L'Image of Success

Angela Austin, a hair stylist for 22 years, had always dreamed of owning her own salon and spa. Her husband Charlie was also in the industry and worked as a stylist and salon manager at L’Image Salon in Plano. Angela came to the Collin SBDC in November of 2006 for help on writing her business plan and funding for her new salon.

Since November 2006, Angela has worked with Monica Cornetti a counselor at the Collin SBDC on all aspects of her business plan. Over months of sessions together, Cornetti helped Austin develop a business plan and financial statement, and gave her advice on how to evaluate potential locations and lease arrangements, met with potential lenders, and strategized on how to find and hire stylists for her new salon.

Austin said, “The help and instruction that I received from Monica at the SBDC was priceless. She sent me home with projects after each meeting and walked me through the entire business plan from start to finish.”

Through an attorney that Angela had met at the SBDC, she got her legal entity in place (they chose to become an LLC), made necessary revisions to the purchase agreement, and finalized the transfer of ownership. In June 2007, the husband and wife team took ownership of the salon. L'Image offers a full range of salon and spa services from top stylists and spa practitioners.

Angela and Charlie continue to meet with Monica once a month to sharpen their marketing, management, and business owner skills. Together they work on marketing and advertising plans, personnel policies, procedures, and long-term growth strategies. The couple is very optimistic about their future. “Now we work on fine tuning, yearly projects and how we plan to grow the business. The monthly meetings keep me on track with the plan and give me an outside opinion of the business,” Austin said. “Stepping back to look at things that worked and maybe changing some others. The knowledge that I have gained through the SBDC was far beyond my expectations”