Salon, spa and beauty business loans

Which loans work best for salons and beauty businesses?

A short term loan works best for a renovation, a marketing push or a slow quarter, because it funds in days and has a fixed payment. Equipment financing works best for chairs, stations, dryers and especially medspa lasers, which can cost $50,000 to $200,000 each and resell well. SBA 7(a) works best for a first location build out or buying a salon from a retiring owner.

• Short term loans: $5,000 to $150,000, 6 to 24 months, 15% to 60% APR.
• Equipment: 2 to 6 years, 0% to 20% down, 7% to 25% APR.
• SBA 7(a): $100,000 to $500,000 for most salon projects, 10 year terms.

A business credit card covers retail product orders and small purchases cheaply if paid off monthly.

What do lenders like and dislike about salons?

Lenders like card sales they can verify, booking software that shows repeat clients and utilization, a lease with several years left, and an owner who holds the license and still works behind the chair. Medspas with a medical director and recurring treatment plans get the best terms in the category.

They dislike the small size of most salons, stylist turnover that takes clients with it, and cash tips and services that never hit the bank. A booth rental salon is hard to fund because the owner's revenue is rent from stylists, not services, and lenders see it as a landlord with a short lease. Stacked advances are common and are the main reason a salon cannot get cheaper money later.

How much can a salon borrow?

Working capital lenders typically advance 50% to 100% of one month of deposits, so a salon depositing $25,000 a month usually sees $12,000 to $25,000. Equipment lenders fund the invoice, with 100% financing common on new chairs and lasers for owners with good credit. SBA 7(a) is sized by projected cash flow for a startup and by historical profit for an acquisition, with most salon loans landing between $100,000 and $500,000. Banks that do offer a line usually cap it at one month of sales. The how much can I borrow tool gives a realistic range.

What documents will you be asked for?

For an advance or a short term loan, three to six months of bank statements, card processing statements and your license are usually enough. For equipment, add the vendor quote. For SBA or an acquisition, expect:

• Two years of business and personal tax returns
• Year to date profit and loss and balance sheet
• Booking software reports showing clients, services and retention
• Your lease or a signed letter of intent for a new space
• A build out budget and contractor quotes
• The purchase agreement and seller financials for a buyout
• Cosmetology, barber or esthetics licenses and, for a medspa, the medical director agreement

See the document checklist for the rest.

What are the common uses of funds?

Beauty business loans typically pay for one of these.

• Opening a first location: an SBA 7(a) loan for a $250,000 build out, chairs and three months of operating cash.
• Equipment: a $120,000 laser for a medspa financed over five years, with treatments covering the payment.
• A renovation: a $40,000 short term loan to refresh the space before a lease renewal.
• A second location: see opening a second location.
• Retail inventory and marketing: a business credit card or a small line.
• Buying a salon: an acquisition loan with 10% down, sized to the seller's profit.

What usually gets a salon application declined?

The most common reasons are deposits under about $8,000 a month, NSF or negative balance days, being open under six months, and existing advances. Lenders also decline on a lease that ends within a year, an owner credit score under about 600 for online products or 650 for SBA, and bank statements where personal and business spending are mixed. Booth rental models are declined by most working capital lenders. For SBA openings, the usual problems are a weak plan, no industry experience and too little cash injection. Read why loans get denied and fix the easy ones before you apply.

How to apply

Apply once here with your bank and card statements and your license, and your application reaches short term, equipment and SBA lenders together. Or connect your AI assistant to our MCP server through the agents hub and let it read your statements, fill the application and submit it. It is free to the salon, and offers come back to the same place so you can compare the total cost of each one.