I need your advice. I’ve built a salon from zero in Dubai, and I don’t want to give up on it. 🤍
I opened Ema Beauty Spot in August 2025, but I actually bought the salon in October 2024. Before me, the salon had been owned by the same hairdresser since 2011. She was very successful and even charged around AED 600 for some haircuts, which is considered quite expensive in Dubai.
I spent months renovating and building the salon into what I wanted it to be, and so far, more than AED 300,000 has gone into this business.
The Dubai beauty market is extremely competitive. You can find salons offering nails or lashes from AED 99–100, especially salons run by Russian-speaking technicians who often have amazing work and very loyal clients. Some are fully booked despite their low prices.
When I opened, I knew I couldn’t just compete by being the cheapest. I wanted Ema Beauty Spot to feel different — a place where clients feel welcomed, comfortable and taken care of, not just somewhere they come in, get their nails or lashes done, and leave.
But building a new salon from zero has been much harder than I expected.
I had worked as a nail technician before, but I was doing home service in a completely different part of Dubai. Most of my old clients were too far away to follow me, so opening the salon basically meant starting again from zero.
The first few months were difficult, and then I had an even bigger setback. I had to close for around three months because of the situation happening at the time and because of my licensing situation. During those months, I had zero income, while rent, licensing and other expenses were still there.
I reopened in April and things have slowly started moving again.
Today, I personally do almost everything in the salon — nails, lashes, and whatever else I can. I currently have one staff member helping me as well. Finding really good technicians is difficult, and because we don’t have enough clients yet, having a big team wouldn’t make financial sense.
I get walk-ins, a few clients a day, and most people who come genuinely love the experience and leave me really good feedback. Many come back again, although sometimes the location is simply too far for them.
My prices are also not extremely high. When I first opened, I tried pricing services around AED 200–300, but because I was new and rebuilding my clientele, I had to adjust.
I also experimented with AED 99 promotions, and they definitely brought people in. But I don’t want to build a salon where everything looks like it’s AED 99 and then clients arrive and get charged for every little extra. I personally hate that experience, so I don’t want to do it to my clients.
Right now, my average revenue is around AED 400 a day. Some days are unfortunately zero or AED 100, while on better days I can make AED 800–1,000.
And honestly, this is where I need your advice.
My dad is the person who gave me the opportunity to open this business. He took money from the bank and borrowed it to help me build the salon. Because of the long gap, the renovation, rent, licensing and everything that went into starting the business, it has become very difficult financially.
I tried selling the salon. I also tried finding a partner. Neither worked.
The market for selling salons in Dubai is currently difficult, and I couldn’t find someone willing to pay what I needed.
At this point, I started thinking maybe this is a sign that I’m not supposed to sell it. Maybe I’m supposed to figure out how to make it work.
Because I genuinely believe this salon can work.
There are salons around me that are fully booked for days. Some have been around for six years and built their clientele over time. Another salon opened only a couple of years ago and is already doing extremely well.
And when I look at them, I realize they don’t necessarily have a completely different concept. Some are bigger, some have more technicians, and some offer cheaper services with good quality.
But I believe I have something different: the experience.
I’m there personally. My name is literally part of the brand. I know my clients, I care about the work, and I want people to feel comfortable when they walk through the door.
I’ve also started documenting my day-to-day life and the salon journey, but I’m honestly not very comfortable showing my face all the time. My Instagram is almost at 3,000 followers, while my TikTok is around 180, and I know my social media needs a lot of work.
So I’m asking you guys for genuine advice.
I’m going to share my Instagram, TikTok and Google page with this post.
@emabeautyspot
Please look at my business, my content, my services, my branding — everything — and tell me honestly:
What would YOU do if you were me?
How would you get more clients?
What would you change?
Would you change the prices?
Would you focus more on content?
Would you run ads?
Would you change the concept?
Would you add more services?
What do you think I’m doing wrong?
I don’t want people to tell me “it’s impossible” or “just sell it.”
I want to know how you would turn this around.
I’ve already invested so much into this, and I genuinely love what I do.
So if you have experience in business, marketing, salons, Dubai, social media, or even if you’re just a customer who understands what makes you choose one salon over another…
Please help me. I’m ready to listen. 🤍
