Working out your pricing as a freelance hairdresser can feel genuinely overwhelming. Not because you’re bad at business or not trying hard enough, it’s because, as an industry, most of us were trained to be brilliant hairdressers, not brilliant business owners.
We’re taught everything from technique, timing, client care, colour theory, cutting, styling and product knowledge, but very rarely do we get taught how to price a service in a way that covers costs and creates a profit. When we go freelance, we’re suddenly expected to know how to calculate overheads, plan for quiet periods, factor in holidays and build a sustainable income… no wonder we find this daunting!
One of the biggest mistakes freelancers make is deciding their pricing based on what other salons around them charge. Your prices are not just about what a service costs in colour and time; they also need to cover everything else it takes to run your business. That includes things like product costs, insurances, tax, national insurance, chair rental, education and booking systems. And all of this is before you even take a wage!
If you’re not factoring these things in, it’s easy to end up in a situation where you’re fully booked but barely breaking even. Or worse, working at a loss without realising it. If numbers aren’t your comfort zone, a pricing course or calculator can be a game changer. These can help you input all your outgoings and build service costings that don’t just cover the cost, they create a profit.
I found that one of the best ways to make pricing feel simpler is to break it down into an hourly figure. I work with a financial advisor, and I know not everyone is in a position to afford that, but the method we use is something any freelancer can do:
Essentially, we just go through my monthly and annual outgoings, expected income and how many hours I want to work realistically, then we calculate what I need to earn per hour just to cover my costs. This gives me a ballpark minimum hourly figure – the amount I need to make every hour just to cover expenses. Once I have that number, pricing services becomes much easier.
A lot of hairdressers accidentally price themselves to survive, not to succeed. Once you know your minimum hourly figure, the next step is deciding how much profit you want to make on top of it.
Freelancers (especially those who are new to being self-employed or have recently left employed salon life) forget that you don’t get sick pay, you don’t get holiday pay, you don’t get pension contributions and you don’t get a guaranteed wage. That means your pricing needs to include all of those things.
For example, I always factor in 4–5 weeks off per year and make sure I cover the cost of that throughout the year. Otherwise, what happens?
You finally take a holiday, and your income drops. You also need to consider a backup pot for emergencies, pension contributions and quiet periods, as we all know that some months are busier than others.
One of the most damaging trends in our industry is comparing prices; we’re all guilty of it. We see what another freelancer or salon charges and immediately question ourselves. But here’s the truth: You have a completely different business. Your bills, business rates and overheads will be different. Remember, just because someone is known as ‘expensive’, it doesn’t automatically mean they’re profitable.
If you take one thing away, let it be this: Work out your minimum hourly figure, build profit on top and stop comparing yourself to other people’s price lists. Because being booked and busy is great, but being booked, busy and profitable is the goal.
