Here’s what the benchmark data reveals about the growing gap between AI adopters and everyone else.
Sponsored by Zenoti
Stop chasing recruitment ghosts on generic job boards and start curating an elite team. Discover the framework that top-tier salons use to bypass phone tag, automate visual portfolio vetting, and attract high-earning, culture-first beauty professionals directly through real-time messaging. Turn your recruitment process into an exclusive brand invitation that keeps your highest-ticket chairs permanently filled.
Sponsored by Beautista
Your calendar looks full, but is all of that demand actually converting to revenue? From phantom rebookings to underpriced peak hours, the 2026 Benchmark Report exposes five revenue leaks that most beauty and wellness businesses don’t even know they have.
Sponsored by Zenoti
After moving to Colorado and teaching at a cosmetology school, Allison Stock joined Zandi K as a stylist, eventually becoming part of the Leadership Team, Education Team and Master Bridal Team. Today, as Director of Operation, Stock is Owner Nicki Wenz's right hand, managing human resources and operations, education and career development, and coaching and culture.
In a world dominated by e-commerce, salon owners push back with proven strategies to increase retail sales while motivating team members to educate their clientele and delighting clients with retail-themed events and clever merchandising displays.
The company's Concealed Bead Method is raising the bar for what professional extension education can deliver.
Scott maximized her micro-salon by transitioning from stylist to strategic owner, focusing on recruiting and station-sharing. By prioritizing her ownership role over behind-the-chair work, she grew her team to six stylists within the two-chair, 150-square-foot space before eventually moving to a larger facility.
The former CFO of Perdue Farms and owner of Hardy Seafood, Terry Owens delivers a wealth of wisdom and strategies for entrepreneurs in his new book, "Business is Simple."
After scaling her single-location salon business, SALON TODAY 200 Honoree Amy Pal recently sold her six-location Whip Salon for seven figures. Using the six Ps for maximizing a business's value, she's ready to help her peers do the same.
Buried inside the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are federal solar tax credit changes that deserve your attention now. Two of the credits that matter most to commercial property owners, the Investment Tax Credit and the Production Tax Credit, are still available, but only if you move fast. A third, the Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Deduction, has a hard termination date that is closer than most people realize.
