The Hair Business: Cancellations, Tipping, and Salon Ownership

Cancellations due to Weather

So it never rains in Southern California . . . this makes for many more gorgeous hair days.  California's low humidity has been perfect for those with press and curls over the years. Only when people move from California to the East Coast and begin fighting rain and humidity that they realize how much the weather does make a difference with their hair upkeep.

I researched some years back that Santa Barbara, California was voted the best city for hair because its weather stayed consistent for most of the year.  So what about those of us who live in cities where rainfall can be quite a regular occurrence?

Without some hairspray or extra holding spray, you have to wonder if it is even worth going to the salon.  Some clients go because they need a clean head, but for those who are more focussed on style, cancellations may come more commonplace because getting it styled on a rainy day is somewhat risky.  No one wants to waste their money, and many complain when too much holding spray is used.

Rainy weather makes it tough on the salon business in 2014 when people are already trying to stretch their dollars.

Tipping
The rule of thumb used to be "not to tip" the salon owner because the owner was already making money off their other hairstylists working for them.  Sometimes I have run into customers that stand firm on not tipping the salon owner even if the salon owner is the sole and only operator in the salon.

With many hairstylists moving into salon suites, they are salon owners, but many never considered the fact that they could lose their tip money because they branched out into their own individual styling studio/suite.

I have not figured out a way of tackling this topic with those who stand firm on not tipping the salon owners.  Often times, I find that "tipping" is such a delicate topic and a courtesy that it almost seems taboo to educate on the tipping process.  Maybe this article will open up dialogue about when to tip the operator even if they are the owner of the hair business.

Salon Owners
In some states, state laws do not require salon owners to have a license to do hair. North Carolina is one of those states.  The problem with this practice is that salon owners who do not practice the art of hair can NOT effectively make sure their clients are happy in case a service correction needs to be made.  Granted, salon franchises such as Sports Clips, Great Clips, Hair Cuttery, etc  have built brands where people know that finding someone great working there may be a gamble, but for the affordable price, they may be willing to take their chances. Many of these "fast haircutting places" work fine with business savvy people owning them. However, when non-franchise salons are being run by business people who just want to own a salon in theory, they are less likely to survive in 2014 because the retention of hairstylists as well as the retention of clientele for those hairstylists can be challenging..  A example of two salons bumping heads is described in this link.