Realistically assess your work ethic and natural drive. Do you have the discipline to tend to a business regularly? Are you willing to seek guidance and business support when needed? Reflecting on your tendencies and personal goals will help you determine which path—independent or commission—is best for you.

Also consider your motivation for wanting to go independent - are you seeking financial and creative freedom, feel your current salons culture is not healthy, or feel trapped by the structure?

In some cases you can find the freedom you're looking for without sacrificing your stability by seeking out another salon that's more in-tune with your value system. Other times, you’re ready to move on and level up. Either way, really take the time to assess your why and evaluate the emotions happening for you, and assess the risk before taking a jump.
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If you’re ready to put in the effort to develop and grow your business, here are a few considerations and milestones I recommend reaching before leaving your commission salon:

Pre-Booking: Are you consistently 80% booked? Keep in mind that some clients may stay with the salon. Assess how many of your clients are loyal to you, as these clients will form the foundation of your new business and give you a financial cushion that provides mental space for you to establish your business, create systems, and attract new clients.

Product Cost & Sourcing: Understand which services you perform most often, the products you use, and their costs. Once you're independent, you'll need to cover these expenses yourself. If you are a stylists who tends to overpour, like myself, consider how much extra product you use on clients, how many foils you use, how much product are you actually using on each client.

Product Pricing Note: Larger salons often benefit from bulk pricing, so do your research to know how much your supplies will cost you directly vs looking at how much your salon pays for them.

Timing & Schedule: Evaluate how long it takes you to complete services and when you're able to offer them. Consider if you will keep your existing schedule or change it and how that will impact your income.

Profit & Loss Analysis: Before making the leap, run the numbers. Look at potential locations, estimate rent and other expenses, and factor in your service menu to calculate how much you'll actually make after covering costs. Tools like a Service Pricing Calculator can help you forecast potential earnings. Using a tool like this can be extremely enlightening to the true cost for each service and can help you create a pricing strategy that meets your needs.

Without a clear pricing strategy, you risk stalling your business’s growth and create financial instability, client loss, and an unsustainable workload or burnout.

Service Pricing Calculator: Understanding how much you actually make on each service can be extremely enlightening but can be overwhelming due to all the detailed math required. I created the Service Pricing Calculator specifically for stylists and service providers. It does all the math for you automatically and offers visual results so it's easy to see and understand how much you actually make from each service after cost. Download the Service Pricing Calculator here
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Additionally, if you have questions, you can always reach out to me and I'm happy to offer you guidance or point you in the right direction, email me at kelsey@thesilkstone.com
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