You may already have loyal clients who value your work, and a wish to welcome them into a space of your own. Opening a hair salon or beauty salon in Switzerland lets you choose your services, products and working hours. But the rent, supplies and your own income will have to come from appointments that clients actually attend.
Preparing to open means bringing three decisions together: what you will offer, where you can provide it and how many clients you need to make a living. The administrative steps support that plan. They also differ between ordinary hairdressing and certain beauty treatments using devices, for which the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) sets certificate-of-competence requirements.
Here is how to work through the decisions, with a startup budget and an appointment schedule to help you test your figures before committing. Regulatory and industry sources linked below are in French.
Opening your salon: the essentials
- The concept: choose your clients and services before deciding how much space and equipment you need.
- Qualifications: a Swiss Federal VET Diploma (CFC/EFZ) is not a general federal requirement for opening a hair salon. Training apprentices and providing certain beauty treatments involve separate requirements.
- The premises: confirm the permitted use and the cost of alterations before signing the lease.
- Funding: allow for the fit-out, the first months of trading and your personal living costs.
- Profitability: check that the appointments you need fit into a realistic schedule, including some empty slots.
What kind of salon do you want to open?
A neighbourhood salon serving regular haircut clients works differently from a specialist colour salon or a beauty salon seeing one client at a time in each treatment room. Appointment lengths, product use and how often clients return all differ. The same rent may be affordable for one business and too high for another.
Start with a short menu of services you can deliver well. For each one, note your proposed price, time with the client, preparation time and products needed. Then look at nearby businesses: who do they serve, what does their price include and how do clients book? Use this research to define your offer, rather than simply copying the lowest price.
Hairdressing: do you need a CFC/EFZ diploma?
The Swiss Federal VET Diploma (CFC in French, EFZ in German) is not a general federal requirement for opening an ordinary hairdressing salon. The SERI directory of professions lets you check how the profession is regulated. Training and experience remain essential to work well, advise clients and handle technical problems. The absence of a general diploma requirement does not remove the need for those skills or for compliance with rules governing the premises and activities.
Training an apprentice is a separate matter. The business needs cantonal authorisation to train apprentices and a person who meets the professional and teaching requirements. Coiffure Suisse explains these training requirements. A CFC/EFZ diploma or a vocational trainer course alone does not establish that every condition has been met.
Beauty treatments: check the treatment before buying the device
A routine cosmetic service and a laser treatment need different preparation. Since 1 June 2024, people carrying out the treatments involving non-ionising radiation or sound listed in the Swiss ordinance known in French as O-LRNIS must hold the appropriate certificate of competence. The certificate covers specified treatments; it does not authorise every use of a device.
The FOPH implementation document distinguishes treatments requiring a certificate, those reserved for doctors or directly instructed medical-practice staff under the specified conditions, and prohibited practices. The part of the body being treated and the technique used also matter.
Before ordering equipment, put together the exact treatment name, device model, documentation and qualifications of the person who will use it. Ask the relevant cantonal authority to clarify the requirements and your insurer to confirm coverage. Training provided by the seller does not, on its own, replace a regulatory certificate. For injections or other medical procedures, check the professional and cantonal rules specific to those procedures.
Choose your legal structure and complete the registrations
Your legal structure depends mainly on your financial commitments, risks and working arrangements. Hiring an employee does not, by itself, require you to form an LLC; working alone does not prevent you from doing so.
Sole proprietorship, LLC or limited company?
A sole proprietorship lets you start on your own without a statutory minimum capital. It may suit a gradual launch with limited investment. In return, business debts can also put your personal assets at risk. A long lease and purchases on credit deserve as much attention as the initial registration costs.
A Swiss LLC (Sàrl/GmbH) has its own assets and requires at least CHF 20,000 of fully paid-up capital. It can also provide a structure for a project with business partners. Separating business and personal assets does not, however, protect you from a personal guarantee given to a landlord or bank, or from personal liability arising from a management breach.
Our comparison of a sole proprietorship and an LLC explores these differences. A Swiss limited company (SA/AG) may also be worth considering, particularly if you plan to bring in investors or develop several locations. The business should justify that choice, rather than the wish to look bigger.
Three separate registration questions
Social insurance status. As a sole proprietor, apply for recognition as self-employed with the AHV/AVS compensation office (Swiss old-age and survivors’ insurance). The office assesses how you actually work. If you are employed by your own LLC, the company handles employer registrations and payroll.
The commercial register. Registration is compulsory for an LLC and, in principle, for a sole proprietorship run as a commercial business once annual turnover reaches CHF 100,000. Our pages on the Geneva commercial register and the Vaud commercial register provide local contact details. Registration does not authorise every treatment or approve the premises.
