Hi, all! I'm a single, American female who loves to travel. I was in Egypt 3 years ago and I loved it there, although I know it's not as glamorous as some might imagine. I have (Egyptian) friends there, and I've thought of moving there. I have owned a hair salon in NY state for almost 12 years now. Plenty of experience in styling as well as customer service, management, and retail. After reading through many of the posts on this site regarding expats looking for hairstylists, it seems that there is a need for stylists from the west. I would truly appreciate hearing any thoughts, advice, concerns, etc. from those of you living in Egypt. What would I need to do to open my own salon there? Is it likely that I would earn enough money to live independently and be able to visit my family in the US every year? Thank you, in advance, for your input! 
Allow me to introduce myself... :)
Hi and welcome :-)
I haven't actually used a hairdresser in Cairo before - I always have it cut when I go back to the UK because of the hassle of finding someone good here. So I guess that means there is a demand for western hairdressers here!
As for whether you'd make enough money, I don't know, but I imagine you'd be ok as there are so many expats and a good network so your name would be known quickly. The only thing is that setting up the business can be complex over here with lots of permits and paperwork to fill in, governement 'fees' to pay etc.
snowwhite wrote:Hi, all! I'm a single, American female who loves to travel.
- also I wouldn't advertise this too much or you'll only have a 'certain type' of Egyptian customer contacting you 
Good luck!
Elaine
Hi
i think it's a Cool idea but depends more on How much do U wanna spend On that Salon,
but i think it's a good investment here
eltviola !!
Of course there are a Good hairdresser here, it depends on where do u live
like theres
Muhammad al sagheer ! and u could find it everywhere, Zamalik , Nasr city.........
eltviola wrote:Hi and welcome :-)
I haven't actually used a hairdresser in Cairo before - I always have it cut when I go back to the UK because of the hassle of finding someone good here. So I guess that means there is a demand for western hairdressers here!
As for whether you'd make enough money, I don't know, but I imagine you'd be ok as there are so many expats and a good network so your name would be known quickly. The only thing is that setting up the business can be complex over here with lots of permits and paperwork to fill in, governement 'fees' to pay etc.snowwhite wrote:Hi, all! I'm a single, American female who loves to travel.
- also I wouldn't advertise this too much or you'll only have a 'certain type' of Egyptian customer contacting you
Good luck!
Elaine
Dear Elaine,
I think Snowwhite would not mind the contact of Egyptian customers, Egyptians are very friendly, helpful and romantic. I think any foreign lady who gets the love of an Egyptian customer would be lucky. Do u
Dear Snow white, although I'm not sure if u are a a hairdresser for ladies or men but I would love to be ur customer Good luck.
"Dear Elaine,
I think Snowwhite would not mind the contact of Egyptian customers, Egyptians are very friendly, helpful and romantic. I think any foreign lady who gets the love of an Egyptian customer would be lucky. Do u "
I didn't mean that - I am not against having Egyptian customers at all, many of my closest friends are Egyptian and are indeed lovely people. I just made the valid comment that advertising yourself as a single expat woman in Cairo can attract a lot of attention from a minority of people and it pays to be careful as not everyone wants that attention.
I'm sure my Egyptian friends would back me up on this so please don't be offended :-)
It's a gentle reply from u and I didn't take it as an offense at all, I was just kidding besides I think u r right in ur viewpoint.
Hello Sowwhite.
If u wanna start ur business here, the best place for ur salon would be "thkanat el Maadi" or "Maadi".
'cause there are a lot of expatriates there there from France and UK and other countries.
And they don't trust the local salons, and the Egyptians who live there are high-class, so they will prefer ur salon.
And the most important point is that u can hire me as ur accountant 
eltviola wrote:"Dear Elaine,
I think Snowwhite would not mind the contact of Egyptian customers, Egyptians are very friendly, helpful and romantic. I think any foreign lady who gets the love of an Egyptian customer would be lucky. Do u
I didn't mean that - I am not against having Egyptian customers at all, many of my closest friends are Egyptian and are indeed lovely people. I just made the valid comment that advertising yourself as a single expat woman in Cairo can attract a lot of attention from a minority of people and it pays to be careful as not everyone wants that attention.
I'm sure my Egyptian friends would back me up on this so please don't be offended :-)
I m backing u up on that !!
Hey,
I think the idea of opening ur own salon is very good u'll make tons of money out of it in Egypt especially if u opened a classy one.
As for how glamorous Egypt is I would advice u to go elsewhere as glamour has left this place for good.
Hey Snow-white,
about your idea, it will be great specially if you can find a good place that includes a good site, price and good surrounding
that you will target Rich women or you can target only foreigners who don`t trust Egyptian`s hairdressers and i think it will be enough for you
after this you can wide and make new branches at Alexandria and Hurghada
so it`s all about the location and your capital
you will need just one month to know the requirements of Egyptian women
i want to tell you something......girls here go to hairdresser more than there work
Hairstylist in Egypt!! sure I can not advise regarding this matter, but I can tell that they make good money, that makes me wanna own one.
I am joking, actually i am working on my own project as well and it is very good feeling to do a project for your self (even if it is small project as mine)
any way you are welcome to Egypt of course.
Hi Snowwhite, how are you ? hope you doing well, regarding your coming to Egypt to have your owen business its an excellent idea, you well be making a good living, Cairo is a crazy place to live and work, its much bigger then N.Y.C , you can make very good money, I think Hurghada is a good place to get your business going, its much quiter then cairo and 60% of the people who live in hurghada are Europians and Americans and you can open your business in one of the big hotels and that well guarantee you large valume of customers.
well be happy to help if you do need help.
Good luck.
Ashraf.
Hi there,
It's a great idea and there is a need for it. Once word gets out about you, you will be fine.
I would suggest you do your homework regarding the registration of the business, it's really tricky, especially since you're a foreigner. I am currently starting up my own business, so feel free to message me if you need more info on the process.
Hi
My advice to you, open in Maadi. I live there, there are so many expats living there. Sure once you open it, word of mouth will spread so fast.
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