How would you like to make more than $100,000 a year hairdressing? If you are thinking that this is impossible, think again. It’s possible and it does happen! Hair salon owners earn on average $53,150 per year including tips. The national accrediting commission of cosmetology arts and sciences reports the demand for hairdressers continues to grow through 2022, so there is plenty of time to start your own salon or work at an existing one. When looking into how much money hairdressers can make, most people only consider their salary but they don’t take into account tips which are a huge part of their income as well. So what does it take to go from average up to six figures a year?
Price Your Salon Services Appropriately
When you’re looking at pricing your salon services and merchandise, you’ll want to compare your services with those salons nearby. Pro-tip: call the neighborhood salons and fake set an appointment to ask about their pricing. If you have a customer base that has been with you for a while, consider slowly upping your price; these customers are coming back to you for a reason and it’s probably more the service you offer rather than the your price!
Start Selling Merchandise in Your Salon
Another way that your salon can start to make more revenue is to start selling merchandise. It’s easy to think about selling the products you’re using when you style someone’s hair, such as shampoos, conditioners, hair spray, pomades, etc. However, broaden your scope to selling t-shirts, tote bags and hair accessories as a great way for hairdressers to make extra money. You can sell these items on the side or during an appointment if need be! You can also sell the products that you personally craft handmade!
Refine Your Client Base to Service Only High-value Customers
If you have a salon client base that has with you for a number of years, you’ll start to assemble a list of clients that are not your ‘ideal’ clients. Whether they are simply annoying, cheapskates in tips, or overall just a problem. To maximize your potential in your salon, focus on on your high-value customers. These are the customers that are on-time, enjoyable to have in your chair, and are overall great tippers. Instead of focusing your hairdressing services towards everyone that walks through the door, narrow it down to those clients who will give you the best chance at making more money!
Reduce Your Salon Expenses, Track Your Salon Expenses
You pay tax on the amount of net income that your salon makes throughout the year; this net income is all of your revenue (services, tips, sales) minus business expenses. We have another blog article that talks about all of the business expenses that you should be deducting for your salon tax deductions.
When we say tax deductions, it’s comprised mostly of business expenses but there are other deductions that hairdressers should be taking. These are state tax, charitable donations and business license fees.
Make sure to track all of your expenses in a salon accounting so you can keep an eye on what’s coming into the salon (revenue) versus going out of the door (expenses)!
Set Your Own Salon Hours
Quite possibly one of the biggest perks for starting your own salon or renting a chair in a salon, is you are the owner of your own destiny! You set the number of hours you want to work in a given week. One way that you can reach $100k is to work 80 hour work weeks…
Realistically, you’ll want to find out what is your work-life balance that works for you! How many hours would you like to work can directly impact the amount you bring in, but you also should consider having a balance in your life to avoid getting burned out. You’ll want to work enough hours to bring in an income that you’re happy with, a and you don’t want too few hours that it’s impossible for clients to get any hair appointments.
Stay Positive and Optimistic
Salon incomes over $100k doesn’t happen overnight. You’ll want to maximize the tips above to keep a positive attitude and keep pushing forward towards six figures! Use Salon Accounting year over year to see how your income is trending by documenting your income and expenses.
If you have other tips and ideas on how to maximize your salon’s income, share it with us on our social channels! Facebook / Twitter
Photo by Jingming Pan on Unsplash