Don’t Leave 2019 Without Reading These Pricing Tips 🤑

7 Tips To Help You Make More Money In 2020

Who doesn’t want to bring in more coin in the New Year? 💰 We know you do, so we’ve pulled our favorite pricing tips and advice we’ve heard this year to help elevate your business in 2020! Scroll down to see what some of your Insta faves have to say about knowing when to raise your prices, how to maximize on your add-ons and so much more! 

1. Charge By The Hour

No two heads of hair are the same, so why would you charge one base price for your services? To make sure you’re maximizing on your time and product, Gina Bianca (@iamginabianca) recommends charging by the hour. “It will help you so much and ensure you’re not giving away hours of service and ounces of product,” she says. “Hourly is always the way to go and typically it ends up being close to the same price as your a la carte services if your pricing is dialed in.“

2. It MIGHT Be Time To Raise Your Prices If…

If you find yourself consistently booked out weeks in advance, then you’re definitely doing something right. But, that could be a sign that it’s also time to up your prices to align with your skill level and the demand. Kristen Ewing (@kristen.lumiere) recommends considering these three things to determine if it’s time for a price adjustment.

• Education: If you continuously take classes and stay up-to-date on the latest trends, then you should be compensated fairly for your acquired knowledge and skillset.

• Brand Awareness: If the value of your name or brand has increased through social media, sponsored partnerships, award nominations or wins, etc., then you can definitely start upping your prices.

• Space: If you’ve renovated your salon/suite space, moved to a more upscale location or elevated your amenities,  you should raise your prices.

3. Cost of Living Goes Up & So Should Your Income

The cost of living fluctuates depending on where you reside, but if you’ve noticed your rent, mortgage, utilities, groceries and other expenses have risen in the last year or two it might be time for your prices to rise with it. “In the last 10 years, the cost of living has risen by 1.5 percent average,” shared Morgan Weathers (@thebalaymama) on her Instagram. “One gallon of milk has gone from $3.05 to $3.27. One gallon of gas has gone from $1.89 to $3.51. A home that was $100,000 is now $121,436 (That’s a rise of 21.44 percent)…I wanted to point out all of the above statistics to say this: Being a hairstylist is my JOB. It’s how I buy milk, gas, a home and make the annual income just like most of you.”

4. Calculating A Price Increase?

Let’s say you’ve decided it’s time to up your prices, but you don’t know where to start? That’s where Rochelle Golden (@rochellegoldenhairstylist) comes in with her expert formula for calculating how much you should charge. “It’s not just a $10 across the board type of scenario.” 

• Step 1: Add up your monthly expenses.
• Step 2: Calculate the hours you work in one month.
• Step 3: Divide your expenses by your hours. This total will let you know how much you need to make to cover your expenses.
• Step 4: Now double that number to get the industry standard on setting prices, and then increase it again by 10 to 15 percent. 

5. Add-Ons Add Up

Lindsey Little (@bangbangbalayage) said it best on Instagram, “Don’t ever underestimate the VALUE of an add-on service. KNOW YOUR VALUE and don’t give anything away for free! It’s also important that clients understand the cost of color and appreciate the extra time it takes for us to give them that treatment. Once we start just adding extras in for them that they don’t understand the value of, we start to make ourselves feel under-appreciated in the long run because we start to do things to be nice or because we feel bad that it costs so much.”

6. Traveling Stylists Should ALWAYS Do This

If you do a lot of brides or other on location services, ask yourself this. Are you factoring in your travel and expenses in your prices? If not, then you should! Amanda Diedrich (@blohaute) recommends establishing a set rate for events that require travel and adding on your travel expenses separately. You wouldn’t charge the same price for a wedding that’s a couple miles away versus 10. 

7. Salon Services Are A Luxury

If you’re worried that your clients will desert you for charging more, remind yourself that what you offer is not a necessity. Gina had this to say to anyone struggling. “Here’s a little news flash: Most of the services we offer are legit luxuries. Half the population on this earth will never have access to the types of services we offer,” she remarks on her Instagram. “You don’t walk into a Porsche dealership if you can’t afford one. You go somewhere where you can afford the products and services.”