How to start a nail salon in the Netherlands (at home or in a studio)

You can start a nail salon in the Netherlands without a mandatory diploma, from home or in your own studio. The steps are: get trained and set up hygiene, follow the product rules (TPO banned since 1 September 2025, HEMA for professional use only), register with the Chamber of Commerce (KVK, €85.15), charge 21% VAT or opt into the KOR scheme, check your location against the municipal environment plan, and build repeat clients from day one. Below are the eleven steps as they apply in October 2026, with the Dutch terms explained. Your calendar and bookings run on Lookster from day 1: 3 months free and live within a day.

Step 1: Training and certificates: what is required?

Legally, nothing. The KVK writes: "To become an independent nail stylist, you do not need any special training." There is no licensing requirement and nobody asks for certificates when you register, Dutch or foreign.

Good training is still the most important investment you make, for three reasons. You work with methacrylates that can cause allergies in your client and in yourself, and under-curing or getting product on the skin raises that risk. Clients choose on portfolio and trust. And if you want to join the NAIL register, the Dutch quality register for nail stylists, you must meet the professional profile at NLQF level 3 (the Dutch qualification framework) and hold an approved diploma. Registration shows clients you meet quality standards.

Choose a course that covers at least gel, acrylic, builder gel, manicure and e-file work, with real attention to allergy prevention and ventilation. Brand product courses are a useful add-on, not a replacement for a foundation course.

Step 2: Hygiene requirements for nail salons

There is no separate RIVM (the Dutch public health institute) hygiene guideline for nail salons. For organisations outside healthcare without a specific guideline, RIVM points to its general hygiene guideline (Algemene hygiënerichtlijn). It sets out the basics that apply to you: hand hygiene, cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and instruments, separating clean and used items, and handling waste and small wounds.

In practice for a nail salon:

• Hands: wash before and after every client; wear gloves when working with gel, acrylic and remover.
• Instruments: files and buffers are per client or disposable; metal tools are cleaned, disinfected and stored dry.
• Workstation: clean the table and lamp after each client; fresh towels per client.
• Air: the KVK notes that you work with hazardous substances and advises "adequate ventilation and an extraction system in your workplace", also because of dust from filing. A dust-extraction table or desk unit plus a mask when filing is the norm.
• Damaged nails and skin: do not treat fungal infections, inflammation or open wounds; refer to a GP (huisarts) or medical pedicure.

Write this down as a one-page hygiene protocol and hang it in your studio. It keeps you consistent, and clients notice.

Step 3: Products, allergies and the 2025 rules

Two EU rules decide what you may use:

• TPO has been banned since 1 September 2025. Regulation (EU) 2025/877 moved the photoinitiator TPO (trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide) to the list of prohibited substances. According to the European Commission, from that date you may neither sell products containing TPO nor use them on clients, even if you bought them earlier; there is no use-up period. The KVK repeats this on its page for nail stylists. Check the INCI list of every gel polish, builder and top coat.
• HEMA and di-HEMA TMHDC are for professional use only (Regulation (EU) 2020/1682, in force since 2021). These methacrylates are the main cause of contact allergy from nail products. In May 2026 RIVM reported that the restriction does not work well enough in practice, because the warning is not always on the packaging and consumers can still buy the products easily. RIVM's advice: have gel applied by a professional only, on healthy nails only, keep product off the cuticle and skin, apply thin layers and cure fully.

For you as a stylist that means: wear gloves, never touch uncured gel, use the lamp that belongs to the brand (under-curing is an allergy risk) and ask at intake about earlier reactions to gel nails, plasters or dental resins. Record the answer on the client card.

Step 4: 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. Bring a valid passport or ID, your BSN (citizen service number) and a Dutch address. Start as an eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship) unless you are founding with someone else.

As a starter you qualify in 2026 for the zelfstandigenaftrek of €1,200 plus the startersaftrek of €2,123, two income-tax deductions, provided you meet the hours criterion of 1,225 hours a year; training, admin and Instagram work all count. The KVK passes your details to the Belastingdienst (tax office), which posts your VAT number.

Step 5: VAT on nail treatments and the KOR

Nail treatments fall under the standard btw (VAT) rate of 21%. The reduced 9% rate is reserved for hairdressing, and the tax office explicitly lists manicures and pedicures as services outside it. Selling cuticle oil or polish separately is 21% as well.

If your turnover stays under €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 your table, lamp, extraction unit and products. For a part-time home studio the KOR is often attractive: your clients are consumers who cannot reclaim VAT, so your prices become 21% sharper overnight. If you are investing heavily in year one, delay the KOR until after those purchases.

Step 6: Working from home: environment plan, mortgage and insurance

A home studio is the most common way to start in the Netherlands. Sort out three things first.

Municipality. If a nail salon fits your gemeente's omgevingsplan (the environment plan that says what each property may be used for), a notification is usually enough; some municipalities require an onttrekkingsvergunning, a permit to use part of a home for business. If it does not fit, you need an omgevingsvergunning. Run the permit check on the Omgevingsloket, the national online permit portal, and ask whether you may hang a sign on the facade.

