How to Rent a Salon Suite in Michigan

A salon suite is a private, lockable room inside a larger building that you lease from the building's operator. You set your own prices, hours, services and products, and you keep what you earn. The operator usually handles the building, utilities, common areas and often Wi-Fi and laundry.

In exchange, you take on the jobs a salon owner normally covers: finding and keeping clients, booking, buying products, insurance and your own taxes.

You need a current individual license from Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) for the services you offer. Training requirements are 1,500 hours for cosmetologists and 400 hours for natural hair culturists. Estheticians need 750 hours and manicurists 600 hours if they started training on or after July 1, 2024. Those who started earlier need 400 hours.

Michigan's Occupational Code treats a cosmetology suite as a kind of cosmetology establishment: a room inside a licensed establishment that is leased or rented from its owner. Before you sign, ask the operator how establishment licensing works in their building and whether you need to file anything yourself. LARA's establishment license currently costs $75 for two years and requires a floor diagram and an inspection before you open.

• Rent, which is usually weekly or monthly, plus any deposit or first-and-last payment
• Professional liability insurance, which most operators require
• Backbar and retail products
• Booking software and card processing fees
• Furniture or equipment not supplied with the suite
• Money set aside for income and self-employment taxes
• A cushion for the first few months while your book fills

• Confirm your license is current and in the right category for every service you plan to offer.
• Estimate how many regular clients will follow you. That number is the best predictor of whether suite rent works for you.
• Tour at least two or three buildings. Use our salon suite tour checklist so you compare them on the same terms.
• Read the lease carefully: term length, rent increases, notice to leave, what's included, and what happens if you need to break it.
• Set up insurance, booking and payments before move-in day.
• Tell your clients early, and claim your free profile on Michigan Salon Suites so new clients can find you.