VAT. Under the Federal Tax Administration rules, compulsory VAT liability generally begins at CHF 100,000 of relevant annual turnover from supplies in Switzerland and abroad that are not exempt without credit. At startup, if the circumstances indicate that this threshold will be reached within twelve months, VAT liability begins when business starts. You should therefore not automatically wait for the invoice that takes turnover over CHF 100,000.
Taxable hairdressing and ordinary beauty services generally fall under the standard 8.1% rate. Our article on Swiss VAT registration explains the process. If you combine medical treatments, beauty services and product sales, assess each category separately. The VAT threshold and the commercial-register threshold follow different rules.
Renting a chair does not automatically make you self-employed
Sharing a salon can reduce startup costs. But calling an agreement a “chair rental” does not settle your social insurance status. Who sets prices and working hours? Who invoices clients, buys products and bears the cost of empty appointment slots? The AHV/AVS office examines the actual arrangements, as explained in its information sheet on self-employment.
Also agree in writing what the payment covers: the workstation, products, laundry, bookings, payment collection and use of shared areas. Everyone should know who is responsible for damage and what happens when the agreement ends.
Start your business with the right foundations
Understand self-employed status, prepare your documents and work through your AHV/AVS application with our free video course, available in French.
Explore the free course (in French)
Free access · No sign-up · Learn at your own pace
Choose premises that work day to day
A bright, well-located space can make it tempting to sign quickly. First, picture a full working day: two clients arrive together, a wash basin is occupied, clean towels need to stay separate from used linen, and a delivery arrives during a treatment. These situations reveal weaknesses in a layout.
What to check before signing the lease
- Permitted use: the municipality should be able to confirm whether your planned activity is compatible with the premises and explain the process for a change of use or building work.
- Installations: obtain quotes for the water supply, drainage, electricity and ventilation your workstations or devices need, along with applicable safety and accessibility alterations.
- The lease: clarify which works are allowed, who pays, the rent deposit, reinstatement obligations and the conditions for leaving or subletting.
- Opening hours: check local opening rules and staffing constraints before planning evening or Sunday appointments.
In Geneva, OCIRT sets out a procedure for reviewing premises plans that specifically mentions hair salons. In Vaud, the municipality has a role in building and occupancy authorisations. These processes cannot be reduced to one identical “salon licence” throughout Switzerland. Even premises already used as a salon need checking if you change the treatments, layout or installations.
To compare two locations, add up rent, service charges and the works you would have to pay for. Cheaper premises with plumbing to replace may tie up more cash at the start. Weigh that extra cost against how long you will actually be able to use the space.
Make hygiene part of the routine
Plan a place for everything: clean instruments, used equipment, products, linen and waste. Decide who cleans what, with which product and when. Cleaning, disinfection and, where necessary, sterilisation methods must suit the equipment, the treatment risk and the manufacturer’s instructions.
Products also need a system for storage, use-by dates, ventilation and staff protection. Instructions everyone understands are more useful than a document kept in a drawer. Coiffure Suisse’s occupational safety information provides a starting point for the sector.
What budget and how many appointments do you need?
The opening budget answers the first question: can you fund the setup? The appointment calculation answers the next: can the business cover its expenses and your income? Both have to work, and the money must reach your account in time.
A startup budget to replace with your own quotes
This is a worked example, not a market average. It assumes a small setup without buying an existing client base or specialist beauty equipment. The amounts represent the payments that need funding at startup.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Building work and fit-out | 25,000 |
| Furniture and equipment | 18,000 |
| Initial stock and launch costs | 5,000 |
| Available opening cash reserve | 24,000 |
| Illustrative total | 72,000 |
Add a rent deposit if you need to fund one: it ties up cash even though it is not an expense you have consumed. Also check company formation costs, insurance, IT and expenses before the first sale. An already-equipped space and a beauty salon with several devices will have very different needs.
Think in cash outflows, allowing for non-recoverable VAT and the timing of any refund. An LLC’s share capital is a source of funding: once released, it can pay the company’s expenses. Do not automatically add CHF 20,000 to the total as though it were a tax. If the total need is CHF 72,000 and that CHF 20,000 helps fund it, you still need CHF 52,000, allowing separately for expenses due before the capital is released.
What an appointment actually contributes
The money collected is not your personal income. To work out what an appointment contributes, first deduct any VAT and the costs directly linked to that service: products used, consumables and payment or booking commissions. What remains is the contribution margin. It then helps pay the rent, other overheads and your remuneration.
