Quick answer
Yes — a chair-renting hairdresser or barber can often borrow to open their own salon, because renting a chair means you already run a business. Lenders read your tax returns, BAS and bank statements as a sole trader, your chair rent as proof you carry a fixed cost, and your client book as the bridge to new takings. Equipment finance usually covers chairs and basins; the fit-out and first months need savings, property security or working capital.
Key points
- Chair renters already have business income on record — that's your trading history
- Your chair rent shows a lender you can carry a fixed cost every week
- Opening your own salon adds a lease, a fit-out, equipment, stock and maybe staff
- Split the funding: equipment finance for gear, other money for works and the first months
- Prove your client book will follow you — and check your chair agreement first
You’ve built a loyal book. Clients rebook before they leave. You’re paying chair rent every week to someone else’s salon — and you’ve started noticing empty shopfronts on your way to work. That itch is one of the most common milestones in hair and barbering: going from one rented chair to a salon with your name above the door.
Here’s the good news most chair renters don’t realise. Renting a chair means you already run a business. That matters a lot when you ask a lender for money. This guide walks through what a lender sees in your numbers, which costs are genuinely new, and how to fund each part without stretching yourself thin.
Do lenders count chair-rental income?
Yes. A genuine rent-a-chair stylist is a sole trader: you have an ABN, you take payment from your own clients, and you pay the salon a fee for the space. Every year that income lands in your tax return as business income.
To a lender, that’s trading history. It isn’t the same as a salon with three years of accounts, but it’s a long way ahead of a first-time owner with nothing on record. Here’s what they’ll typically read:
- Tax returns and notices of assessment — usually the last one or two years, showing what you earn after costs
- Business bank statements — client payments coming in, chair rent and product costs going out, and how the balance behaves
- BAS — if you’re registered for GST
- Your rent-a-chair agreement — proof of the arrangement and the fee you pay
- Your client numbers — a booking-system export says more than any adjective
One tip: if your client payments and personal spending all run through one account, start separating them now. Clean statements are the fastest way to a clear answer. Our business loan documents checklist covers the rest.
Why your chair rent is secretly a strong number
Most stylists see chair rent as money gone. A lender sees something else: you’ve paid a fixed cost, every week, for years, without missing. That’s exactly the behaviour a salon lease demands.
It also gives you a clean starting point for your forecast. Take what you pay in chair rent today, compare it to the full weekly cost of running your own salon, and the difference is the hurdle your extra takings need to clear. If you’ll have more chairs filled — by you, staff or renters of your own — you can show how quickly you get over it.
What changes when it’s your salon?
Right now the salon owner carries most of the overheads. When you open your own, they become yours. Here’s the shift, line by line:
| Today, renting a chair | When you open your own salon |
|---|---|
| Weekly chair or station fee | Commercial lease, rent in advance and a bond or bank guarantee |
| The salon’s chairs, basins and dryers | Your own styling chairs, backwash units, dryers, mirrors and stations |
| A fit-out someone else paid for | Plumbing for basins, hot water, electrical capacity, lighting, joinery, flooring and signage |
| Your own products and tools | Opening retail stock, colour stock and back-bar supplies |
| Your own insurance | Public liability, contents and business insurance for the whole premises |
| No one to pay but you | Staff wages and super — or your own chair-rental agreements |
| Possibly under the GST threshold | GST registration likely once turnover reaches $75,000 |
The two lines that surprise people most are basins and power. Backwash units need plumbing and plenty of hot water, and a row of dryers and straighteners can push an older shop’s electrical supply. Get a plumber and electrician through the space before you sign anything. Our fit-out budget builder helps you add it all up with a contingency.
Check approvals early too. The ABLIS licence finder on business.gov.au lists the licences, permits and registrations for your type of business in your state and council area — particularly if you plan to add beauty, skin or waxing services alongside hair.
Sketching the numbers for your own salon? Start a 60-second enquiry — there’s no credit check just to ask, and someone will help you see which parts can be funded.
How do you split the funding?
The mistake we see is trying to fund the whole opening with one loan. Each part of a salon behaves differently, so match the money to the job.
Chairs, basins and equipment → equipment finance. Styling chairs, backwash units, dryers and treatment gear are identifiable assets, so they can usually secure their own finance, with the lender paying the supplier directly. There’s a tax angle too: the ATO’s instant asset write-off lets eligible small businesses (aggregated turnover under $10 million) immediately deduct assets costing less than $20,000 each, and the ATO says that limit is now permanent from 1 July 2026. Ask your accountant how it applies to your purchases. See equipment finance.
The fit-out → savings, property security or both. Plumbing, joinery and paint can’t be repossessed and resold, so lenders don’t treat them like equipment. For a brand-new salon, the fit-out usually comes from your own funds, a property-secured loan if you have equity, or a mix. Our page on fit-out finance explains the options, and our secured business loans cover borrowing against property from $20k to $5m.
