What it costs to open a braiding business in Ohio

What Ohio changes

• Boutique services registration: Free, from the Cosmetology and Barber Board. What Ohio asks of a braider.
• An LLC: $99 to file the Articles of Organization, then no annual or biennial filing.
• A salon suite in Columbus averages $198 a week, about $858 a month.
• A storefront in Columbus asks about $21.08 a square foot a year (Q2 2026), plus taxes and upkeep.
• Where you braid decides the license. With a boutique registration you braid only in a licensed salon: at home, on the road or in your own storefront, that is a salon license of your own, $85 new. In a suite, the building holds one; ask whether you need the $75 independent contractor license too.

With the same $180 bookings, 4 a week (17 a month), each setup in Ohio covers its month at: at home 1, at clients’ places 1, salon suite 7 and storefront 13.

How these numbers are worked out

• Before your first client is the one-time costs plus your first month, so you open with that month paid.
• Hair is 5 packs of 3X pre-stretched hair a booking, what medium knotless to mid-back takes, at a beauty supply’s regular price. Set it to $0 if your clients bring their own.
• Card fees are Stripe’s 2.9% + 30¢ on every booking, as if every client pays by card.
• Insurance is the average general liability policy hair salons buy through Insureon, $35 a month. Professional liability, which covers a client’s claim about the service itself, averages $42 more there.
• Break-even is the month’s fixed costs (rent, insurance, the app) divided by what each booking leaves once its hair, card fee and driving are paid, rounded up.

What isn’t counted

What nobody publishes in a way we could check: a suite’s deposit (operators set it lease by lease), a storefront’s build-out, utilities and taxes on top of a triple-net rent, products, a ring light and the small tools on the supplies checklist, and income tax. Most of these are write-offs. Tap a line to put in your own figure.