The Aspiring Stylist with Tracey Franklin

Welcome to the Aspiring Stylists Podcast with Tracey Franklin. Where to begin, grow and aspire to become the best stylist you can be. Whether you're thinking about becoming a stylist opening a salon, or developing your skills as an experienced stylist the next step of your beauty career starts here. Each week we'll discuss strategic ways to design, plan and execute on becoming a stylist that excels behind the chair and above the bottom line. Here's your host, Tracey Franklin.

You just graduated, you're hitting the salon floor, and what are you going to charge? I mean, this is hard, right? You've been cutting hair for a year as a student, so you're probably not terrible at it. But to a client, you're fresh out of school. So what are your haircuts actually worth?

Well, I went straight into a commission salon after school, and I'll never forget my women's haircuts were 2750. I mean, the 50 cents was always a super weird twist for me, like why, but I do remember thinking 23 years ago that it seemed like a lot of money for a haircut. So a little background on me, it would be extremely hard to tell it now. But I was not very glam in my 20s. I mean, I tried. But I was a single mom, a broke single mom with limited resources. And I was also carrying around quite a bit of baby weight still in the plus size clothing industry. Can I just be honest, back then it was just cruel. I mean, we have come a long way in the fashion industry. So before beauty school, I had never had my hair professionally colored. And my only professional haircuts had been at fantastic Sam's or some other chain salon. Yes, I said it. So to say I have come a long way since then Honey, say less.

Okay. But what I do the same thing, if I could go back in time, what I start with that same position, what I charge the same amount, I have no regrets.

I mean, my first boss was a hair genius. And I learned a lot. I mean, some were lessons of what not to do. But those are just as valuable, right. So when it was time for me to decide what I would charge for myself, I had just opened up my first salon, I mean, I had received a few promotions at that first job. So I just didn't change anything about my pricing structure initially. So if you're going to go into an employment situation right out of school, which I do recommend, if you're hourly or commission, your prices have already been set, and there is more than likely a structure around your promotions and your pricing that you will follow.

You know, you don't have to get yourself all worked up about that that's probably already decided for you. So if you were deciding fresh out of school, what your prices are going to be, then you just need to look around what is everyone else charging, you need to do a little research on it and probably fall somewhere in between it all fresh out of school? How do you even assess your skill level? And how does your skill level relate to your pricing? I mean, you should have some idea of what kind of stylist you already are, you should be able to rate your performance in school at least.

Are the instructors constantly bragging on you and giving you a ton of clients? What about correction? Was there a ton necessary when they were checking your work? Or was there very little to do to correct it?

And what about the clients? Were they really responding to you already? I mean, if you're like me, you were able to make them connections, like way back then.

But if you're not like me and you don't like the answers to these questions, don't let it freak you out. It's okay. If you don't like where you're at right now, you're going to get better.

As long as you don't quit, you're going to get better. But these answers do let you know where you fall right now. And with that you know what your local pricing is? So you should be able to come up with what your should be. So what about the market rates and location?

Does that affect your pricing?

Absolutely. I mean, where we live, it makes all the difference when it comes to the price of anything. Hair services are no different. That's why I recommend checking out your local pricing. I want to caution you about starting off either too high or too low and what could happen. I obviously do not have the authority to say if someone's prices are too high or too low, but common sense would dictate you not charging as much as a veteran stylist in your neighborhood right out of school. Unless of course that veteran stylist hasn't given themselves a raise in 20 years.

But if you charge too little, you're gonna have to work really, really hard and you're gonna have to see a lot of clients to earn a living wage doing $15 haircuts is going to mean what to one hour at the minimum and there won't be a lot of room for quality if that's the case and charging $80 for a haircut with no salon experience is going to be questionable for potential clients. So it's better to just fall somewhere in between. And then you get to work improving and growing and becoming a more valuable stylist. And then your work and your prices will speak for themselves. So I want to break down overhead costs and what's involved with being a stylist.

Okay, commission stylists, booth rental, the whole thing. So if you're going to be an independent stylist, then you were essentially going to be a small business owner, you will not be some stylist in a salon, you will be your own entity. So put on your business hat and figure this out. I recommend an online course that teaches you what percentage of your income needs to be spent on what I mean? How do you break down the overhead costs between being a stylist, your supplies, your booth, rent, utilities, insurance, all the things. So when a bigger salon overhead would affect your pricing, all the amenities of a big salon, like your front desk, staff refreshments, boutique shopping experience for all your hair products, all the other services that are offered, I mean, this is more overhead for the salon owner. So a higher price on the services are going to be common.

If you are independent, your amenities may not be substantial enough to affect your pricing.

And that's not to say you can't have a beautiful suite decorated, super cute and offer coffee. But it is a different vibe. And price differences between suite owners and big salons prove that all day long.