Take a service sold for CHF 70 excluding VAT, with CHF 20 of variable costs excluding VAT: CHF 50 remains. This example assumes a VAT-registered salon using the effective reporting method, with deductible input VAT. If you are not VAT-registered or use another reporting method, adjust the amounts and VAT treatment. The aim is to compare figures calculated on the same basis.
The example: 160 appointments needed, but only 100 slots
Suppose your sole-proprietor business needs to generate CHF 8,000 per month after variable costs: CHF 3,000 for the salon’s fixed expenses and CHF 5,000 for your social contributions and personal needs, including tax. These are planning assumptions to adjust to your situation, not a promised take-home salary.
With a CHF 50 contribution per appointment, you need 8,000 ÷ 50 = 160 appointments per month. Over twenty working days, that means eight appointments a day. If each takes an hour of client time plus fifteen minutes for preparation and cleaning, you would need ten hours a day before breaks, calls and administration.
Now work backwards from the schedule. One person sets aside seven hours a day for client slots, after allowing for other tasks. They can fit in five 75-minute appointments, taking 6 hours 15 minutes. The remaining 45 minutes provide a buffer for delays; they are not enough for a sixth identical service. Over twenty days, capacity is therefore 100 appointments.
| Appointments attended in the month | Contribution at CHF 50 per appointment |
|---|---|
| 80 (80% of the 100 slots) | CHF 4,000 |
| 100 (fully booked) | CHF 5,000 |
| 160 (financial target) | CHF 8,000, but beyond capacity |
The problem lies in the business model, not just a shortage of clients. At 100 appointments, the average contribution would need to reach CHF 80 to fund the CHF 8,000 target. At 80 appointments, it would need to reach CHF 100. With the same CHF 20 variable cost, those figures imply average prices of CHF 100 and CHF 120 excluding VAT respectively. These are thresholds to test, not recommended prices: your services and clients must be able to support them.
You can reconsider the premises, overheads, service mix or working arrangements. Hiring increases capacity, but also wages and employment costs, so you must redo the calculation. Our explanation of break-even calculations (in French) takes this further.
In hairdressing, some colour-processing time may let you serve another client. Do not automatically count it as free time: check workstation and basin availability and how much supervision is really needed. A treatment requiring one person’s continuous attention in a room cannot overlap in the same way. A schedule built around your actual services is more reliable than an average number of clients per day.
Keep a cash reserve while bookings build up
In our example, 80 appointments generating a CHF 4,000 contribution leave a CHF 4,000 gap against the CHF 8,000 monthly target. An available reserve of CHF 24,000 would cover six months of that shortfall if every other assumption stayed the same. That is not a guaranteed six months: delayed building work, an extra purchase or fewer bookings will shorten it.
Prepare a monthly cash flow budget (in French), allowing for a slower opening than planned, holidays and tax and social-contribution due dates. As a sole proprietor, personal drawings are not a deductible salary. In an LLC, your salary and the associated employment costs are company expenses: avoid counting them again as a personal funding need. Loan repayments and investments also belong in cash outflows, even when they are not immediate accounting expenses.
Our financial forecast method connects these calculations. If you need more funding, prepare your quotes, sales assumptions and own contribution before exploring a business startup loan and guarantee options. Do not assume financing will be approved.
Prepare your team and give clients reasons to return
Budget for hiring and cover the risks
For a hair salon, check whether the national hairdressing collective labour agreement published by SECO applies, along with relevant cantonal rules. Review the contract, job classification, minimum pay, working hours and insurance before hiring. Do not automatically apply that agreement to every occupation in a beauty salon.
The cost of hiring includes gross pay, employer social security contributions and other applicable obligations. Accident insurance under the Swiss Accident Insurance Act (LAA/UVG) is compulsory for employees; occupational pension coverage (LPP/BVG) applies when its conditions are met. As a sole proprietor, you must arrange your own accident and income-loss protection separately. Being an employed director of an LLC does not, by itself, guarantee entitlement to unemployment benefits.
Also review professional liability and other business insurance (in French). Describe your actual services to the insurer, including colouring, treatments and devices. Ask about exclusions and coverage limits. A client suffering a burn, water damage and your own inability to work are not necessarily covered by the same policy.
Make the first booking easy, then track repeat visits
A prospective client should understand exactly what they are booking: the service, duration, price and possible extras, such as charges based on hair length. Explain access and opening hours, and show accurate photos of the premises. Arrange appointment confirmations and clear cancellation terms communicated before booking.
