Here at the Parlor Salon, we want to bring out the best everyone. We love coaching our stylists in not just the profession of hair but also in the financial aspects of working for themselves. If you are a hair stylist and looking to cut hair for a living it can be scary but it shouldn’t be. It is much better financially to rent a space at a salon than to be paid hourly or commissioned for your work. Most salons are only go to pay 40-50% in commission if they pay commission. Google states that the hourly wage for a hairdresser can be $19.95 an hour. This however, is only for the top 10 percent of stylists being paid hourly. Not good, nope. You can make literally make five times that and more if you do it right.
If a stylist is renting a chair then they are in charge of their own hours, prices, etc. This means that there is much more potential for growth. A stylist that is charging the prices they should with a full calendar should be making any where from $80,000 to $160,000 a year in the Sacramento area. These wages also go up when the economy changes. If you are a stylist looking to go into business for yourself here are a few tips to help you financially do well…
- Right Offs- Make sure that you are keeping receipts for everything that you buy that is salon related. You will have to use these during tax season and you want to have proof and records of these right offs. You can potentially right off travel expenses, conferences, back-bar, insurance, etc.
- Credit Cards- Having a business credit card can be a good idea. It can help you keep good records of the spending that you are doing (only use the card on things business related) and you can get a lot of points if you are paying it off on time! You can accumulate points for both your business and home and it can make a difference in your spending. However, statically most people do not pay off their credit cards at their due date and so they get hit with interest. Here’s an idea- when you use a credit card pay it off daily. That insures that you are making your payments on time. That way, you get the points plus it helps you to keep records of everything that you are spending.
- Health Insurance- Health benefits is one of the biggest draws to working for a business that has employees. If you are considering going into business for yourself, look into Dave Ramsey’s Health Savings. In my opinion, this is best used for families that are healthy. You can save an incredible amount of money doing this legally. Here is an article that can help you with this- https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-to-save-money-on-health-insurance
- Time For Other Jobs- Because you have flexibility with your own schedule, you can get another job if you need the consistent income starting out. I would recommend a job with some flexibility as well that is freelance work but you still can work another position while being a hair dresser.
- Debt- Some debt it ok. For example, a home mortgage can be ok debt because you are paying into something that is hopefully appreciating in value. Debt from school can also be ok depending on the amount but unless you are going into a field that pays really well, you’ll want to stay away from too much school debt. Pay off as much as you can while you are in school. Debt that you should stay away from are as follows- credit cards (possibly the worst form of debt), cars, nonessential items, etc. If you can’t pay for it now, don’t buy it. Simple and easy.
- Saving Money- In the near future you’ll want to start putting away money for retirement. If you can muster up 5-10% of your pay check for this that would be great. When you are starting out as a stylist you may have some expenses that you’ll have to focus on first but you’ll want to be setting aside savings sooner than later.
As you can see, it is not necessary better to work for an organization if you work smarter. One of the best parts of renting a chair as a stylist is that you have more control over your financial situation and time. You can easily provide for your family if you budget right on even four days of work a week. Our advice- work smarter not harder.
