Thank you for this article and being clear and precise of the actual costs of owning/managing a salon. As a owner/stylist, being honest and fair to our employees sets all of us up for success and real talk! I want all that work with me to earn and grow without sacrificing the salons future. Knowing the numbers makes this ownership thing easier to contend with. We are here to make a profit not bleed out.

Thank you for work for our industry.

After working as a salon manager for stressed out salon owners for over 10 years, I knew I never, EVER wanted to be a salon owner–but then I inherited the salon I managed from the owner. Every professional who calls me to talk about their ownership aspirations gets a full earful of the realities of salon ownership. It’s so incredibly important to understand what you’re getting into, because it really is nothing like what people assume it’s like.

It’s typical, but not legal (at least not in the US). I recommend reading this post.

Well said. This applies to the grooming industry as well. In the end, it seems easier to work all by myself and just limit how many clients I take on. Employees just dont get it. And of course… I seem to have to learn the hard way!

True independent contractors are freelancers. Let’s pretend this classification is being utilized the proper way. A hair salon owner (whose salon doesn’t ever offer makeup application services) contracts a local MUA for a special, one-time bridal event. Assuming they’re not a slob, the MUA would very likely break down and clean up the area they used without the contract needing to state so. She would not be responsible for cleaning the salon owner’s bathrooms, tidying the reception area, or mopping the floors. However, the classification is rarely, if ever, used properly. Instead, salon owners are classifying their employees as “independent contractors” and putting them on chore rotations or assigning them cleaning duties they have no right to assign. Business owners who want to control workers have to employ those workers.

So if
Your an independent contractor you don’t have to clean your station after
Your done with your client? Just because you’re an independent contractor doesn’t mean that there can’t be any rules within the company that you’re contracting for. An independent contractor does not mean that they can just do whatever they feel like doing and not have any responsibilities of cleaning up after themselves. Or having certain obligations that are found in their contract.