How to Take Over an Existing Beauty Salon. If you have experience in the hair and salon industry, you may want to consider buying an existing salon. Taking over an existing beauty salon can reduce the cost to start your own business. You don't have to worry about the build-out expense, building a clientele or purchasing furniture, fixtures and equipment.

Find a beauty salon for sale. Many beauty salon owners sell their business through a broker. You may have to sign a confidentiality agreement, which may restrict your ability to interview staff before the purchase.

Hire a CPA to go over the existing salon's financial documents. A CPA looks for all the details a business owner might miss, including quarterly taxes. Plus, the CPA can analyze the trends and tell you if the current valuation is accurate.

Learn the structure for the business. Some beauty salons pay the stylists a commission. Other salons only work with independent contractors. If you have commission stylists, the salon may offer benefits and paid vacation.

Look at the software and inventory. Outdated computers, software and product hurt your future sales and some business owners over-value them. Test the system and make sure it handles all the features you want. Also check to ensure all product is less than one year old.

Determine if the price and the clientele fit the market trends. If you can't maintain the clientele, you'll need extra funding to keep you afloat until you rebuild it. This may mean extra expense for advertising, changing the current structure of the salon to get more business or bringing in a stylist with clientele.

Negotiate with the owner. Make sure you pay a good value. If you don't, you may not be able to make the business profitable.

Secure funding and complete the transaction. Once you have everything ready to go, sign the paperwork and get the keys.

Warning

Some business owners keep the sale secret, which leads to employee distrust issues.