Selby Jimmerson-
Loving the dimension on this gorgeous head of hair by Nik Gates!
The Parlor Salon-
Are you interested in working for yourself independently as a stylist? There are many benefits to renting a station or having a booth rental at a salon as a stylist. It can be scary and daunting thinking about the financial implications of renting your own space and then working for yourself! There are however many reasons why most salons are becoming Chair and Booth rentals.
Because of the recent laws in California, many salons are moving to paying hourly or renting their chairs out to stylists. Commissioning stylists for their services is becoming more complicated and as a result salons are having to pay hourly. Even when salons do commission for services the percentage typically is very low and limits the potential for the stylist to grow in their profession financially. For example, many salons will only commission their stylists 40% and sometimes 50% per service.
While there are some risks in being a small business owner the potential for making more money is much higher in renting a salon station. Many things will dictate whether or not a stylist will make more money working for themselves. Here are a few of those things:
1. Prices for Services-
Most stylists are not charging enough for their services. Generally speaking, clients are wanting high quality hair and salon services these days. Studies have shown that clients are actually more pleased with their service if they are charged more for their hair cut, color, etc. Most millennials for example, do not mind paying more for hair services. Having a “20 percent off” deal these days can actually be a deterrent for business and diminish the value of your product. Giving a discount on products and things like that or giving incentive for referrals is fine but for the most part your prices will not push away clients. Disneyland is a great example of this. The only way to get a good deal with Disneyland for the most part is if you go during a low traffic season or you buy a lot of tickets making each cost less as a result.
Depending on the area that the stylist lives in they can potentially charge a cost that would pay for their salon chair in less than two days of work. That is the case for the stylists at The Parlor Salon. A part-time stylist can pay for their chair in a little less than two days of work if they charge the prices that we recommend. We love coaching stylists in this and helping them grow their own clientele!
2. Right- offs-
One of the fears about working for yourself is the potential taxes that you’ll have to pay. If you work for yourself it’s always wise to set aside at least 30% of your income for taxes. As a stylist there are an incredible amount of write-offs that you can use to offset this cost. This is everything from the actual chair rental to the products that are used to the liability insurance to the cosmetology license…etc. At the end of the day, it probably all evens out in caparison to the taxes that are taken out of a paycheck for commission stylists or hourly.
3. Marketing-
We live in an era where marketing is more effective than it has ever been. Unlike in the era of Mad Men today’s marketing is mostly found on social media. If a stylist is working for a salon and not for themselves they might be limited to the social media presence that the salon has. If the stylist is diligent about posting on Instagram and other things they will benefit tremendously from this.
4. Personal Clientele
When a stylist is working for an hourly paycheck or they are commissioned on their services the clients belong to the salon. When they are renting chairs or their own space the clients they receive are theirs for the long haul. Because of the nature of the salon business a great many of the clients that a stylist has will continue with them for years if they are good. It is very easy to build up a personal clientele and keep it for years and not have to market after ones calendar is booked. If a stylist works for a salon as an employee however, they do not have the benefit of growing their own clientele and having it for a long time.
Conclusion
At the end of the day working in the salon industry is one of the best jobs around. It is somewhat recession-proof and the need for more salons continues to rise throughout the nation. If you are a hair stylist and looking for a place to work I would highly recommend the Parlor Salon 🙂 We desire that all of our stylists succeed and we team up with them to accomplish that.
