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Hands-on beauty education is becoming a fast track to entrepreneurship
The market for personal beauty services is large and growing, with one report estimating its size at $233.56 billion worldwide in 2025, and projecting 7.22% compound annual growth rate between now and 2032. In the U.S. alone, it will grow to generate $75.87 billion annually over this time period, and a number of factors are helping to catalyze its expansion, with researchers citing the impact of influences like increased interest in personal grooming among men and women, along with social media’s impact on consumer behavior habits.
As professional spray tan products and training provider Sjolie explains below, beauty training experts who understand where the market is heading will be better positioned to take advantage of this growth. Training programs that teach students the technical skills that students are looking for, along with the business knowledge to grow their brand, will likely be in greater demand. Programs that ignore business education, however, may quickly find that competitors are filling in this gap in education and targeting their students.
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The Beauty and Self-Care Industry Rebounds From the Pandemic
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecasts that the beauty services sector will see 5% growth in jobs for barbers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists from 2024 to 2034, signaling strong demand for beauty and self-care. This represents a bounce back from the pandemic period that damaged the industry in the short term.
Skincare specialists, meanwhile, enjoy a 7% improvement in job outlook between 2024 and 2034. This 7% growth figure is shared with manicurists and pedicurists, with the BLS describing the increases as much faster than average.
In terms of earnings, the median annual pay rate for skincare specialists is the highest, at $41,560, while manicurists and pedicurists make $34,660, and the group that includes barbers and cosmetologists earns $35,420 in median earnings.
Beauty Education Provides Entrepreneurial Opportunities
The latest industry snapshot put together by the Professional Beauty Association (PBA) highlights the opportunities provided by beauty education for those who want to join this growing industry. While the self-employment rate in the wider workforce is 7%, for those working in personal appearance-related professions, it’s 33%.
The highest rates of self-employment are found among hairstylists and cosmetologists, where 37% work for themselves, either at their own salons or by renting chairs at established salons.
Opportunities for Women and Underrepresented Groups
Data from the Census Bureau highlights that non-employer businesses outpaced employer businesses for an entire decade, in terms of raw growth. This was particularly pronounced post-pandemic, when companies with no paid employees grew by 4.9% in 2021 and a similar amount the following year.
A slightly earlier report, again from the PBA and based on BLS data, tracks the growth of non-employer establishments (solopreneurs, studio suite renters, independent booth renters) versus traditional payroll salons. It shows that non-employer salon establishments grew by 36% over a decade from 2008 to 2018, with total sales jumping 63%. Meanwhile, employer-based salons grew by 17% over the same period, with sales rising 48%.
That same PBA research found that women make up nearly 85% of professionals in personal appearance occupations, compared with 47% of the workforce at large. Moreover, there’s a greater representation of workers of Asian ethnicity in this industry, at more than 20% versus 7% across the workforce.
Hands-on training creates opportunities for people who want to work in the beauty services sector, endowing them with skills and knowledge that help create a new generation of entrepreneurs. And while the industry was challenged during the exceptional circumstances at the start of the decade, current projections for strong growth make it all the more promising.
This story was produced by Sjolie and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
