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After reading a lot of threads on relocating to New Hampshire and posting two of my own, we think we want to relocate to Durham, NH. We currently own several nail salons here in Anchorage, AK and one in Wasilla, AK (40 minutes from Anchorage) and have an online store for women's clothing with a storefront in one of the malls. Besides wanting a nice place to raise our family, we want to downsize and slow down the pace a bit after so many years of focusing on our careers/businesses. Our son is 16 months and we are first time parents so this is a good time for us to slow down and smell the roses and enjoy things in life that truly matters.
As any small business owner would know, after paying business taxes, unemployment taxes and other related business expenses, whatever income left over is put back into the business so when we sell our businesses, we will have enough to pay off our business loans, personal loans (taken out for business) and clear out personal bills to be as debt free as possible with just enough for a start up on another venture in NH so I'm afraid our only buffer is to look for work should it become necessary.
In addition to the businesses listed above, we also have experience with owning and operating both a Thai Restaurant and a Vietnamese Pho restaurant. We do not wish to get back into the restaurant business because with the lengthy prep time it takes to get a restaurant ready to open each day, we will not be slowing down our pace as we desire. I just wanted to still mention the restaurant incase someone thought it would be a good idea as we did not rule out opening a restaurant. We just don't want to, but will do whatever to pay the bills.
We actually want to open a small version of our current nail salons and have only 4 stations, two for ourselves maybe have one or two booth renters (we currently have an average of 15 associates at each salon). We are not sure we want to open a storefront for our women's clothing and may even downsize that to only winter & seasonal accessories for online purchases and operate it part time out of the house, at least in the beginning so we are not taking on too much risk and if things work out great then perhaps down the road do a storefront.
Our main concern is that Durham's population is 15,000 (20,000 with college students) whereas Anchorage is about 300,000 so we are not sure how the huge difference in population will affect our business. I know most men will not have a clue but are there any ladies out there that think a nail salon would do well in Durham or any other NH towns or even New Hampshire at all? I must say that I am quite humbled to be posting my business on an online forum asking perfect strangers but in today's economy, you can never be too careful or too prepared especially if we are making such drastic changes in our lives.
P.S. We did a COL comparison for NH. Durham will cost 6% more, Portsmouth 2% more while Manchester will be 15% less, Nashua 12% less and Derry 10% less than where we are living now.
I can't really help you since I don't use nail salons, heck I keep my nails short and don't even use nail polish!
BTW have you done any internet searches yet to see how many nail salons are already in those cities and towns?
Also what would make your nail salons more appealing to customers than other already established ones?
We have an advantage because we have a lot of experience and we keep things trendy and we are focused on natural nail care/detox spa type stuff. Plus with me also being a nail instructor and at one time owned a supply store, we have a lot of connections with manufacturers, distributors, etc. that are loyal so we get better deals and we are kept abreast within our field through them and through attending conventions and continued education.
The internet searches only found one the towns of Portsmouth and either Manchester or Nashua.
I work at J.Crew in Hanover and people are always asking where they can get there nails done! I love nail salons and Thai food.
Awesome! That's good to know. I never considered Hanover because it seemed so far inland and isolated. I just figured that the southern and seacoast part of the state would not feel so isolated due to its proximity to the Boston area and portland Maine and Rhode Island etc. Am I wrong about that? Will you please tell me more about your area in Hanover? Thanks!
"Our main concern is that Durham's population is 15,000 (20,000 with college students) whereas Anchorage is about 300,000 so we are not sure how the huge difference in population will affect our business."
You have answered your own question.
Do you have any college level education in business?
When I took small business management - it was stated that 90% of small businesses fail within the first year. Poor management, no market studies, no business plan, and underfunded.
Do you have a written business plan?
The grass is always greener. New Hampshire is mostly a rural state. It might be a good idea to take a trip out to New Hampshire and drive around. You can drive the entire state in a day or two.
Most like Thai food but making a living with a Thai restaurant is daunting. And if you are not ethnic Thai it may be quite difficult. And the restaurant business is over represented in New Hampshire. Too many restaurants fail in New Hampshire. Not enough customers.
Hanover is a small town and would be nothing except for the college. And I don't see the college kids spending much for either.
You could potentially ruin everything - by attempting to fulfill some "dream" about New Hampshire.
To be honest, I cringed when reading that the OP has a nail salon business. I was fine with the clothing business, but nail salons run by Asians is just not something I am proud of being a part of as an Asian American woman. No matter how trendy their products. Asian nail salons are just a negative stereotype for me.
Maybe the college girls will want their nails done. But from what I see in NH is that the adult women don't get all gussied up like they do in the Boston Metro area... and actually I hope that the simple NH style will never change. So I hope that the OP eventually finds some other type of business to do in NH. Anyway, I recommend Manchester, or Nashua and the Southern NH area where it's populated by people working in the Boston area.
To be honest, I cringed when reading that the OP has a nail salon business. I was fine with the clothing business, but nail salons run by Asians is just not something I am proud of being a part of as an Asian American woman. No matter how trendy their products. Asian nail salons are just a negative stereotype for me.
OP - not that I want to discourage anyone from moving to NH, but what has stopped you from seriously considering relocating to Massachusetts? They have the diversity you want, and a much larger population which will want your services.
Hanover is a nice town. It's more remote than the other areas in which you've expressed interest, but it's about 3 hours to Montreal (very diverse international city, despite the image many have of it only being a French city), an hour and a half to Burlington, VT (another thriving college town) and 2 hours to Boston. Hanover attracts people from all over, so I'm sure you'll find some people interested in your services. But, will you find enough people to keep you in business? Maybe not. It's also an extremely expensive town, by New Hampshire standards. Space right downtown would definitely rent at a premium.
I also had some doubts when I read that your business is a nail salon. It's not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of a business which will thrive in NH. I second what miu said... women in New England (especially northern New England) are pretty low maintenance. Most never get their nails done, don't wear much makeup, and older women don't usually color their hair when it goes grey. (I'm in my 30s and have never had my nails done.) Of course there are SOME people who will want cosmetology services - I see salons in strip malls and such, but I never see any clients. They do seem to stay in business, though, at least for a time.
I guess strictly from the standpoint of finding clients... if you must move to NH, places like Nashua and Manchester might be best. But as we have covered in other threads, they're not the best for the quality of life you want.
By the way, even in the Boston metro area, most women - even professional women - don't get their nails done on any regular basis. You will find high interest in certain suburbs like Newton and I think you might be able to find enough general interest anywhere in the city to keep you afloat for awhile, but it's just not a big thing in the New England culture the way it is in certain other regions of the country.
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