The short answer, and why it is only half of one
Five of the six professions here you may start tomorrow with no certificate at all. For hairdressers, beauty specialists, nail technicians, pedicures and masseurs, Dutch law sets no training requirement.
Kvk.nl says of hairdressers that training is not compulsory but is important, and of beauty salons quite literally: to start a beauty salon you do not need a diploma. Ondernemersplein.overheid.nl is blunter still, saying that in principle anyone can work as a beauty specialist without a diploma. Pedicure, kvk.nl notes, is not a protected profession, so there are no compulsory diplomas, and anyone in the Netherlands may call themselves a masseur. All checked September 2026.
That is where almost every article stops, and where the problem starts. The question you are really asking is not whether you may open, but whether you can build a business.
To that the answer is far more often "yes, provided that". The Netherlands has no establishment act for these trades, so nobody checks whether you can cut, wax or file. What does exist is a second layer, built by the market rather than the legislator: trade associations, quality registers and health insurers. That layer does apply diploma requirements, and it decides whether your client gets part of the treatment reimbursed, whether you can join your trade's collective arrangements, and whether you get liability cover at all.
For one of the six professions there is also a genuine licence requirement, complete with an inspector who visits your workspace before you may open. So "you do not need a diploma" is half an answer: legally correct, commercially rarely so. The rest of the start, from registration to your first prices, sits in the step-by-step guide to starting a hair salon.
The matrix: what is required per profession
| Profession | Diploma required by law? | Licence required? | What you still need a qualification for in practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hairdresser and barber | No | No | ANKO membership is voluntary. Hire staff and the hairdressers' pension scheme becomes compulsory. |
| Beauty specialist | No, except for specific treatments | No, except permanent make-up | A recognised Schoonheidsverzorging diploma for ANBOS or De Huidprofessional membership. Diploma plus quality-register entry for camouflage therapy, electrical hair removal and acne treatment, and only then can your client claim reimbursement. IPL and laser: Wkkgz. |
| Nail technician | No | No | An approved diploma at NLQF level 3 for the NAIL register. Product rules apply regardless: since 1 September 2025 you may not use or sell products containing TPO. |
| Pedicure | No, not a protected profession | No | A Medisch Pedicure diploma for the KwaliteitsRegister voor Pedicures. Only as a medisch pedicure may you deliver the preventive foot care insurers reimburse, plus Zorgaanbiedersportaal registration and an AGB code. |
| Permanent make-up, tattoo and piercing | No | Yes. A GGD licence per location, valid 3 years, with an inspection beforehand | NEN-EN 17169:2020 for tattooing and permanent make-up, the LCHV hygiene guideline at the RIVM for piercing. Without a valid licence you are in breach and the NVWA enforces with a warning or a fine. |
| Masseur | No | No | A professional association, SCAS certification and an AGB code for insurer reimbursement. VAT exemption only for a therapeutic purpose at a quality level equivalent to the Wet BIG. |
Sources: kvk.nl (its hairdresser, beauty salon, nail stylist, pedicure and massage pages), ondernemersplein.overheid.nl, the NVWA and the GGD. All rows checked September 2026. Hygiene and zoning rules are partly municipal, so always call about your own address.
Hairdresser and barber: the freest of the six
Here the answer is simplest. You need no diploma, no licence and no register. KVK puts it plainly: "Om te werken als kapper of barbier is een opleiding niet verplicht, maar wel belangrijk", training is not compulsory though it is important. Joining trade association ANKO is voluntary too. Source: kvk.nl/starten/voor-jezelf-beginnen-als-kapper-doe-je-zo, fetched on 10 September 2026. Hairdresser and beauty specialist both sit on the Ondernemersplein list of free professions, which says the same thing from the other side: no statutory training requirement. Source: ondernemersplein.overheid.nl, fetched on 10 September 2026.
What starters miss sits further down that same KVK page: hire staff and you must join the pension scheme for hairdressers. That is not a custom you can opt out of, and the cost surfaces the day you register your first employee. Beyond that, the rules that apply to any shop apply: opening hours, music licences, and the sales ban on cosmetics containing microplastics.
Beauty specialist: the treatment sets the requirement
This row has the most nuance: three regimes can sit side by side inside one salon.
Facials, waxing, facial massage. No diploma, no licence.
Camouflage therapy, electrical hair removal and acne treatment. Here kvk.nl says you do need a diploma and a quality-register entry. That is also exactly the group for which your client can claim reimbursement. Without a diploma you may not do the treatment, and you are also missing out on a reimbursable service.
IPL and laser. You may perform these as a beauty specialist, but must comply with the Wet kwaliteit, klachten en geschillen zorg, and kvk.nl points to the HUIDPRO or SKIN register. Botox and fillers are out of reach: only a qualified and competent doctor may administer them.
Permanent make-up. Not a beauty treatment but a tattoo. See the row below.
For ANBOS or De Huidprofessional membership, ondernemersplein.overheid.nl says you need a Schoonheidsverzorging diploma the association recognises. Both offer advice, training and usually a discount on insurance and music licences.
Nail technician: a register and a product ban
To work independently as a nail stylist you need no specific training, kvk.nl says. To get into the NAIL register you must meet the professional profile at NLQF level 3 and hold an approved diploma.
Heavier than the register is the product side, which applies with or without a diploma. Since 1 September 2025 it has been forbidden to use or sell products containing TPO. That hits gel polish lines that were on sale until that date, so check your stock and ask your supplier to confirm.
