Buying a salon or barbershop in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida

• A large, loyal client base with high rebooking rates, and client records kept in the salon's own booking system rather than on stylists' phones.
• Stylists who have been there for years and aren't likely to leave with their clients. In this business, clients follow the person who does their hair.
• New clients arriving steadily from walk-ins, online booking and referrals, not only from stylists' own followings.
• A good lease in a visible spot with parking, and years left to run.
• Retail sales that add margin without a pile of unsold stock.
• Revenue spread across many providers, so one stylist leaving doesn't sink it.
• For spas, memberships or packages that bring clients back on a schedule.
• A manager who runs the floor without the owner.

• Client counts and rebooking rates, and who owns the client records and booking data.
• Each provider's arrangement: employee, commission or booth renter. Treating employees as renters creates tax risk, so ask your accountant.
• Revenue by provider, and how much the top few produce.
• Agreements that keep departing stylists from soliciting clients, where they exist, and realistic plans to keep key people.
• The lease: rent, term, renewal options and landlord consent to a sale.
• Equipment, furniture and the condition of the buildout.
• Gift cards and prepaid packages: services you'll owe but won't be paid for.
• DBPR and Department of Health inspection history.
• Retail inventory: how much is on the shelves, how old it is, and any minimum orders required by product companies.

• How many active clients do you have, and how often do they come back?
• Are your providers employees, commission staff or booth renters?
• Which providers bring in the most revenue, and how long have they been with you?
• Do you work behind the chair yourself, and how many clients are yours personally?
• How much of your revenue is retail?
• What's left on the lease, and has the landlord agreed to a transfer?
• How much do you have out in unused gift cards and prepaid packages?

This region covers Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau, Baker and Putnam counties: Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, Fernandina Beach, Yulee, Macclenny and Palatka. Jacksonville merged with most of Duval County in 1968, which makes it the largest city by land area in the lower 48 states.

The economy leans on logistics, the Navy and financial services. Logistics runs through JAXPORT, major rail lines and the meeting of Interstates 95 and 10. The Navy has Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport. Insurance and health care matter too. St. Augustine, founded by the Spanish in 1565, and Amelia Island draw steady tourism. Trucking and logistics firms, the building trades, medical practices and home services all fit this market.

Northeast Florida is less seasonal than South or Southwest Florida, with fewer winter residents and more year-round employers. Direct hurricane landfalls have been less common here than on other parts of the coast, but storms still bring flooding along the St. Johns River and the beaches, so check insurance costs and flood zones.

Military families bring skilled workers and working spouses into the labor pool, though they also move on when orders change. St. Johns, Clay and Nassau have added the most new homes, and companies serving those suburbs have grown with them. Georgia is close, and some companies here serve customers across the state line. Work in Georgia may need Georgia licenses, so ask how much revenue comes from there and who holds those licenses.