Opening hairdressing salons looks like a wish list in most guides: premises, decor, clients. In practice it is a sequence of decisions, each with a price and a deadline. Below is the 2026 checklist: from PKD codes and the start relief through the fiscal register to choosing a booking system, with costs in z\u0142oty for three salon sizes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before you go to any office, answer one question: what salon will it be. Costs, premises and the way of working all depend on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A one-person studio.<\/strong> One station and one specialisation: manicure, brows, cosmetology. This is usually the real answer to “how to open a nail salon”: a small unit or a rented station, minimal equipment, you play every role yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A mid-size salon: 3\u20135 stations.<\/strong> Hairdressing plus beauty or nails, a team of 4\u20136 and someone at reception at least part-time. This is the most common format in Poland and the one this checklist is written for: big enough that processes stop fitting in a notebook, and small enough that every mistake shows in the till.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A large salon or a chain.<\/strong> From 8 stations up, a manager, separate service zones. The steps are the same, a management layer is added: standardised services, per-location reporting, one brand for all sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From here on we calculate for the mid-size salon, and at the costs step we show all three variants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The paperwork answer to opening a beauty business: for a single owner the natural form is a sole proprietorship. You register it free of charge in CEIDG via biznes.gov.pl<\/a>, and the application goes automatically to the tax office, ZUS and GUS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The PKD code for hairdressing and beauty treatments is 96.02.Z<\/strong>: one code covers cutting, manicure and cosmetology alike. Mind one 2025 detail: the new PKD 2025 classification applies, so registering now you pick codes from the new list; businesses registered earlier may use the old codes until the end of the transition period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider a limited company only when you plan a partner or a chain: for a single salon at the start, a sole proprietorship is cheaper to run and sufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest first-year relief is written into the Entrepreneurs’ Law<\/a> and works in steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Months 1\u20136: the start relief.<\/strong> You pay no social contributions at all, only the health contribution remains: in 2026 a minimum of 432.54 z\u0142 a month on the tax scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Months 7\u201330: preferential ZUS.<\/strong> Social contributions calculated on 30% of the minimum wage, i.e. on a base of 1,441.80 z\u0142: that is 456.18 z\u0142 a month plus health, instead of full ZUS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From month 31:<\/strong> full contributions, possibly Ma\u0142y ZUS Plus at low revenues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Translate it into visits: with an average 90 z\u0142 service, the first year of contributions equals 5\u20136 visits a month. In practice this reserve finances the start of your marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Location.<\/strong> For a mid-size salon foot traffic and easy access matter most: ground floor with a street-facing window, a bus stop or parking within a few minutes, neighbours that generate daytime visits, meaning offices, housing, a school. Before you decide, count passers-by during your future working hours: half an hour on Tuesday before noon and on Saturday afternoon tells you more than the listing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lease.<\/strong> Three points to negotiate before you sign: a rent-free period for the renovation and the notice period, the owner’s written consent to rebuilding and installing utilities, the rules for rent increases. Also check the unit’s formal designation: if on paper it is residential, changing its use category to services is a construction-law procedure and weeks of waiting you must build into the schedule. (Every commercial unit in Poland has a registered use category, e.g. residential or services; a salon needs the latter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Utilities and layout.<\/strong> Water at the stations, working ventilation, an electrical connection that carries the equipment: installing utilities can cost more than the whole decor, so an “almost ready” unit often beats a cheaper one needing a full renovation. In salon design one rule is free: every surface, from the counter to the chair upholstery and the reception desk, must be washable and disinfectable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hygiene requirements are a separate topic we have already covered: before opening, read the piece on the sanepid inspection<\/a> and write down the disinfection<\/a> procedures before the first client arrives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here guides mislead most often, so plainly: hairdressing and beauty services have no exemption from the fiscal register<\/strong>. You must have an online register from the very first service performed, regardless of turnover. The good news: buying your first register you recover 90% of its net price, up to 700 z\u0142, if you start recording on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n VAT is the opposite, mercifully: up to 200,000 z\u0142 of annual revenue you use the subjective exemption, so a freshly opened salon usually does not settle VAT. Watch the limit, counted proportionally from your start date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Market ranges as of September 2026, excluding rent and deposit: the spread depends mainly on the state of the premises. This is orientation for planning, not a quote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A business plan with full revenue maths and the break-even point is a separate topic and a separate piece we are preparing; at the checklist stage one rule suffices: count the month’s fixed costs and check how many visits cover them before you sign the lease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most guides skip this step, yet it decides whose your client base will be. You choose the system before opening for a simple reason: the bookings should land in your system from day one, and moving booking history between systems after a year of work is weeks of manual labour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four selection criteria. Online booking 24\/7 on your channels:<\/strong> the client books herself via your website, social media or Google Maps, and the booking lands straight in the calendar, in your system, not in a notebook. A CRM with history:<\/strong> a client card with visit history, notes and consents, because all returning traffic stands on it. Automation:<\/strong> visit reminders without reception’s involvement, an inventory with material write-offs, daily reports without spreadsheets. Scalability:<\/strong> if you think about growth, start with a system that grows with you. In Altegio a second location is a chain configuration where you set services up once and copy them to further sites, not a second separate app: expansion does not require changing platforms at the worst possible moment, which is mid-growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And here an important distinction: a booking system is not