6 Ways to Cut Hair Salon Expenses

Time for a Trim: 6 Ways to Cut Your Hair Salon Expenses

Let’s face it — we do hair and we do it well! But the responsibilities of being a salon owner or a hairstylist entail much more than hair. There are so many aspects of the business side of things that we need to keep in mind, too. And this goes beyond ensuring your salon is stocked up on professional salon supplies.

With that being said, finances aren’t always the most fun to deal with, but it’s essential to keep an eye on them.

It’s easy for salons to get busy and chaotic, as that’s just the nature of the business, but when it comes to the financial side of things, salon owners should make sure this area is streamlined, accurate and never overwhelming. And sometimes this means making cuts — or trims — when necessary.

If your salon or hairstyling business is spending more than it’s making or the financial side of the business isn’t meeting the goals you have set, it may be time to buckle down and look at finances. This could look like purchasing professional hair color and other products but not necessarily using enough or selling enough to match your expenses.

But don’t worry — you don’t have to do this alone. We have written this article to help you identify areas of your business that could benefit from trimming excess spending, as well as areas that may not be performing well enough.

How to Cut Salon Expenses

While looking at financials may be different for everyone, there are a few methods to cut expenses that could be applied to most salon businesses. Here are some steps and strategies.

1. Take a Comprehensive Look at Current Spending

To fully understand your revenue and expenses, as well as identify areas to cut back on, you will need to get a comprehensive look at your current spending patterns. When you look at your finances, identify where you are spending the most money and if that is aligned with the amount of revenue you are bringing in. If you are spending a lot in a certain area, but aren’t seeing a return on investment, this is a great way to identify where to cut spending.

2. Be Mindful When Making Staff Decisions

Laying off or reducing staff is never something anyone wants to have to do. When initially hiring your salon staff, consider having stylists and assistants help out with other tasks such as working the front desk. This can help you ensure your salon is sufficiently staffed and you won’t have to consider future layoffs.

3. Downsize Operations or Space

Are the expenses to run your salon or keep it in a certain space getting too expensive? If so, it may be a good idea to downsize. A common problem some salon owners may be faced with is the lease on their space is getting to be unsustainable. With rising real estate costs, it may be more financially sound to relocate to a space that makes better business sense.

4. Reduce Waste

How fast are you running through single-use products or hair salon supplies? It may be wise to look at how often your team is going through the product to ensure that there isn’t a lot of waste, which could be costing you. You can also invest in reusable products, where it makes sense. This could reduce waste and help with saving costs.

5. Take Marketing In-House

How does your salon handle marketing? It’s an important aspect of making sure your business is always staying relevant and attracting new customers, but it could be one of the biggest expenses you have. If you are paying a firm or agency to handle marketing, it may be time to take efforts in-house to save money for the time being. How is this done economically and effectively? You could hire one person to run marketing efforts rather than paying an agency. You can also task hair stylists to create content by taking before and after photos or featuring them on your salon’s social media pages. You don’t want to cut marketing altogether, but bringing it in-house can help save costs.

6. Find Areas to Boost Revenue

While you’re cutting spending in some areas, this may also be a great time to boost revenue in other areas. Are there more products you can sell? How about new services you can add? Bringing in more money while cutting unnecessary spending is great for business.

Every business is different, but these are some general areas we feel that every salon owner or hairstylist could re-evaluate to identify savings and boost revenue.