Kvk.nl also flags the health risks of the substances you work with: wear gloves and a mask, and arrange extraction and ventilation against filing dust and fumes. If your client is harmed, you pay. Professional liability insurance is no luxury here, and insurers often ask about your training.
Pedicure: the dividing line is the word medical
Pedicure is not a protected profession: anyone may cut nails and remove callus. The dividing line is what you do next. Kvk.nl is sharp: treatments that make feet look nicer are cosmetic and the client pays herself. Insurers usually reimburse only preventive foot care, and you may deliver that only as a medisch pedicure.
With a Medisch Pedicure diploma you can register in the KwaliteitsRegister voor Pedicures (KRP), run by ProCert. Trade association ProVoet serves (medical) pedicures with a recognised diploma. Two steps follow on the care side: as a new care provider you register at the Zorgaanbiedersportaal and apply for an AGB code so you can invoice insurers.
Translate that into your diary before you pick a course. A purely cosmetic practice depends entirely on what the client pays herself. A practice treating diabetic and rheumatic feet has a second income stream, and registration is the only door to it. The two will sit side by side in your diary, which is worth weighing when you pick software for your pedicure practice.
PMU, tattoo and piercing: here it is genuinely binding
This is the exception: the only row where you may not work without paperwork.
Without a licence you may not apply a tattoo, permanent make-up or a piercing. That sits in article 3(1) of the Warenwetbesluit tatoeeren en piercen: "Een ondernemer beschikt over een vergunning van Onze Minister voor het gebruik van tatoeage- of piercingmateriaal." The GGD issues that permit on behalf of the Minister of Health. Source: wetten.overheid.nl, BWBR0021605, consulted on 10 September 2026. It is issued by the GGD in your region, you apply through the national portal veiligtatoeerenenpiercen.nl, and a GGD officer inspects your location before you get it. The licence is valid for 3 years and attaches to the location, not to you. Two addresses means two licences. Move, and the application starts again.
Cosmetic tattoos and permanent make-up fall under the same rules as an ordinary tattoo. Henna and an earlobe piercing are among the exceptions, though hygiene rules still apply. The legal basis is the Warenwetbesluit tatoeëren en piercen. For the working method, Staatscourant 2022, 4132 points tattooing and permanent make-up to the NEN-EN 17169:2020 standard; only piercing still runs on the hygiene guideline of the Landelijk Centrum Hygiëne en Veiligheid at the RIVM.
Identical everywhere is the obligation. What differs by region is the execution: tariff, waiting time and how the inspection is scheduled. GGD Gelderland-Midden charges 290.91 EUR for ear piercing without sterilisation, 581.79 EUR for tattooing or permanent make-up with sterilisation and 727.25 EUR for the combination, as of 1 July 2026. Source: professionals.ggdgm.nl, fetched on 10 September 2026. There is no single national tariff, so call your own regional GGD for the tariff and lead time, because that sets your opening date.
The sanction is real: without a valid licence you are in breach and the NVWA can issue a warning or a fine.
Masseur: the law says nothing, reimbursement and VAT say plenty
Anyone in the Netherlands may call themselves a masseur and you need no training for it, kvk.nl states. Yet this is where a qualification makes the biggest difference, for two reasons that are often confused.
The first is reimbursement. Some insurers reimburse treatments by sports care masseurs from a supplementary package. The route runs through a professional association such as NGS, certification at SCAS, and an AGB code. An NGS licence is valid for 5 years and requires continuing education. If you end up offering reimbursed and non-reimbursed treatments alongside each other, they sit in your diary as separate services, a point that counts when you pick software for your massage practice.
The second is VAT, and there sits a misunderstanding that can get expensive. The exemption attaches not to your association but to the nature of your service and your quality level. The Belastingdienst requires personal health care of the individual, delivered by a non-BIG practitioner at a quality level equivalent to the Wet BIG: as a rule a completed HBO bachelor of 240 ECTS aimed at the profession, plus basic medical or psychosocial knowledge. A relaxation massage with no therapeutic purpose is simply taxed.
If you are budgeting on this, put it to the Belastingdienst or your bookkeeper first. An exemption that turns out not to apply means an assessment over your entire turnover.
What to sort out this week
Three steps, and you know which row applies to you.
Step 1: write out your treatment menu, line by line. Your menu, not your job title, decides which regime you fall under. One line of permanent make-up at the bottom turns the whole project into a licensing project with an inspection.
Step 2: call the authority attached to your heaviest treatment. For PMU, tattoo or piercing, your regional GGD. For medical foot care, ProCert and the Zorgaanbiedersportaal. For reimbursable skin treatments, the quality register.
Step 3: count the lead time back from the day you want to open. A licensing process sets your opening date, not your building work.
At that last step it helps to have your booking system standing before you open, without it costing anything while nothing comes in. That is where CelerBook fits. You get your own booking page on your own subdomain with your treatment menu on it, so you can set services and durations exactly as you will offer them. Clients pick their own treatment and time, you see everything in one calendar for you and your staff, and confirmation emails go out automatically, and an SMS reminder ahead of time costs 0.11 EUR ex VAT per appointment. The pricing moves with your start: the first 5 appointments each month are free, then 0.25 EUR excluding VAT per completed appointment, capped at 30 EUR a month for a solo operator plus 5 EUR per additional active staff member. No contract, and no usage means no cost. Try CelerBook for free.