Opening stock and the first months → working capital. Even with clients following you, the first weeks are rarely smooth. A buffer for rent, stock and wages — or a business line of credit you draw only when needed — stops a slow Tuesday from becoming a cash problem.
Unsecured options → case by case. Because you have sole-trader income on record, some lenders will look at unsecured funding sized on your turnover and bank statements. For a new salon it’s assessed carefully, so be ready to show your history clearly.
Will your clients really follow you?
This is the question behind every salon loan, and the one most stylists answer with a hunch. Answer it with evidence instead.
- Read your rent-a-chair agreement. Look for any restraint, non-solicitation or client-list clause before you tell anyone you’re leaving. If something’s unclear, get it checked.
- Confirm your client data is yours. If you’ve been using the salon’s booking system, find out what you can export and take with you.
- Count your regulars. How many clients have seen you at least three times in the past year? What share rebook on the spot?
- Map where they live. A shop ten minutes away keeps most of them; one across the city may not.
- Plan the announcement. Give clients a date, a reason to come, and a way to book online from day one.
That one-page summary of regulars and rebooking strengthens your forecast and gives a lender something real to work with.
The other side: when you become the one renting out chairs
Many new salon owners rent spare chairs to other stylists to share the rent. It’s a sensible way to fill seats while the books build, and that income can help repay your loan.
But the employee-or-contractor question now lands on you. The ATO’s employee or contractor guidance looks at the whole working relationship — who controls the work, who sets prices, who carries the risk — not just what the agreement calls someone. If you set rosters and prices and book clients into your system as salon clients, that can look like employment.
If you hire employees instead, the Hair and Beauty Industry Award sets minimum pay and conditions, and super is now paid with every pay run. Our page on funding new hires shows how to cover wages until the extra chairs pay their way.
An illustrative example
Illustrative only: A colourist has rented a chair in an inner-suburban salon for four years. Her tax returns show steady sole-trader income, her bank statements show chair rent paid every week, and her booking system shows a solid base of regulars rebooking every six to eight weeks. She finds a small shopfront with existing plumbing, ten minutes from her current salon. Equipment finance covers three styling chairs, two backwash units and dryers. Savings plus a loan secured against her home cover the fit-out and signage. A small line of credit sits in reserve for the first quarter. One spare chair is rented to a barber under a written agreement, which helps with the rent while her own column fills.
A six-month countdown to your own salon
- Six months out: separate your business banking, tidy your records, pull your tax returns and notices of assessment.
- Five months out: read your chair agreement, export your client data, count your regulars.
- Four months out: shortlist premises; get plumbing and electrical checked before you negotiate.
- Three months out: get equipment quotes and a fit-out estimate; talk to us about funding before you sign the lease.
- Two months out: sign the lease, confirm approvals, register for GST if you’ll cross the threshold.
- Opening month: fit-out, delivery, insurance, booking system live, client announcement out.
Ready to make the move to your own salon?
Opening your own salon is a big, exciting leap — and you’re starting from a stronger place than you might think. You’ve already proven clients want you and that you can pay your way every week. The right funding simply turns that track record into a space of your own.
Tell us what you’re planning: the premises, the chairs, the fit-out and when you want to open. Enquiring takes about a minute and there’s no credit check when you first enquire. We won’t send your details to a pile of lenders — your phone won’t light up with strangers. A real person reads your situation and calls you to talk it through. Please fill the form in accurately, especially your income and the amount you need, so we can line up the right option the first time.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a business loan if I've only ever rented a chair?
Often, yes. A genuine chair renter is a sole trader with an ABN, so your tax returns, notices of assessment, bank statements and any BAS show business income. Lenders treat that as trading history, even though the salon itself is new. How much you can borrow, and on what security, is assessed case by case.
What documents do I need to show my chair-rental income?
Usually your last one or two tax returns and notices of assessment, recent business bank statements, BAS if you're registered for GST, your rent-a-chair agreement, and a booking-system export showing client numbers and rebooking. A short plan for the new salon helps too.
Can I finance salon chairs, basins and dryers?
Yes. Styling chairs, backwash units, dryers and treatment equipment are commonly funded with equipment finance, with the lender paying the supplier directly. The ATO's instant asset write-off lets eligible small businesses deduct assets costing less than $20,000 each — a limit the ATO says is permanent from 1 July 2026.
Do I need to register for GST when I open my own salon?
The ATO says you must register once your GST turnover reaches $75,000 — or you expect it to. Many stylists renting a chair sit under that, but a salon with several chairs or staff can cross it quickly. Plan for GST on your prices and quarterly BAS from the start.
Will my clients follow me to my new salon?
Many do, but don't assume it. Check your rent-a-chair agreement for any restraint or non-solicitation clause, confirm you can take your client list, and look at your rebooking rate. That evidence helps both your forecast and your loan application.
Can I rent chairs to other stylists in my new salon?
Yes, and that income can help repay a loan. But the employee-or-contractor question now sits with you. The ATO looks at the whole working relationship, not the label, so set up written agreements that match how the stylists really work.