the same as a marketplace<\/strong>. A marketplace gives visibility in its own catalogue, but the new client books “in the app”, not “at your salon”: the base and the relationship grow on the platform’s side, and from an acquired client it can take up to 40% of the visit’s value in commission. You are then building someone else’s brand with your own money. Your own booking system reverses that arrangement: the channels are yours, the base is yours, and the brand the client remembers is your name above the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A mid-size salon team is 4\u20136 people, and it is worth starting the search 6\u20138 weeks before opening: good stylists have a notice period with their current employer. Recruit through a portfolio and a trial day on a model, not the CV alone: in this trade hands say more than paper. Sign the contracts and put the pay rules in writing before the opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plan a week of onboarding before the start. Three things every team member must know before the first client walks in: the service standard step by step, the hygiene procedures, and how to operate the booking system, meaning create a booking, move it and close the payment. An hour of practice in the system before opening saves weeks of chaos after it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Set the first days’ schedule cautiously: not a full line-up from morning to evening, but 2\u20133 people per shift with buffers between visits, because the first services in a new place always take longer than planned. You switch on full capacity when the reports show the real service times, not the ones from the price list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do the opening in two steps, because each tests something different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A week of quiet start.<\/strong> Invite friends and family, but serve them like walk-in clients: booking through the website, the full procedure, payment through the register. The goal is not revenue but a test: the real time of every service, the client’s flow from entry to payment, whether the reminders go out, whether the register prints. After each day, fifteen minutes with the team: what creaked, what we change tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The proper opening with a promotion that comes back.<\/strong> Run a promotion in the first days, but design it to return to you by two routes. Instead of a first-visit discount, which attracts bargain hunters, give every opening-day client a coupon for the second visit<\/strong>, for example -20% valid 6 weeks: this way the opening days fill your second month’s calendar, not just the first weekend. Add a referral bonus<\/strong>: a client who brings a friend, and that friend, each get a small service or a discount. Count it: 30 opening-day visits with a coupon means, at typical redemption, a dozen-plus returns within 6 weeks plus new people from referrals, so the second month starts with a filled calendar instead of an empty reception. Both mechanics require only one thing: every visit and coupon recorded in the system, not on paper slips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How much does it cost to open a hairdressing salon?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly: a one-person studio 17\u201338k z\u0142, a mid-size salon with 4 stations 80\u2013180k z\u0142, a large salon from 230k z\u0142 up, excluding rent and deposit. The spread comes from the premises: renovation and utilities can cost more than all the station equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What PKD code for a beauty and hairdressing salon?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The base code is 96.02.Z: hairdressing and other beauty treatments. It covers cutting, colouring, manicure, pedicure and cosmetic treatments. From 2025 the PKD 2025 classification applies, so for a new registration you pick codes from the current list in CEIDG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does a hairdresser have to have a fiscal register?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, from the first service. Hairdressing and beauty services are excluded from the recording exemptions, regardless of turnover. Buying the first online register on time, you recover 90% of its net price, up to 700 z\u0142 of relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can you open a salon without hairdressing qualifications?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes. Hairdressing and cosmetology are unregulated professions in Poland: the law does not require a diploma to start the business. You are responsible for service safety though, so the team’s qualifications and hygiene procedures are your insurance policy, not a formality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This article is for information purposes and does not replace legal or tax advice. The primary source is always the current legal acts, and regulations and rates change. Before you register the business and sign contracts, discuss any doubts with your accountant or a lawyer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The checklist closes in one sentence: formalities once, a system of work for years. In Altegio bookings from your website and social media land in the calendar by themselves from day one, and you add a second location without changing platforms<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Try 7 days free<\/a> \u00b7 See pricing<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Opening a salon without chaos: which formalities to handle at the start, from CEIDG and PKD to the start relief, how much opening costs for three salon sizes, and why you choose the booking system before your first client<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":27276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-negocio"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tStep 1. Business form and CEIDG registration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 2. ZUS: the start relief and preferential contributions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 3. The premises: location, lease and utilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 4. The fiscal register and VAT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 5. Equipment and opening costs: how much you really need<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Item<\/th> Studio, 1 station<\/th> Mid-size salon, 4 stations<\/th> Large salon, 8+ stations<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Renovation and adaptation<\/td> 5\u201315k z\u0142<\/td> 30\u201380k z\u0142<\/td> 100\u2013200k z\u0142<\/td><\/tr>\n Station furniture and equipment<\/td> 8\u201315k z\u0142<\/td> 30\u201360k z\u0142<\/td> 80\u2013150k z\u0142<\/td><\/tr>\n Starting materials<\/td> 2\u20134k z\u0142<\/td> 10\u201320k z\u0142<\/td> 25\u201340k z\u0142<\/td><\/tr>\n Reception, waiting area<\/td> \u2013<\/td> 5\u201310k z\u0142<\/td> 15\u201330k z\u0142<\/td><\/tr>\n Register, system, launch marketing<\/td> 2\u20134k z\u0142<\/td> 5\u201310k z\u0142<\/td> 10\u201320k z\u0142<\/td><\/tr>\n Total<\/strong><\/td> 17\u201338k z\u0142<\/strong><\/td> 80\u2013180k z\u0142<\/strong><\/td> 230\u2013440k z\u0142<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Step 6. The online booking system and CRM: choose before you open<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 7. The team: recruitment, training and the first days’ schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 8. The opening: a quiet start and a first-days promotion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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