Opening a second branch: what to set up before the doors open

When you open a second branch, the business setup comes down to one question for everything: is it shared between branches or kept separate? Clients, the service menu and memberships are best shared, so a client is known at both. Cash drawers, stock and opening hours must be separate, so each branch can be counted on its own. Prices can start shared and differ where the rent does. Staff belong to a main branch but can cover the other. Get that split right and your reports will show each branch on its own and both together, from the first day.

Shared or separate: the map

The one rule to keep: money and stock are always counted per branch. If two branches share a drawer or a stock cupboard, nobody can ever say which one is short.

One menu, branch prices where needed

Keep one service menu so a “Global colour” means the same thing at both. Then decide whether prices differ. A branch on a high street with higher rent may charge ₹100 more for a haircut; a smaller branch may take longer for a facial. Set a branch price only where it really differs, so you have a short list of exceptions.

A client with a membership or package should be able to use it at either branch. That is one of the main reasons to open a second branch under the same name: it makes clients feel known. For setting the prices themselves, see pricing salon services.

Staff who cover both

Give everyone a main branch. That is where their salary sits and where their attendance rules come from. Then let people cover the other branch when it’s short. Two kinds:

• A move: someone transfers for good, from a date.
• A loan: someone helps the other branch for a few days. Their salary stays at home, and their commission follows the bills they did.

Staff who work at both need to check in at the branch they are in that day. It is fairer to them too: when they cover, the record shows it. Agree in advance whether travel between branches is paid.

For the opening weeks, send one or two experienced people from the first branch to the new one. They know how you greet clients, how you price, and how the till and cash count work, and they can train new hires on the floor. Make it clear it’s a temporary move, with a date to go back, so the first branch doesn’t feel stripped.

A manager for each branch

You can’t stand at both counters. A branch manager should be able to run the day (bills, bookings, attendance, cash count) for their branch only. Owners see everything; managers see their branches; reception and stylists see what their job needs. Keep commission rates and the business’s overall profit with the owner.

Write down what a manager may approve alone (discounts up to a limit, advances up to an amount, write-offs up to a value) and what comes to you.

Cash drawers and stock, apart

Cash. Each branch counts its own drawer every evening, with its own shortfalls and its own “taken to the bank”. See the cash tally.

Stock. Each branch keeps its own shelf. When one sends product to the other, record a transfer that stays “on the way” until it arrives, so neither branch looks wrong in between. Set low-stock levels for each branch from its own use; the new one will use less at first. See stock control for salons.

Reports per branch, and together

Look at each branch on its own each week: takings, average bill, new clients, staff sales, cash short or over. Then look at both together for the business. A new branch takes months to settle, so compare it with its own earlier weeks, not with the branch you’ve run for years. The reports to check weekly lists what to look at.

Watch two numbers closely in the first months. Where new clients come from: if most of the new branch’s “new” clients are really your old clients changing branch, you have moved business, not grown it. And cost per branch: rent, salaries and stock for each branch on its own, so you know when the new one starts paying for itself. Put shared costs such as your own salary or advertising in one place, and decide once how to split them.

Paperwork for the new address

A new address usually needs its own local registrations and licences, such as a shop registration and any trade licence your city requires. The rules depend on your state and city, so check them locally before you sign the lease. Talk to your CA about GST for the new address too, especially if it’s in a different state.

A second branch in Frizzi

Frizzi has two levels: the salon, and its branches. Clients, wallet and dues, memberships, packages, points, the menu and your team are shared. Each branch has its own opening hours, UPI ID, check-in location, cash tally, stock, holidays and listing in the Frizzi client app (coming soon). Services can have a branch price and time; products and combos have one price everywhere. Staff can be moved with a date or lent for a few days. Managers and reception see only their branches. Reports show one branch or “All branches”. Stock transfers between branches are in Pro.

Every open branch is billed at the same price, with no discount for more branches. Two branches on Pro are ₹2,998 a month plus GST. One WhatsApp number covers the whole salon for now. Frizzi works with one GSTIN per salon today, so if your new branch is in another state, talk to us before you set it up. See many branches, salon chains and pricing.

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