Salon Business, Customer Service and Employability
What this domain tests
Costing and pricing, stock and record control, the legal basics of running a salon, service recovery, and the employability skills - CV, interview, professional conduct - that get and keep a chair.
Business essentials
- Split costs into fixed (rent, insurance, utilities) and variable (product, commission). Price from cost plus a target margin, not from what the salon down the road charges.
- Track product cost as a percentage of service price, average ticket, rebooking rate and client retention; review stock with a par level and rotation.
- Legal basics: VAT (Irish hairdressing services sit at the reduced rate, retail products at the standard rate - confirm current rates with Revenue), public liability insurance, contracts of employment, working time and minimum wage obligations, GDPR for client records.
- Consumer law: the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980 requires due skill, care and diligence; the Consumer Protection Act 2007 prohibits misleading claims.
Worked example
Weekly overheads €1,800; the stylist has 30 chargeable hours, so overhead is €60 per hour. A two-hour colour uses €12 of product and €36 of wages (€18/hour). Total cost = €120 + €12 + €36 = €168. At a 25% margin, price = 168 × 1.25 = €210. Reasoning: consultation and development time must be inside the chargeable hours, or the overhead is under-recovered.
Traps that cost marks
Pricing by guesswork; ignoring product and time costs; forgetting VAT treatment; no record of stock or client history; arguing with a complaint instead of listening, resolving and recording it.