How to Start a Beauty Business in the UK

Tucked away in a bustling industrial park in Henlow, Hertfordshire, lies a hidden haven that is Beauty by Ellie Banks. A stunning salon with creamy nudes & beiges and ambient fairy lights twinkle around the room, and you’re greeted with comfort when you walk through Ellie’s door.

Ellie is just 22 years old but has built an entire beauty empire from the ground, up. It’s complete with lash and hair extension services, brow treatments, Botox & other beauty treatments, a nail technician working alongside her and, what’s more, she’s a qualified educator.

So, how did Ellie start her beauty business?

I started doing lashes when I was still in school at 16. I was working as a waitress at the time, and I said to my mum ‘I can’t do these late nights anymore.’ So, we looked around for me to learn something I could do alongside my exams.

It all starts with a dream, right? Ask yourself exactly what you want and work backwards. It's not possible to build a beauty empire like Ellie’s overnight, but mapping out where you want to end up, and how you’re going to get there, is.

A useful and proven technique used when it comes to setting & achieving goals is the SMART Goal method:

As Ellie puts it:

I was 18 when I did it, went on my own where I knew I was going to have to pay rent and expenses every month. I was so nervous, but I just feel like the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. You have to be committed to it if you're going to do it. I was 18, missing nights out with my friends because I had a lash appointment. But that’s what I wanted and who I wanted to be. I reap the rewards now because I work for myself, I have my own workspace, and I have that flexibility.

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Becoming an educator in the beauty industry

Ellie started off working in a salon for the first couple of years of her career and then decided to take the leap. She hasn’t looked back since and has continued to achieve her goals. The next step for her was to get her Level 4 in teaching, so she can now train the next generation of beauty professionals in the UK.

So many people would make off-the-cuff comments about beauty not being a proper career path. I want to break that stigma and teach these girls to be independent businesswomen, just like I’ve become. Starting a beauty business is no easy feat, but if you are consistent with your efforts, they will pay off.

she says.

Vagaro is so affordable and saves me so much time with sending out helpful texts and emails to my clientele, so they never forget their appointments. It’s so user-friendly; as a newbie, I found getting used to the software was so easy. To me, it’s worth every penny and now I can’t run my business without it!