Tariffs: Keeping Your Salon Profitable

Welcome to the Main Event, the ultimate podcast for hairstylists who are ready to build a thriving career and be a part of a supportive community. We're your hosts, Rachel and Tara, and we're so thrilled you're here. With over 40 years combined experience in the industry and multiple beauty businesses, we're your mentors to help you navigate your journey as a hairstylist where you feel supported, seen, and heard. This is your safe space to connect, relate, and elevate your career. We're here to keep it real. Sharing expert insights, personal stories and strategies to help you grow behind the chair and beyond. Whether you're just starting out or a seasoned pro, we've got your back. So turn up the volume and get excited because we're sharing the latest challenges and trending topics about our industry. Let us know in the comments if there's any topics you want us to cover, subscribe now and enjoy the show. Welcome back to the Main Event. We're your hosts. I'm Tara. I'm Rachel. Today we're gonna be talking about the controversial topic of Tara. I'm sure everyone's sick of hearing about it, but yes. We promise you our take's gonna be a little bit different. So yeah, we have a positive spin on it and I think, it's best to know how to prepare yourself and to. Face these changes and adapt with them as we go. So yeah, I think that's basically the biggest thing is adapting. What can we do to kind of brace ourselves or figure this out? As of right now, we don't know what's actually gonna go on. There's a lot of negotiation going back and forth, so we don't know if we're definitely getting prices raised. I have heard from some of the stylists that do, listen to our show and follow us, that their brands and companies and distributing companies have already gone up. Which is amazing to me. 'cause, the stuff in their warehouse they're just doing it to almost take the opportunity to do it. I've looked at the color lines I use, they haven't really changed yet. Nothing's gone up. so basically what I would say is we all need to take a deep breath, calm down. Yes. There's gonna be some companies Absolutely, that are taking the asman opportunity to automatically raise it. Before anything even plays out and happens. So that being said, some of the tips and tricks that we have for you or things that you might wanna think about doing is really start doing an audit on your business. So whether you're a booth renter, whether you're a chair renter, salon suite owner, yes. Whether you have a whole staff of 20 people, it's time to look back at everything and really evaluate. How much you're making because color costs since covid have been going up and up, foils have been going up and up, and this isn't anything new that we've been dealing with because they've increased so rapidly and so frequently, sometimes it's hard to find the time to be like, let me just look back, like what am I really making on all of this? So we recommend doing an audit of your business, which would mean looking at your color cost, your foiling cost, how much it's taking per client. so that way you can see are you even making money if you're. A business owner and you're paying commissions, like you really have to go into that too and see, okay, are are we working for free here or are we making money? So what we suggest is look at that and then also look at some other companies. 'cause there's some really good companies out there that are good quality, that haven't jacked up their prices. For instance, the color line I use has a larger tube. So it's a larger tube than say some of the other ones. So, and it's less money, but it's great and it has they have an organic line, they have more natural ingredients. So try to not close yourself off to this is the brand. I understand. If you're behind the chair and you're working in a salon, you don't really have much say of what product it falls on the owner, but do a little research. Bring some of it in, right? We talked about playing, testing some of it on your client, maybe doing a little window in the back, see what you really feel. You might make some changes anyway. Even if tariffs don't affect us that much, you might decide, Hey, this is, everything's gotten too crazy. I'm gonna start using this other line that maybe is better for you. And we'll talk about in another show with all the health stuff. So maybe it is time to change things up, and clients get excited with new things and so do we as artists. So those are some of the things that we suggested. I know, Tara, you have some stuff you wanna add into it as well, right? Of things that just to look at. Yeah. To add to that, I think first of all, it's important to know your numbers and really refine what do you use, what do you don't use? What do you keep buying? Mm-hmm. That just. Sits on your shelf that you don't really need to unnecessarily add to your order anymore or, great to get a little bit more creative. With, the things that you buy, there's things that you can stretch. There's, product out there that you might fall in love with that hasn't even been in your so salon yet. If you just keep your mind open to trying new things, and you might love it, you might hate it, but you tried it and. That's the important part, that that's the important part. And plus for me, I like to try things all the time. I'm like, oh, there's a new lightener that's out. I wanna try it. so I, I get bored or I like to try it out and, my clients know that too about me. But what, to your point, and this is really good for the salon owners, is really, and just yourself, if you're, buying, supplying your own color, measuring everything we really wanna hone in on product waste. Oh, so I know so bad you wanna kill me. Exactly. I leave. Exactly. It's like, oh my God. You cringe inside. And when we're out in the field and we're teaching at salons, they, that's the big thing with the owners. They're like, oh my God, they just don't care. They're just squeezing the hell out of the tube. And it's. I see all this stuff going in the garbage now more than ever. It is so important to really pay attention to that. I know some people, a salon I worked in many years ago, they used to have these little cups and that was like the lightener and they measured this amount. And plus, with lightener, we all know when we go and mix and it's a fresh batch, it's even better and we might stagger developers or whatever. So yes, it takes a little bit more time to mix, but it's gonna be more cost effective in your pocket. There's certain things, I know there's all these little gadgets and things and these really cool foils that have designs on them and everything. And I know everyone loves them and they're great. But it might be something that you scale back a little bit on because it's just for the gram. Yes, because I believe, sorry I said it. It's true. You have to do that, and maybe you do that on, some new clients or whatever, but like really pay attention to that. 