The Mentor Chair · Money & pricing
The situation
Your pricing came from somewhere else — a former salon, a competitor, a habit — instead of from your own business.
From the mentor chair
One of the hardest things about pricing your services is that most of us start our careers learning what other people charge.
We work in a salon where a haircut costs a certain amount, or we look at the stylist down the street, and that number becomes what we think a haircut is “supposed” to cost.
But your price isn't supposed to be somebody else's price.
Your pricing needs to make sense for your business and the value you're providing.
That includes your experience.
Your education.
Your time.
Your consistency.
The products you're using.
The result you're delivering.
And the entire experience your client gets when they're in your chair.
As your skill and experience grow, your pricing should be allowed to grow with you.
And yes—sometimes charging what you're actually worth is going to feel uncomfortable at first.
That doesn't automatically mean the price is wrong.
One more thing
Don't confuse affordable with valuable.
You do not need to be the cheapest stylist in the room to give someone tremendous value.
And the clients who genuinely value your work aren't only paying for the hour they're sitting in your chair.
They're paying for everything it took for you to know what to do during that hour.
Look at your numbers
Service time — How much of your working day does this appointment take?
Product cost — What does it actually cost you to perform it?
Overhead — What does your business have to pay just to operate?
Experience & value — What are you bringing to the appointment beyond the product in the bowl?
Demand — How full is your schedule at the current price?
Income goal — Can your current pricing realistically produce the income you're trying to build?
And don't forget what happens between appointments.
Consultations, formulas, cleanup, laundry, ordering products, answering messages and running the business all take time too.
Try this
Pick one service on your menu and ask yourself:
“If I were creating this price today—without being influenced by what I've always charged—would I choose the same number?”
That's a very different question from:
“How much can I get away with charging?”
You're not trying to squeeze every dollar possible out of a client.
You're trying to build pricing that is fair to the client and sustainable for the professional providing the service.
Mentor principle
Your price isn't supposed to be somebody else's price.
Connected to your numbers
Run this situation through the tools you already have.