What about how long it's taking you with each of your clients? I mean, you're probably a little bit slower, right? Are you able to break even with the amount of time that you're spending and how much you're spending on color. I mean, the amount of time it takes to do a service really shouldn't affect you too much in the beginning. Yes, time is money. But that just means you need to get faster, not charge more, you are slower in the beginning, hell, I'm still slow, I still take an hour or more for Balaji hair. But to be honest, at this point in my career, I'm not in a hurry, I'm enjoying my work, and I really enjoy the few clients I do still see. But I wouldn't recommend taking more time than is necessary to perform your services. I have the students that Aspire foil with conditioner on their mannequins over and over again, this helps them get better and faster at it all. Because time is money no matter how you spend it in the salon. Tracking your expenses should be something that you're doing no matter what even if you're working in a big salon.

If you're spending a ton of money on shears or other personal implements, then you need to make sure that it's still falling within a budget that makes sense for your earning status right now. So it's important to track your expenses. If your price of color goes up and you don't go up on your prices, then you're actually making less money over time instead of more. If I get an email from Aveda in advance letting me know that the products are going up, then that gives me a little time to make the changes necessary so that I'm not losing money. If you're a small business owner, then you have to track your expenses. You can do a spreadsheet, that's a great tool, or you can go old school with your receipts in a notebook. It all works it just has to be done. What is the profit margin while a profit margin is the space between breaking even and growth? The obvious objective is to watch that grow. Of course, I will say it takes an immense amount of paying attention to make that happen. I have personally recently taken on some new responsibilities and my two companies and when it comes to the matters of money, what's coming in what's going out, you better be paying attention. So what should your profit margin look like in that first year?

Well, in the first year of business, your profit margin will probably look a lot like zero. If your startup costs were lower than maybe but typically one year will not produce a profit. Honestly, if you're still able to make enough money to live on and pay the shop bills you've got a lot to be proud of. So let's go back to the word upselling. I mean, should you be upselling your services to offset lower service prices. Having inexpensive ways to add value to the guest experience is a great way to stand out to them and to add revenue for you. Shine treatments and hair masks are my two favorite goes to when it's time for me to hit some goals and level up. As a salon owner.

I know how detrimental retail sales are to the bottom line. I just wish it was as easy to make the stylists see it. The service sales are what pays the bills.

It buys the products and pays the mortgage and keeps the IRS off our backs. The profit for retail is for our new hair extension display and for the coach we flew in to teach that awesome class on the workplace mindset. It's how we buy a new water heater and pay the cleaning lady. It's freaking everything every salon owner out there right now that's listening is nodding their head. Should you offer discounts I mean, as a new stylist does it make you look desperate? Now let's talk about discounts. I don't really like the word discount to the clients, but really that's what they are. They're discounts. I like to market them as promotions. See, doesn't that sound better? I see nothing wrong with promotions, but limit yourself to one quarterly, like we don't want to look desperate and more than that it can also affect your profit margin. We still want to make money. So what kinds of specials discounts, promotions, things like that, can we offer offer promotions that require very little cost? I mean, think about what you can do that would be more of a time thing. Like braiding breeding is a great example. People love to come in and get their hair shampooed and braided especially if they're super active, they have something coming up that weekend. Little girls that cheer things like that. I mean, you can offer a special on shampoos and braids on one of your slower days. Another one is anything that involves massage who does not love massage. If you don't currently offer a hand and arm massage or a scalp massage with your shampoos, this is a great place to start. Decide on that Add on price and watch your clients swoon over all the extra attention. So how do you upsell offer promotions or anything like that without seeming like a used car salesman? Well, the best way to present these to your guests is to call them what they are treatments, specialty services, when the guest feels like you are offering them these services because they deserve them and because you enjoy making them feel good. It doesn't feel pushy or salesy at all. So where would a graduate today start when it comes to making their price list? Well, a new graduate today has the ease of Google and in my opinion, why not start there. It's the fastest and easiest way to see where you need to fall when it comes to pricing for your experience and location. As a new stylist with a lot of decisions to make it's time to get massive clarity, not just on where you want to be right now.

But where you want to be in the next few years. You need to make a plan and settle into it for at least two years. Moving around in these critical early days behind the chair is not great for establishing your clientele.

And if you go the independent route, then remember to keep your eye on expenses. If you decide to partner with a salon and make sure you're getting your Commission's worth. And what I mean by that is a typical commission structure will start in the low 40s. So make sure they are providing everything you need to perform your services. A little education and mentorship usually comes with it as well. And make sure either of those places offers you an opportunity to grow. You need to experience a decent amount of traction in these early years so that you can keep bettering yourself through these opportunities. My last piece of advice today is to make sure you believe in yourself. value yourself, the space you take up and the guests that you serve.

Have an attitude of gratitude and others will believe in you too.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of anytime soon. The Aspiring Stylist Podcast with Tracey Franklin. If you enjoyed listening and you want to hear more, make sure you subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts.

The Aspiring Stylist Podcast with Tracey Franklin is a Morgan Franklin Production. Today's episode was written and produced by Morgan Franklin editing and post-production by Mike Franklin. Want to find out more about Tracey and the Aspiring Barber and Beauty Academy go to aspirebarberandbeauty.com