Business plan turns into the real thing

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When Katie Koll started writing a business plan for a class last January, she didn't realize she would be using it to open her own hair salon, The Cutting Room, just a few months later.

Though she'd always dreamed of opening her own salon, Koll, who graduated from UNLV last Spring with a bachelor's degree in business management, simply looked at the business plan assignment as good practice for the future.

"I worked in salons throughout college, and that's how I found out this is what I wanted to do," she said. "I love the customer service and working with people, and I really love helping them look and feel better."

But the assignment also included submitting business plans to the Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup business plan competition. So Koll and five other students spent a month and a half putting the plan together, then submitting it.

"I figured writing a business plan would be something I'd have to do eventually anyway if I wanted to own my own salon," Koll said. "After we entered it, the plan was selected as one of the top six. The judges raved so much in Reno about it that I thought, 'Well, I'm just going to have to do it now.' "

Koll said she already had an outline for the plan in mind, but her classmates contributed to its development.

About five months ago, Koll started the process of opening the business by finding a location and getting financial support. She also got Michael Boychuck, owner of AMP salon at the Palms and salon director for Canyon Ranch at the Venetian, involved with the project.

The two met when Boychuck cut Koll's hair. She liked AMP and asked Boychuck to get involved with the salon. He agreed to license his name to the business, and has provided his ideas and supervised their implementation while serving as a consultant.

"I decided to get involved with this because most salons off the Strip are on a limited budget and don't go for the luxury of a casino salon," Boychuck said. "The Cutting Room was willing to bring in the best equipment, top designers and the best products. The way they've done this has been perfect, I couldn't be happier with it. People are really going to notice a difference."

Boychuck also brought two of his long time employees, Kevin Teitler and Dawn Oguri, to The Cutting Room to work as the salon director and the creative director, respectively.

"They are going to make sure the environment of the salon is best for everyone," he said. "The client will feel most important, but the staff will feel totally taken care of."

Koll agreed that making customers and employees feel important will be a fundamental part of her business.

"Making people extremely happy and satisfied is very important to me," she said. "And while I'm into keeping everything about the clients, I'll also take care of the employees equally. Working in salons, I learned what both employees and customers want and need in a salon."

The Cutting Room offers hair and skin services as well as waxing, facials, microdermabrasion, hair extensions and thermal straightening and products from Bumble and Bumble and Kerastase.

In addition to traditional salon services, because Koll feels business has become so important in everyday life, The Cutting Room will feature a cyber bar so clients can check e-mail or research products and styles or anything else they may need Internet access for.

The Cutting Room also features a revolving selection of art through the city of Henderson's art guild. Koll said while the pieces, which will change every six months or so, will be for sale, The Cutting Room will not take any commission on them.

The Cutting Room is located at 10575 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 170.