When you open, track a few simple figures each week: available slots, appointments attended, average amount billed and returning clients. These help distinguish poor visibility from frequent no-shows or an offer that attracts a first visit without encouraging a return. Suggest the next appointment when it benefits the client, without encouraging an unjustified treatment frequency.
Be careful with promotions: in our example of a CHF 70 price excluding VAT and CHF 20 variable costs, a CHF 10 discount reduces the contribution from CHF 50 to CHF 40, a 20% fall. You then need 25% more appointments to generate the same total contribution, assuming unchanged variable cost per service. Check that you have those extra slots and that the offer brings clients back at the usual price.
From day one, reconcile cash, card and platform receipts with recorded sales. Set up bookkeeping suited to your business structure (in French), retain supporting documents and protect client data. Reviews must remain authentic; obtain the necessary consent before publishing a photo that identifies someone.
If you take over an existing salon
An operating salon may save you some building work and the effort of starting a client base from scratch. Its clients are not guaranteed to stay, however. Assess how much depends on the salon’s name, location or the seller’s personal work, and plan how you will explain the handover.
Ask for substantiated financial figures, the lease, inventory, employment contracts and equipment commitments. Have the transfer terms and treatment of contracts checked. Prepaid gift vouchers and treatment packages deserve particular attention: you may have to provide services after the takeover without receiving new cash. Their list and financial treatment should be discussed before setting the price. Our comparison of starting or buying a business (in French) helps you weigh the options.
Bring the pieces together before opening
You can move forward when your service menu, premises and budget support the same plan. You have the qualifications your treatments require, your costs are backed by quotes, and the appointments you need fit into a reasonable working week.
Before making major commitments, bring together the confirmations for the premises, your setup budget, planned appointment schedule and cash flow forecast. If something is missing, you will know exactly what needs resolving. Our Swiss business registration checklist helps you complete the administrative preparation.
Frequently asked questions
Can you open a hair salon without a CFC/EFZ diploma?
A CFC/EFZ diploma is not a general federal requirement for opening an ordinary hairdressing salon. You still need to master the services you offer, comply with premises rules and check requirements for particular activities. Training apprentices requires cantonal authorisation and a person who meets the professional and teaching requirements.
How much money do you need to open a salon?
There is no single amount that suits every project. In our worked example, building work, equipment, launch costs and the cash reserve total CHF 72,000, excluding any rent deposit and the purchase of an existing client base. Replace these assumptions with your own quotes. A small, already-equipped space and a beauty salon with specialist devices need different levels of funding.
Can you open a salon at home?
It may be possible, depending on the project, but you need to check the lease or co-ownership rules, permitted residential use, client visits, nuisance and municipal and cantonal requirements. Obtain the necessary confirmations before converting a room or installing equipment.
Do you need to charge VAT from the day you open?
Yes, if the circumstances at startup indicate that relevant turnover will reach CHF 100,000 within twelve months. Otherwise, assess the VAT registration rules as the business develops. Taxable hairdressing and ordinary beauty services generally fall under the standard 8.1% rate.
Is a beauty therapy CFC/EFZ diploma enough to offer laser hair removal?
It does not automatically replace the certificate of competence required for the relevant treatment. Check the treatment category, technique and body area with the FOPH, then any cantonal requirements. A course provided by the device seller is not enough to demonstrate that all conditions are met.
How many clients do you need each day?
Divide the monthly amount you need to fund by the average contribution per appointment, then by the number of working days. Next, check that these appointments fit into the schedule with preparation, cleaning and other tasks. In our example, eight 75-minute appointments would require ten hours a day: the plan needs revising before you try to fill more slots.
Sources and reference points
Documentary sources checked on 13 October 2026. The budgets and schedules are worked examples, not client cases or industry-average prices. The regulatory and industry sources below are in French.
- SERI: regulation and recognition of professions (search for “coiffeur / coiffeuse”).
- Coiffure Suisse: requirements for training apprentices.
- FOPH: certificates of competence and O-LRNIS documents, including the September 2026 implementation document.
- Federal Tax Administration: VAT threshold and start of liability; VAT rates and operation.
- AHV/AVS: self-employment criteria and contributions; social protection for the self-employed.
- Swiss Confederation SME portal: commercial-register requirements.
- SECO: national hairdressing collective labour agreement and applicable orders.
Talk through your salon project
Legal structure, funding, remuneration and registration: a consultation helps you connect these decisions to your own situation.
Romain Prieur is a Swiss certified accountant and the founder of Entreprendre.ch. With more than ten years of experience in auditing and advising businesses in Switzerland, he helps entrepreneurs with company formation, accounting and taxation.
