How to start a hair salon in the Netherlands (2026 guide)

You can open a hair salon in the Netherlands without a Dutch diploma. The process is: pick a legal form, register with the Chamber of Commerce (KVK, €85.15), charge 9% VAT on hairdressing or opt into the small businesses scheme, arrange insurance, find premises that fit the municipal environment plan, and price your services from your costs and billable hours. This guide walks through all eleven steps with the Dutch terms explained, as they apply in October 2026. Your calendar and bookings run on Lookster from day 1: 3 months free and live within a day.

Step 1: Do you need a diploma to open a salon in the Netherlands?

No. Hairdressing is not a regulated profession here, and the former establishment requirements (vestigingseisen) no longer exist. The KVK puts it plainly: "You do not need any specific qualifications to work as a hairdresser or barber, but training is essential." Nobody asks for certificates when you register, and a diploma from your home country does not need formal recognition.

That said, proof of skill matters commercially. Clients ask, a landlord renting you a chair wants to know what you can do, and an insurer prices your risk. If you ever want to train apprentices or join a franchise, Dutch partners usually expect a recognised mbo diploma (vocational level 2 to 4). The trade association ANKO offers courses, including the Salonmanager programme that combines the craft with running a business.

Step 2: Which legal form should you choose?

Start as an eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship) unless you are starting with a partner. It needs no notary, you pay income tax on the profit, and as a starter you qualify for two deductions: the zelfstandigenaftrek (€1,200 in 2026) and the startersaftrek (€2,123 in 2026), provided you meet the hours criterion of 1,225 hours a year spent on your business. Administration, marketing and travel count towards those hours.

Dutch terms you will see: zzp'er means self-employed without staff (the everyday word for a freelancer); vof is a general partnership for two or more founders; bv is a private limited company, which only becomes interesting at higher profits.

Step 3: Register with the KVK

Registering in the Handelsregister (trade register) costs a one-off €85.15 (checked on 27 October 2026 on Ondernemersplein). There is no annual fee. You can register from one week before you start until one week after. Book an appointment at a KVK office and bring a valid passport or ID card, your BSN (citizen service number, which you receive when you register at your municipality) and a Dutch business address, which can be your home.

The KVK passes your details to the Belastingdienst (tax office). Within a few weeks you receive your btw-identificatienummer (VAT ID) and omzetbelastingnummer by post. You do not need to apply for VAT separately.

Step 4: VAT for hairdressers and the KOR scheme

Hairdressing services carry the reduced btw (VAT) rate of 9%. The tax office lists cutting, washing, blow-drying, colouring, perms, shaving and beard trimming, plus the products you use during the treatment. The standard 21% rate applies to selling hair products or accessories separately, beauty treatments, make-up, colour advice, sunbeds, manicures and pedicures. If you also do nails or brows, charge 21% on those.

If you expect turnover of no more than €20,000 per calendar year, you can opt into the kleineondernemersregeling (KOR), the small businesses scheme. You then charge no VAT, file no VAT returns and cannot reclaim VAT on purchases. The tax office's own example compares two hairdressers: one with €1,000 of purchases is €690 better off inside the KOR; one investing €10,000 gets €750 back outside it. Rule of thumb: if you are buying chairs and a wash unit in year one, stay out of the KOR until the big spending is done.

Source: Belastingdienst, VAT rate for hairdressing services (checked on 27 October 2026).

Step 5: Which insurance do you need?

No business insurance is legally required for a hairdresser, apart from your own Dutch health insurance (zorgverzekering) and third-party cover if you drive a company car. The KVK highlights three policies that matter for a salon:

• Business liability (bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering, AVB): covers damage you cause to others while working, such as dye on a coat or injury from an allergic reaction. If you cut hair at clients' homes, this is the one policy not to skip.
• Contents and stock (inventarisverzekering): your home contents or buildings policy does not cover business equipment, even for a salon at home.
• Legal expenses (rechtsbijstand) with debt collection: most disputes are about unpaid invoices.

Disability insurance (arbeidsongeschiktheidsverzekering, AOV) is not mandatory today. A bill for a mandatory basic scheme, the Wet basisverzekering arbeidsongeschiktheid zelfstandigen (BAZ), was submitted to parliament on 24 March 2026. It proposes a premium of 5.4% of profit (maximum €171 gross per month), a benefit of 70% of your income up to the statutory minimum wage, a two-year waiting period and an opt-out for people who already hold a qualifying private policy. The government writes that it will take "at least several years" after adoption before the insurance exists. Until then you decide yourself: a private AOV, a schenkkring (a mutual gift circle of freelancers) or the voluntary UWV scheme for starters who come out of employment.

Step 6: Premises: rent a shop, rent a chair, or work from home

Renting a shop. Before you sign, check that a hair salon is allowed at that address under the municipality's omgevingsplan, the environment plan that replaced the old zoning plan (bestemmingsplan) in 2024. A retail unit is not automatically approved for a salon; a deviation or omgevingsvergunning (environmental permit) may be required. Run the permit check on the Omgevingsloket (the national online permit portal) and ask the gemeente for written confirmation. Dutch commercial leases often run five years, so read the notice period and who pays for the fit-out.

Chair rental (stoelhuur). You rent a chair in an existing salon and work for your own account, with your own clients and prices. The KVK recommends two documents: a rental agreement for the space and a cooperation agreement covering opening hours, cleaning, till and card terminal, joint purchasing and liability. Both parties must remain visibly independent. If the salon owner dictates your hours, prices and clients, the tax office can treat you as an employee under the Wet DBA (the Dutch law on false self-employment), which creates tax risk for both of you.

