Salon Business, Retail and Client Care
Salon Business, Retail and Client Care tests the commercial side of practice: costing, pricing, break-even, stock, retail, KPIs, GDPR and complaints.
Core rules
- Separate fixed costs (rent, insurance, salaries) from variable costs (product, laundry, card fees). Contribution per service = price minus variable cost.
- Break-even units = fixed costs divided by contribution per service. Mark-up is based on cost; gross margin is profit divided by selling price. Do not confuse them.
- Track utilisation, average ticket, rebooking rate and retail attachment. Protect client data under GDPR: lawful basis, secure storage, retention limits and breach reporting.
- Handle complaints with acknowledgement, investigation, remedy and record; do not admit liability without advice.
Worked example
Fixed costs are £4,200 per month; variable cost per service is £8; price is £32. Contribution = £24. Break-even = 4,200 divided by 24 = 175 services. If only 160 are booked, the salon loses £360 (15 x £24) before any retail profit. A discount to £28 cuts contribution to £20 and raises break-even to 210 services.
Traps
Ignoring VAT, treating retail sales as pure profit, discounting below variable cost, storing consultation cards on personal phones, and using mark-up and margin interchangeably.