Seeking Career Advice from Hairdressers

We are in Va. My daughter graduated from Cosmetology school last December and has been working in a salon (that takes walk ins) for about the past 8 months or so. She is building clientel (sp?). She also has a mini salon set up in her house to do family and friends on the side (when time allows).Her ultimate plan is to have her own salon someday and she plans to go to school to take managment classes, etc. to know the ins and outs of owing her own business. Her next step however, is to rent a chair (a place just opened up near us) where she can be her own boss (without actually owning her own salon). She knows that she needs to build clients first before she does anything, so that is why she is working for someone else right now. She gets paid an hourly wage, and gets tips at this time. However, she is at the mercy of the salon as far as hours she is scheduled to work, etc.(and they do get cut if they are slow). I hope in some way that this helps. These are the steps she is taking to get to where she ultimately wants to be someday.

If he is just starting out renting a booth may not be the best idea. I think that would be a better choice if he had a full cliental. He could end up renting a booth and not making enough money to pay for it, or even draw a profit right away. It has been a while since I worked in a salon but from what I remember some salons do commission only salary, and some do salary and then once you reach your cap they do partial commission on top of that. If the salon is willing to help him by giving him the new customers then he should build clients rather quickly. If there are a few new hairdressers starting our then it will take him longer to build up. So if he is the only apprentice and they are willing to help him then he should stay there and I think do salary to start out. Good luck to him.

I have a couple of friends who do hair for their complete income. They both live very well. One has owned the shop and made very little money after overhead and other things. She thought it would be THE way to make it big and double her income but she found she was making about 2/3 of her income before. She went back to renting a booth and her income went way back up.

The good thing about renting a booth is that you do not have to pay for all the extras like electricity, sewer backups, water usage, etc...you only have to take care of your end of the agreement. The other good thing I can think of right off the bat is that you are not obligated to stay. You can leave and go to another salon at any time. You usually let your clients know you are moving and they follow if it in their ability. If they are limited to a certain area physically then they may not have a choice.... Being a friendly person and good at your job will make people like you and want to follow you where every you go.

The other option of working for an existing business has it's benefits too. You have a paycheck regardless of how many people walk in off the streets. One of my friends went to work at Penney's and made a lot of friends and when she left she took them all to the new place where she was renting a booth. You have everything supplied for you because they want to push their products. I like the idea of having a pretty predictable paycheck each payday for at least a while until you build a clientele that will follow you to a place where you just rent a booth.

So, all in all, I think renting the booth at least in the very beginning can be risky, if they don't come in you don't make any money. When working for a chain like in Walmart or Penney's you have a regular paycheck each week and it is pretty stable income-wise.

Renting a booth and having steady appointments is where the bigger money is though. The lady who went back to this could not make her caddy payment by owning the business and she loved that car. She went back to renting and had the new car paid off in less than 2 years. She lived in a nice home, had nice clothes and her kids had every known convenience.

Ditto with everyone else. My daughter graduated and went to work rentiing a booth almost right away. She didn't always make enough to pay her rent. She ended up quitting to stay home with the kids because it was cheaper than booth rent and day care. she is taking care of friends and family on the side and making more now than she was at the salon. Maybe when the kids are all in school, she may go back to a salon.

Until he builds a client base, he needs to work in a commission based salon. Starting at a franchise salon like Toni & Guy is always a good way to go. Or any Aveeda salon. There are tons in the Plano/Frisco area. Google them and tell him to start interviewing. :) Best of luck to you!

It takes approximately two years to accumulate enough clients to be independent, so start with working for commission, gradually build clients and then rent a booth. Keep learning, watching other more gifted hairdressers, and then choose your best opportunity. My daughter now works her own schedule.