Geographical location will also affect your pricing. If you are based in the North of the country, a dry cut can cost upwards from £4. While in the South this could be nearer £8.
Aside from high street rents, one of your biggest expenses will be staff. But how much should you pay them? Although technically anyone can work in a hairdressing salon, any business worth its salt will only employ those who are qualified. The other thing to remember is that you will have to comply with the minimum wage.
For those members of staff who are under 21, £3.20 per hour is the going rate. Those over 21 should be paid around £3.70. For a medium-sized salon, your monthly fixed costs should typically include rent and rates, wages, stock and utilities. For Linda Heald, owner of Keeping Up Appearances, employing four to five people,would add up to around £360 in weekly wages, a week’s rent would be around the £150 mark and rates would be on average approximately £65. Sundry expenses would perhaps total £70.
On a good week, Linda can earn around £1,300. But when you take away the costs outlined above, she will be left with a figure more likely to be between £300 and £400.
So hairdressing is not a business that will make you a millionaire, unless you operate on the scale of Toni & Guy or Nicky Clarke. If you’re in business purely for the money, then hairdressing is probably not the way to go.
However, running a good salon isn’t really about the money. A good salon should inspire real loyalty from its clients. A trip to have a haircut or a new style is often the way that many people go to relax or to de-stress and pamper themselves. Particularly among the older generation, it is considered a luxury. So on a personal level it can be a highly rewarding business to go into.