SPEC (Salon Professional Education Company) is a beauty-education franchisor founded in 2004 in Minnesota and reorganized as an LLC in North Dakota in 2015. It is headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. SPEC operates well-known brands such as The Salon Professional Academy, Elevate Salon Institute, and Academy for Salon Mastery.
These schools offer professional training in cosmetology, barbering, esthetics, nails, and massage therapy.
The company began franchising in 2008 and now has over 30 franchise units across the U.S. All locations are franchise-owned, with no corporate-owned schools.
SPEC differentiates itself through strategic partnerships with major beauty brands such as L’Oréal Professionnel and Redken, depending on the school brand. These partnerships enhance the curriculum and elevate the professional value of graduates.
Here's what you would need to invest if you were to start this franchise. These costs are provided by the franchisor in the Franchise Disclosure Document.
The franchise provides comprehensive training programs for franchisees. Here's a breakdown of the training initiatives offered by the Franchisor:
The franchise provides its franchisees with a designated "protected territory." This territory is typically defined by geographic and demographic factors, such as a population range between 600,000 and 1 million people.
The franchisee may conduct business solely from the approved premises, and although the franchisor will not open a competing school under the same brand within that territory, the protection is not absolute.
Franchisees do not receive an exclusive territory and may still face competition from other franchisees or company-owned outlets operating under different trademarks. Additionally, the franchisor retains the right to conduct sales through different channels such as the Internet or telemarketing, even within the protected territory.
KEY FRANCHISE STATS
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