At Pursuit, we frequently hear that our clients launched their own businesses because they wanted more autonomy and freedom than the workforce provided. That’s exactly what spurred Cristina Badia, stylist and entrepreneur, to launch two successful salons in upstate New York.
We sat down with Cristina to learn more about her journey, which took her from the Dominican Republic to Schenectady, New York, and the opportunities and challenges she encountered along the way.
What inspired you to start your own salon?
Hair styling has been my passion for my entire life. I had a salon in the Dominican Republic for many years. When I first came to the United States, I opened a small salon in my home in a very small community in upstate New York. I realized that I needed more stability, so I started working at a salon chain like the one you see in malls and Walmart. They offered restricted services with few opportunities to work with textured hair, so I couldn’t pursue what I really wanted to do.
I eventually found my own location in Schenectady, NY. It was a small space with about five salon chairs, but within a year demand became so popular that I outgrew the space. It took about four years to find the space that I am at now, but I finally have a good location and I can pursue my passions freely.
Your salon is a Fantastic Sam’s. How did you get involved with that franchise?
When I started to search for a bigger space, I came across this Fantastic Sam’s location. My husband and business partner, John, and I bought it because we knew the location was great, and we decided to keep the name because I knew my clients would follow us anywhere. When we first took over the place they had a very small client base made up of mostly senior citizens and young families. This is part of what helped make Salon Cristina unique; today we have a very diverse client base and offer services to people of all ages, genders, and hair types, something a lot of other salons can’t say.
When we first bought the Fantastic Sam’s location, it wasn’t even ranked among all franchise locations, but within the first year it jumped to number 34 in the country.
Did you have any women role models or mentors that helped and supported you in starting your own business?
I come from a family of hair dressers. A lot of my female relatives work in salons so I’ve been watching them do hair since I was little. I’m inspired by their work every day. They made me realize that it is my passion, and I think it’s a great profession to go into.
Did you always want to be an entrepreneur? When did you realize you wanted to start a business?
I love to do hair, it just lead into becoming an entrepreneur because when I was working for other people, I couldn’t use the creativity I wanted to or offer all the services I wanted to. I wanted to be able to work with clients with textured hair and give them the quality service they needed and that’s where owning my own business came about.
What are the biggest financial challenges you faced while opening and running your business?
[There was] unresolved debt which caused difficulties with payroll and operating activities. Trying to turn the business around and have positive cash flow was the biggest challenge we faced.
Financing the continued growth of our business will always be a challenge. When we first bought the location, the workstations were pretty outdated, so we’re still in the process of investing around $20,000 to update those. We also ran into a problem about a month into buying the place; our heating system had died and it was almost winter, so we had to spend about $13,000 to replace that, which caused lower profits during that time.
How has Pursuit helped with those financial challenges?
Our SmartLoan™ allowed us to take ownership of our cash flow and our finances, as it offers consistent monthly payments. The loan features monthly, rather than daily, payments which was one of the problems that the previous owners were facing. Our cash flow has turned from negative to positive within just a year, which is pretty huge for us. Now, the salon is debt-free, outside of our Pursuit loan.
Would you use Pursuit again for any alternative financing needs?
Yes, I actually just recently finished the process of applying for an SBA 7(a) loan with Pursuit. I’m going to use this loan to refinance the initial loan, as the interest rate is lower and I can get additional funding for the salon.
What are some of your goals going forward?
I just opened a new location in Clifton Park, NY and I’m in the process of reorganizing that and getting it ready. I like to keep in mind that goals are fluid. My salon is part of a national chain, and it’s my goal to stay in the top ten of earners nationally. I’d also like to establish myself as a viable employer who offers valuable benefits to her employees. As far as long-term goals, I’d love to get the business into a position where other people can operate the day-to-day tasks, so my husband and I can slow down our work load. Right now we are working six or seven days a week, each!
What advice would you give to a woman (or anyone) who is looking to start their own business?
I’d definitely say not to rush into anything. In the haircare world, I see a lot of people graduate from beauty school and immediately want to open their own businesses. I think it’s important to make sure it’s really your passion first because you’re going to be doing it all day long. That’s true for any industry. I’d also say to make sure you surround yourself with people you trust and people you enjoy being around and working with because that can really make or break a business.
We look forward to seeing continuous success and growth for Cristina and Salon Cristina in the future!
