Tina Hollis, aka The Lonely Boss Lady, owns the T2 Hair & Beauty salon in Kent. Tina holds the Wella Master Colour Expert qualification and has a 6-month waiting list!
While Tina’s salon is incredibly successful now, her experiences of setting up and doing it alone, and subsequent steep learning curve, led her to set up her new education business, The Lonely Boss Lady. She helps salons to avoid business pitfalls, and this month she talks to us about how to prepare for the minimum wage increase.
“So it’s April, and April brings change – one change is that the minimum wage is going up. It’s not something that we’re not expecting, but as salon owners we tend to bury our head in the sand. We’re scared of making price increases because we want to make sure that we’re looking after our clients, and keeping them coming back to our chairs. But if we don’t incorporate these changes into our pricing structure, then we’re going to be the ones running the risk of not having any profit. You shouldn’t feel embarrassed about making a profit – when we open our salons, that’s what we have to aim for, and if we aren’t making a profit there’s nothing to invest back into the business, or for emergencies.
Break-even isn’t enough because break-even is literally just paying the bills, and as a salon owner, you’ll be the last person to be paid. So sit down, work out how much extra you’re going to be paying out in wages, and work out where to incorporate that into your prices. When you’re doing that, make sure you look at all your stock increases, your utility bills, mortgage, or rent increases and work out a percentage. Work out what’s fair, then from that you can set your new prices to move forward and make sure that your salon stays in profit.”
If there’s anything I can do to help, please just get in touch with me at @tinahollismce / www.thelonelybosslady.com
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