Why "same as everyone else" isn't a price

When adding a new service, many owners look at what nearby salons charge and set the same price or a little lower. The trouble is that someone else's price tells you nothing about your costs, your masters' speed or your clients. You may find that each visit earns you almost nothing, or that the price is so low it will be hard to raise later.

It's safer to build the price from the inside out: your numbers first, then the market, then how it fits your menu.

Start with the real duration

Time is a salon's main resource, so the price should rest on how long the service actually takes, not how long it "should" take. Before it goes on the menu, have the master do the service two or three times on a team member or a friend and time it, including:

  • the consultation and the chat with the client at the start;
  • setting up the station and cleaning it afterwards;
  • payment and the conversation about the next visit.

If the service occupies an hour and forty minutes, that is its real duration, even if the work itself is an hour and a half.

Work out your cost per visit

Once you know the duration, work out what one visit costs you. A simple way:

  1. Materials: everything used up on one client, including disposables.
  2. The master's share: the commission, or the part of their salary that falls on that time.
  3. The salon's cost per hour: rent, utilities and other monthly costs divided by working hours, multiplied by the service's duration.

The sum of the three is your floor. A price below it means every new client costs you money. If you bought new equipment for this service, also decide over how many visits you want it to pay for itself.

Look at the market, but don't copy it

Now is the time to look at other people's prices. But compare like with like: the same duration, the same quality of materials, the same neighbourhood and similar master experience. A higher price than others isn't a problem if you can say plainly what the client gets for it: a longer treatment, better materials, aftercare advice.

If your floor is well above the market price, that's a signal. Either the service can be organised faster, or it should be offered as a premium option, or perhaps it isn't right for you at all.

Fit the price into your menu

Clients don't see a new service on its own. They see it next to your whole menu. Check:

  • The logic: a longer or more complex service shouldn't cost less than a simpler one.
  • Combinations: if the new service will often be booked with another one, look at the total price and duration together.
  • The name: a plain name and one sentence of description sell better than technical terms.

An introductory price, but only with an end date

An introductory offer can help the first clients try something new. There's one rule: say up front when it ends and what the regular price will be. That way clients won't feel the price "went up" when the offer is over. Another good option is not to discount at all, but to add something small for the first clients at the same price.

If you later need to raise the price anyway, do it with notice and an explanation, as you would for any other service.

Check it after a month

After the first month, look at a few simple things: how many times the service was booked, whether the real duration matches the menu, whether materials cost what you expected, and what clients say. If the service keeps running long, adjust the duration or the price. If hardly anyone books it, the price isn't always to blame; sometimes few people simply know it exists.