Sunshine Coast hair extensions business makes $900k a year and growing

A 26-year-old single mother who started a home-based hair extensions business has turned it into a $900k a year company. Find out how:

A 26-year-old Sunshine Coast single mum has turned her passion for hair into a booming online business turning over almost a million dollars a year.

Samantha Harrison’s SH Hair Extensions in Coolum was started 10 years ago under former name ‘In Your Dreams Hair Extensions’ with only a single chair in front of the TV in her living room for a workspace.

With 20 clients a week booked in for hair appointments Ms Harrison was able to generate about $40,000 revenue a year in the first few years of operation.

Fast forward a decade and her venture into the online e-learning space has paid dividends, filling a gap in digital business education in the beauty industry, as well as drastically increased in-person appointments.

Ms Harrison said her decision to branch into online education and later in-person workshops was prompted by a need to diversify her business following the emergence of Covid-19 in 2020.

“There’s a huge gap in the market for (business) education online and hands-on as well – I started the hands-on training once the Covid restrictions settled,” Ms Harrison said.

Samantha Harrison, owner of Samantha Harrison Hair Extensions, Coolum. Picture: Patrick Woods.

“I wanted to create something nobody else had, I didn’t want to just teach people how to create hair extensions, I wanted to teach people how to create a profitable, home-based hair extension salon, so I put everything that I do out there into a course.”

Now boasting 515 students enrolled nationally, Ms Harrison’s niche business has recorded a 151 per cent increase in annual revenue.

Her revenue was forecast to be about $900,000 for the coming year and the young entrepreneur now had a staff of four including a hair technician, personal assistant, social media manager and an apprentice.

“I love the online aspects a lot, so I really want to grow my online community, my goal is to be one of the biggest hair extension online education companies in Australia,” Ms Harrison said.

Samantha Harrison, owner of Samantha Harrison Hair Extensions, Coolum. Picture: Patrick Woods.

“I want to separate myself from those bigger brands and push the online education side of things a lot more mainly because I can do that from anywhere and I can be there at any time because it’s all virtual.”

Ms Harrison’s masterclass course requires an upfront payment and teaches students how to start their own hair extension business through a series of videos, modules and units covering aspects such as registering a business name, marketing, payment methods as well as providing essential equipment required for a salon.

Her other short courses provide in-depth hair extension styling techniques.

Later this year, Ms Harrison will be launching subscription-based learning courses and also plans to wholesale her own hair products starting with silk flat wefts then other accessories such as beads and tapes.