Buying a Hair Salon - What Requirements Do You Need?
Anyone looking to buy a hair salon can choose from a wide range of listings across Germany. Various chambers of trade, such as the one in Halle, report that among succession requests for trade businesses and bakeries, hair salons are especially in demand. Do you need a master craftsman qualification to buy and then run a hair salon? That's one of the most common questions when it comes to takeovers in the hairdressing trade. Part of the answer is that Germany does, in principle, require a master craftsman qualification for this trade. If you don't have one as a buyer, you can of course hire a master craftsman. Without a master craftsman certificate, it's only possible with a practice permit under Section 7b of the Crafts Code (Handwerksordnung), or an exemption under Section 8 of that same code. The wording of the law is fairly vague, giving the chambers of trade considerable leeway — exploring that leeway in your individual case is often worth it. There's no way around a trade license, though, which you need to open a hair salon.
What's a Fair Price?
The question of a fair price soon comes up. To determine as objective a value for the salon as possible, there's the income-capitalization method, which values the business based on future earnings surpluses. Also helpful is the valuation method developed by the Working Group of Business Consultants for the Trades (AWH). Under the so-called AWH standard, you get a rough estimate of a hair salon's purchase price by applying 40 percent of annual revenue, using the average annual revenue of the past three years. This gives you a first impression of the business's value.