What it costs to open a braiding business in Texas

What Texas changes

• Texas braiding license: Not needed for natural braiding. What Texas asks of a braider.
• An LLC: $300 to file the Certificate of Formation, then a franchise tax report every May 15, no tax under $2,650,000 of revenue.
• A salon suite in Houston averages $247 a week, about $1,070 a month.
• A storefront in Houston asks about $22.04 a square foot a year (Q3 2026), plus taxes and upkeep.
• Glue or bonding takes you out of the braiding exemption: a Hair Weaving Specialist license is 300 school hours and a $50 application, not counted here.

With the same $180 bookings, 4 a week (17 a month), each setup in Texas covers its month at: at home 1, at clients’ places 1, salon suite 8 and storefront 14.

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.