Working from home. If a salon fits the omgevingsplan, a notification to the municipality is usually enough. If not, you need a permit, and municipalities differ a lot: some allow home salons only in small villages or up to a maximum floor area, others refuse them in residential streets because of parking. Also read your mortgage deed or rental contract, and the rules of the owners' association (VvE) if you live in an apartment; any of them can prohibit a business at home.

Whichever you choose, playing music in the salon requires a licence from BumaStemra and Sena (the Dutch music rights organisations). Rates are on mijnlicentie.nl.

Step 7: Fit-out and start-up costs

No authoritative Dutch source publishes average start-up costs for a salon, so any figures you find online are estimates. Use this checklist to build your own budget and get at least two quotes per line:

Second-hand salon furniture often halves the biggest line, and chair rental or a home salon removes most of the fit-out and rent. Keep a buffer: your calendar will not be full in month one.

Step 8: How to set your prices

Work out an hourly rate from your costs and the income you want, then convert it into a price per service:

(annual costs + desired gross income) ÷ billable hours per year = hourly rate excl. VAT

A hypothetical example for a self-employed hairdresser renting a chair:

A 45-minute cut then costs €31.45 excl. VAT, or €34.28 including 9% VAT. A two-hour colour and blow-dry comes to €83.85 excl. VAT plus product cost, roughly €100 including VAT. Compare the result with salons on your street. If you are far above them, you need a better location, a niche or a higher occupancy to justify it; if you are below, you are underpricing. Recalculate every six months and raise prices a little each year rather than with one big jump every three years.

Step 9: Finding your first clients

Make Lookster your base: one booking link and your own salon page on the Lookster marketplace make you bookable wherever new clients find you. The first clients come from four channels, in order of return for a starter:

1. The Lookster marketplace and client app. Your salon page with portfolio and verified reviews appears in the free Lookster app for iOS and Android and can also be found through Google. New clients book there at 0% commission. Watch out with other marketplaces: Treatwell charges 35% commission excl. VAT on the first booking of every new client (checked on 27 October 2026).
2. Google Business Profile. Free, and most people searching "hairdresser + town" click the map results. Fill in hours, photos and services, add your Lookster booking link under "Book an appointment" and ask every client for a review. See how to get more online bookings.
3. Instagram and TikTok. Before-and-after photos work for hairdressers like for few other trades. Put your Lookster booking link in your bio so a viewer can book in two taps.
4. Your former employer and your network. A polite announcement that you are going solo often fills the first weeks. Check your old employment contract for a non-compete or non-solicitation clause first.

After every appointment Lookster sends a review request by e-mail and push, so genuine reviews build up on your salon page from your first week. Working in English is an advantage in cities with many internationals, and Lookster runs in English, Dutch and German for you and your clients.

Step 10: Keeping your books

You are legally required to keep business records. For a hairdresser that means a cash book or till system for cash and card takings, purchase invoices, a log of your hours (for the 1,225-hour criterion) and a quarterly VAT return unless you use the KOR. Hairdressers must use the kasstelsel (cash accounting): you report VAT when the client pays, not when the appointment takes place.

A Dutch bookkeeper typically costs a starter a few hundred euros a year and pays for itself at the first income tax return, especially if you are not fluent in Dutch tax forms. Lookster exports your turnover and appointments per period to Excel or CSV, so your bookkeeper gets everything in one file and you never retype a thing.

Step 11: Which booking system and calendar should you choose?

Set up your booking system before your first client, and start on day 1 with Lookster. An online calendar with a booking link saves the back-and-forth messages, sends confirmations and reminders automatically and builds a client card with history, notes and photos from the first appointment. Lookster is built for exactly this stage:

• 3 months free, no credit card. Then €19.95 per month excl. VAT including 3 staff members, cancellable monthly and with no setup fees (checked on 27 October 2026).
• Live within a day. Create an account, set up services, team and opening hours in a short wizard, share your booking link and clients can book.
• Your own marketplace and client app at 0% commission. That includes new clients who find you on the Lookster marketplace, with unlimited bookings.
• A booking link for Instagram and Google. Clients book 24/7 and only see times that are genuinely free per staff member and service.
• Free reminders by e-mail and push, with no SMS costs. A confirmation straight after booking and a reminder 24 hours ahead.
• Export for your bookkeeper. Turnover, appointments, occupancy and no-shows per staff member, exportable to Excel or CSV.

You manage the calendar in the browser or in the Lookster Dashboard app on iPhone, iPad, Android or Windows, synced live, in English, Dutch or German. Lookster Pro adds the till: Tap to Pay, iDEAL QR, payment links and online deposits. Pro already runs at a select number of salons and will be available to everyone soon. Meanwhile you simply take payments on your own card terminal; Lookster handles the calendar, bookings and clients. For more on the choice, read booking system for a new salon, what salon software costs and the page on Lookster's online booking system.

Gabriel of Aiyo the Barber on why to sort this early (translated): "The dashboard is very clear and easy to use. It takes a lot of the work around planning and administration off my hands, so I can focus on my core work."

Checklist before you open

1. Legal form chosen (usually eenmanszaak).
2. Registered with the KVK (€85.15), VAT number received.
3. Decided on the KOR (turnover under €20,000 and few investments: yes).
4. Liability and contents insurance arranged, decision made on disability cover.
5. Premises checked against the omgevingsplan, lease or chair rental agreement signed.
6. Music licence applied for.
7. Price list calculated from costs and billable hours.
8. Google Business Profile and Instagram set up with your booking link.
9. Bookkeeper or software chosen, hours log started.
10. Lookster live, booking link shared and first appointments scheduled.