'cause if you're doing, 300 foils in a head. You're basically blowing through how much in foils pay attention to that of how much your cost is. Now. I believe some of the foils we're talking about come out of Canada, so I don't know exactly what's going on with that yet, but it might be time to okay, I can use these for, regular everyday jobs or if I am doing a full head, of highlights, and slices, then maybe use the other foil that's a little less expensive. Yeah. So little things like that can really add up, a hundred percent with it. And you really wanna just stay focused on it. And I said there's some great products out there and to your point, like you were saying, some of these lines are massive, right? So if you're paying attention, like I know my clients, I know what I use mostly on them. You don't have to have the full stock. Right. So maybe that it starts there where you're like, okay, I don't really need to have these shades. I never really use them. I have tons of stuff that if I have a client coming in or a new client, I always ask for pictures of what they want, where they're at. And if I have to order something or go to the distributor to get it for them, then I will. But I'm not stocking it to sit here when maybe somebody walks in the door and they want that color. So really pay attention to your main ones, what you're going through. and another thing that we, some people have been doing, and if you financially can do that. Stocking up before anything does go up. So if you do a major color order of all your faves and what you know you used and your color line hasn't changed the price stock up on it. It's not like you're not gonna use it. And trust me, when you don't have to order, you're gonna be like, oh, I'm so happy I did this. Mm-hmm. So I would definitely say stock up on what you can and really look into it. And now, the other side we were talking about, we just saw a post today in one of the hairdresser groups we follow and a grower saying she was in a chain salon and that her owner decided to handle it this way, that they are adding an extra fee. So it's. Separate than the service fee, but it's an extra fee and they posted a sign. It's because of, foil costs going up and color costs going up and everything. The stylist was really just asking advice, is this normal? shouldn't it just be in, worked into the price? Are they doing this so they're not paying a commission on me because now the price is higher? Which that makes sense to me. I think it's a good way that you, it might work in your salon if you know your clientele. It's basically just showing my prices are this, however, there is an increase because of product and it's, I think it's a little easier for them to digest 'cause they know, okay, this is really because of these products and it's just an extra fee on top of it. So in their heads, if. Prices go down or things work out, their price is still the same. Versus maybe that touch up for 80 is now 90 and they have a hard time swallowing the 90, I don't know. But if they see, okay, there's an additional $10 charge for product cost it, it just makes it look like the owner's not trying to make, like people think we make all the money and they don't realize all the overhead. So that might be something that you think about and you might wanna implement in your salon as well. I think it could be really. Beneficial as much as the, the tariffs are scary and alarming. Mm-hmm. just because it's really going to. Give you that wake up call that you need, that we all needed, essentially. Yeah. In this industry to really know your numbers and to really refine and see where you are overspending, where, yeah, you're not using product, what are you throwing out? Really be conscious of the things that you're measuring. To your point, I think it, could be really, truly beneficial in knowing that. And we do have a worksheet as a free resource, for you to really put together a full blown audit of your business. And we do go more in depth about this in our subscription as well. We have live monthly group coaching calls where you get not one, but two of us. So it's great one. So you have double the feedback, when you're pretty much in alignment on things together. Yeah, pretty much. And different perspectives and all of that sometimes, we bounce off each other, but two is definitely better than one and it just two pros. So that's. I think that's a great benefit. Yes. And you got a community of like-minded people. Mm-hmm. And it's also your chance to network with other stylists as well. So who knows, maybe you could be a powerhouse of referrals to each other. You never know what service. Oh, I think it's, yeah, offer. It's definitely perfect. 'cause so much I mean obviously we teach and we do a lot of education, so we travel around, you get to see what's going on in other states, but you don't always get to do that if you're just behind your chair. So this way you could feed off of everybody, and see what they're doing over there or what. Their area is, or what they're charging. So it's, just a nice way to interact with everybody Yes. And help each other. Yes. We wanted to be able to have that opportunity to bring everybody together because we feel like it's definitely needed. And hairstyle, it's the time feel empowered, support, and united and heard, and Exactly. United to your point. Yep. We need to elevate ourselves and the industry, all as a whole. Yeah. All as a whole. So it's, and this is again, why the pricing audit too, is so good because you really need to make sure if you haven't had a price increase where you're at in your area, in your community. So always be conscious of it, even after this, maybe set at a point every six months, every year. If you wanna know more about this, like Tara said, we have a lot of resources that you can tap into. You even said when you had taught at salons for a big corporation Yeah. That you would help with the salons knowing their numbers and anything like that. Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. I'm, I've, we've done that before. We've, and a lot of owners, once they know, okay, we're, we're owners too. We get it. sometimes staff needs to hear it from somebody else, just like a child? So sometimes it's an owner's, I tell 'em all the time, but then if we go in and we talk to them about it, then they listen. And sometimes it's like looking at things with a fresh eyes. Some salons of managers or they're looking and they're like, I, I don't know. And we might, and we come in and we're like, whoa, you could do this here and you could change this, or you might wanna pull this back. And just find areas that. can be tweaked or another option that maybe, they haven't thought of. So it just looks at things with a fresh eye and a different perspective. So that's been great and we love it 'cause we're helping a lot of people. Yeah. We love to serve other salons. And help make their businesses better and make them grow. So, absolutely. You can leave us some comments. subscribe please to us and us know if you have any great ideas that you've been doing to help navigate the tariffs. You wanna know your thoughts? Yes, absolutely. Yours, yeah. Your feelings, your feedback, and, and keep tuning in for more. That's a wrap on this episode of The Main Event. We're all about empowering our community and supporting each other, so if you love today's conversation, share it with a fellow stylist and let's grow together. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review and connect with us on Instagram. At the Main Event Show or our YouTube both linked in our show notes below, got a topic you want us to cover, send us a dm. We'd love to hear from you. Until next time, keep creating, keep growing. And remember, you're a part of our family now.