For Ronald Burt, owner of The Lux Barber Lounge, styling services are not just another fact of life–they’re an opportunity to feel your best. At his Midtown, Sacramento location, Ron provides his clients with barber and styling services designed to make them feel pampered and refreshed. Before launching The Lux Barber Lounge, Burt worked with Women’s Business Center business counselor, Prashante Bailey-Lewis. After meeting at a networking event through the WBC’s Motivated Entrepreneurs program, Bailey-Lewis helped Burt fine-tune his business plan and create financial projections to apply for funding through the California Capital Lending Center.
After completing barber school in New York, Burt returned to his home state of California ready to expand his operation. “I’m passionate about looking fresh and making people feel good, so it just made sense to make it a career,” Burt says, reflecting on being inspired by his cousins in the industry. After completing school, Burt rented stations at various shops, but after relocating to Sacramento in 2021 to be closer to family, he knew that the growing Midtown grid held promise for living out his dream.
THE SEARCH FOR SUPPORT
To bring his vision of a high-end barber shop in a prime location to life, Burt knew that he would need to get a business loan. When he heard about the WBC’s Motivated Entrepreneurs meet-up that focused on how to access business funding, he almost did not attend–he had gone to similar events and had never been connected with the right resources.
But through Motivated Entrepreneurs, Burt learned about the holistic approach of California Capital’s no-cost services–which can take entrepreneurs from addressing business obstacles with a counselor to applying for funding from the in-house Lending Center–and he decided to begin working with WBC business counselor, Prashante Bailey-Lewis to prepare his loan application.
A YEAR OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS
“Prashante told me she had experience in the beauty industry, so it was kind of a perfect match in terms of mentoring and counseling,” explains Burt. “I had a business plan, but she helped me tweak it, make it better, and also write financial projections.”
With this guidance, Burt put together a comprehensive loan application and was approved for funding in late 2023. Burt used the funding to secure a lease in the heart of Midtown, Sacramento and purchase state of the art equipment to complete the build-out. Burt celebrated the grand opening of The Lux Barber Lounge in November of 2023, and was also named a finalist of the Motivated Entrepreneurs Small Business Showcase pitch competition. By connecting to resources and a team of experts that believe in his vision, Ron Burt is raising the bar styling services available in Sacramento.
