Is a salon suite right for me? Ask these 10 questions first.

I get asked about salon suites almost every week, usually by somebody who’s ready to go independent, standing in front of two or three options and trying to work out which one is theirs.

So let me say the thing people don’t expect me to say...

Salon suites are good, and plenty of beauty pros are happy in one. The door is the product, so if quiet is what you want most, go get one.

Who this is for, and who should wait

This is for a beauty pro comparing spaces, whether your book is full or you’re still building it. If you’re straight out of school, here’s how I put it: “When you’re first leaving school, you probably don’t need to go independent. You need to go to commission.”

And if a private room genuinely sounds better than an open floor, I’ll be the first to tell you: “If you like a lot of alone time and don’t want the community of a salon, maybe a suite is right for you. We’re not for everyone, and we don’t want to be.” Either way, read whatever you’re about to sign before you read the rest of this.

Going independent is a normal move now, since 48% of American hairdressers and cosmetologists already work for themselves, nearly 600,000 people, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. You’d be joining half the profession, so just walk in with your eyes open.

The number on the lease is usually the smallest number in the deal.

What does a salon suite actually cost to rent?

A single suite runs about $265 to $480 a week in smaller markets and $325 to $900 in big cities, going by the 2026 ranges a national suite company published on its rate page. In Austin, that same source lists singles at $385 to $625 a week and doubles at $775 to $1,100.

I’ve seen Austin rates all over the map, so in Module 1 of my Beauty Empire Blueprint course I tell students to expect anywhere from $150 to $1,000 a week. That range is wider because it spans every suite company in town.

For comparison, industry estimates from GlossGenius put booth rent around $400 a month on average, anywhere from $250 to $1,200 depending on the market. And in a commission salon, Vagaro’s guide puts typical splits between 40% and 60% of your service sales, with 50/50 the most common.

Those three numbers describe three different jobs, and that’s the real choice you’re making. The lease line is only where it starts.

Here’s how they line up side by side...

• Salon suite: $265–$900 a week, per a national suite company; Austin singles run $385–$625 a week.
• Booth rent: about $400 a month, ranging $250–$1,200, per GlossGenius.
• Commission: 40%–60% splits, 50/50 most common, per Vagaro.
• 48% of American hairdressers and cosmetologists, nearly 600,000 people, already work for themselves, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What should I add on top of the lease?

Behind your own door, every line item is yours. Here’s what typically lands on top of a suite lease, with 2026 prices where a source publishes one...

Sometimes utilities and wifi are extra, and sometimes there’s a set-up charge before you’ve taken a single client. Behindthechair.com also flags the quieter lease terms: annual rent increases once you’re rooted, and exit clauses that can mean a buyout or paying the remaining balance if you need out early. That’s just how the model works.

I teach my students to ask about all of this before they sign. My Important Questions to Ask Salon Owners lesson lists contract length, penalties for leaving early and who covers cleaning supplies by name.

Most of us budget the lease and forget the rest the first time.

How many hours will running my own door actually take?

Running your own door means you’re the one restocking backbar on a Sunday, and the one getting up mid-color because somebody’s knocking. Count those hours before you sign.

That’s why my Module 1 training has you ask every salon owner about the receptionist, cleaning and laundry, since in a private suite all three usually land back on you. If you’ve never tracked those hours, ask somebody already in a suite what a week really looks like.

Will I miss having people around?

A door buys privacy, and it also means silence.

Some people thrive in that and would never go back. Others find out in month three that they missed having someone to ask “what would you do with this color?” between clients.

It’s the first question in Module 1 of my course: do you thrive in a private suite, or in an open, collaborative environment? I meant what I said up top about alone time.

Only you know which one you are, and it’s expensive to get wrong.

Picture what your client walks into, too: a hallway of closed doors, or a room with work happening in it.

Will my clients follow me?

This is the fear that keeps most people in a chair they’ve outgrown, so let’s start with a real data point. In a Phorest consumer survey, 84% of Americans said they’d be likely to follow their favorite stylist to a new location.

Here’s how I put it: “Will your clients follow you? Short answer, yeah, if you do it right. You have to make it easy for clients to follow you.”

What are the 10 questions to ask on every tour?

Ask these 10 questions on every tour, because any place worth your money will answer all of them without flinching. I teach a version of this same list to my own students before they ever walk into a space, and it holds up against any option, including us.

Here’s the full list...

You’ll make a better decision holding those answers than holding a price.

One Texas note

The paperwork is lighter than people think, and a stylist asked me about it in my live Module 1 workshop, too. In Texas, TDLR licenses the space rather than the arrangement: a private room inside a licensed establishment needs a mini-establishment license ($70, good for two years, and either you or the owner can hold it), while working at a station inside a licensed salon requires nothing beyond the license you already carry.

Wherever you are, check your own state board before you sign anything.

★★★★★

The energy at bex+Co.^® is something you can't explain until you feel it. I've worked in salons that claimed to be 'family' but it never felt like that. Here, there's no competition. Everyone wants to see you succeed.

Bex could’ve rented a suite. Why build bex+Co.?

What I needed was a setup that didn’t exist yet, so I built it. I’ve spent twenty years behind the chair, commission first and then on my own, so I knew both of the options out there.

Here’s how I tell it...

“There was either commission or there was booth rent. So I built a third category, a Shared Workspace Salon™. It brings people together, it creates community and collaboration, and it supports stylists the way I needed to be supported.”

So in 2015 I built that third category and called it a Shared Workspace Salon™. It’s one open floor with your own station on it, your own key and 24-hour access, and towels, backbar and cleaning are handled so you walk in and work. You set your prices, you keep your clients, and there’s no long-term contract.

It’s the support I needed and couldn’t find, and that’s why it exists.

What should I do next?

Ask us the same 10 questions. Come stand in one of our salons, walk the floor, and ask the people working there anything you want. I’d rather you did.

And if a suite turns out to be right for you, go be great in it. The thing I’d hate is you signing something you never fully priced.