Mortgage or lease. Your mortgage deed or rental contract may prohibit a business at home. When in doubt, ask the bank or landlord for written permission.

Insurance. Home contents and buildings insurance do not cover business equipment or your workspace. The KVK also recommends professional or business liability insurance: if a treatment goes wrong and the client suffers damage, you otherwise pay yourself. Disability insurance (AOV) is not yet mandatory; a bill for a mandatory basic scheme has been before parliament since March 2026 and will take at least several more years after adoption.

If you work from a retail unit, Dutch shop-opening law lets you open Monday to Saturday between 6:00 and 22:00; other hours need municipal permission. Music in the studio requires a licence from BumaStemra and Sena, the Dutch music rights organisations.

Step 7: Fit-out and ventilation

The basic kit is a nail table with arm rests, two good chairs, a UV/LED lamp per station, an e-file, dust extraction (desk unit or built-in), a daylight lamp, a disinfection tray and storage for products away from light. Plan the extraction from the start: it is the one item that protects your health long term, and it is hard to retrofit.

No authoritative Dutch source publishes average start-up costs for a nail salon, so figures you read online are estimates. Use this checklist and get two quotes per line:

Step 8: Setting your prices

Calculate an hourly rate from your costs and the income you want, then convert it into prices per treatment:

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

A hypothetical example for a home studio open four days a week:

A new set of gel nails taking 90 minutes then costs €53 excl. VAT, or €64 including 21% VAT. A 60-minute refill is €35.33 excl., €42.75 incl. VAT. Under the KOR the 21% disappears, so you can charge the same €53 or drop your price a little and still keep more. Charge nail art per element or per 10 minutes on top of the base price, otherwise your calendar overruns and your margin drains away.

Step 9: Finding clients

Nail stylists have one advantage over almost every other trade: the work photographs well. Use it, and make Lookster your base: one booking link and your own studio page on the Lookster marketplace make you bookable wherever new clients see your work.

1. Instagram as your portfolio. Shoot every set in daylight or under a ring light against the same background, and put your Lookster booking link in your bio. Reels of the process (e-file, nail art) reach further than stills.
2. The Lookster marketplace and client app. Your studio 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).
3. Google Business Profile. Anyone searching "nail salon + town" sees the map. Fill in services, prices and photos, add your Lookster booking link under "Book an appointment" and ask for a review after every appointment. Lookster sends that review request automatically by e-mail and push. See also how to get more salon reviews.
4. Your own circle. Friends, colleagues and neighbours are your first models and your first reviews. Ask them to share a photo with your handle. In international cities, saying that you work in English on your profile brings in expats who struggle to book elsewhere.

Step 10: Repeat clients and recurring appointments

A nail salon runs on repeat visits, not new clients. Gel and acrylic need a refill every three to four weeks, so a client who stays is worth 13 to 17 appointments a year. Three habits make the difference:

• Book the next appointment at the table. At the end of every treatment ask "same time in three weeks?" and put it in the calendar straight away. Better still: a fixed recurring appointment in Lookster, with per-date exceptions for holidays.
• Remind automatically. A confirmation right after booking and a reminder the day before catch most forgotten appointments. Lookster sends both for free by e-mail and push, with no SMS costs.
• Keep a client card. Which colour, shape, length, allergies, and a photo of the last set. A client who never has to explain again what she wants comes back.

Dalia of nail studio Biablicious on the effect (translated): "Since I started using Lookster I have much more overview of my calendar and spend less time on planning. Ideal for me and for my clients."

Step 11: Which booking system should your nail salon use?

Set up your booking system before you book your first client, and start on day 1 with Lookster. A nail salon needs recurring appointments, add-ons with their own duration and price, photos per appointment and a good phone app, because you do not work behind a computer. Lookster has all of that and 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 and add-ons (nail art, French, removing an old set) 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, pick their own add-ons and only see times that are genuinely free.
• Free reminders by e-mail and push, with no SMS costs. A confirmation straight after booking, a reminder 24 hours ahead and a review request after the visit.
• Export for your bookkeeper. Turnover, appointments, occupancy and no-shows per period, exportable to Excel or CSV.

The client card keeps notes and before-and-after photos per appointment, so colour, shape and allergies are always at hand. You work in the browser or the Lookster Dashboard app on iPhone, iPad, Android or Windows, in English, Dutch or German. Lookster Pro adds the till, online deposits and gift cards, with Tap to Pay, iDEAL QR and payment links. 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. Read more in nail salon booking system, booking system for a new salon and on the page about Lookster's online booking system.

Checklist before your first client

1. Training completed, NAIL register application made if you qualify.
2. Hygiene protocol written, extraction and gloves in place.
3. All products checked for TPO; HEMA products used professionally only.
4. Registered with the KVK (€85.15), VAT number received.
5. Decision made on the KOR (turnover under €20,000 and few investments: yes).
6. Municipality, mortgage lender or landlord fine with a home studio; insurance arranged.
7. Fit-out complete, including ventilation.
8. Price list calculated from costs and billable hours, including 21% VAT or KOR.
9. Instagram and Google Business Profile set up with booking link and portfolio.
10. Lookster live with recurring appointments, add-ons and reminders.