Considering my options

[Thumpalumpacus]

Is two years a realistic expectation for roi?  

This is the key question. Can you turn the business so that paying off your loans reasonably is doable? No matter how many unemployed stylists/etc there are locally, the essence of your business will be turning potential customers into real customers. I don't know much about styling, but one thing I do know is that people who turn to commercial grooming tend to be very loyal to that one person who does it just right for them. And what that means is that if your market is overserved, you might have a difficult time prying customers away from the competition.

On the other hand, if there are open niches, it might be worth it to take on that debt-load with a reasonable expectation of turning profit soon enough to start paying it down.

[Joods]

Is two years a realistic expectation for roi?  

This is the key question. Can you turn the business so that paying off your loans reasonably is doable? No matter how many unemployed stylists/etc there are locally, the essence of your business will be turning potential customers into real customers. I don't know much about styling, but one thing I do know is that people who turn to commercial grooming tend to be very loyal to that one person who does it just right for them. And what that means is that if your market is overserved, you might have a difficult time prying customers away from the competition.

On the other hand, if there are open niches, it might be worth it to take on that debt-load with a reasonable expectation of turning profit soon enough to start paying it down.

This is one of the things I know I'm going to have to do some research on. Demographics will definitely help. Two things I already know are that there are approximately 113,000 people living within a five mile radius and that the median income for a person living within that five mile radius is approximately $55,000 per year.

[Thumpalumpacus]

How many cosmetologists serve that population? What sorts of rates might you charge that would deliver both profitability to your enterprise as well as undercutting any competition so that in the short term you can wedge into the market? These are things that can factor into your plan, too.

[Seraphina]

Opening or running a business isn't in my wheelhouse so I don't have any advice but I wish you the best of luck on your plans.
Keep us posted on how it's going!

-Teresa