Practical Tips for Your Hair Salon (3)

Salon client choosing a new  hair color
Photo: Dreamstime
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If you have a hair salon where you will be doing the coloring at your station, this is all the more reason why you will want to have a station that can store towels and other necessary items. When it comes to towels, it is always better to have more than fewer. It can be very aggravating to you and your client when you have to run to the back of the hair salon because you ran out of towels.
 
Another place to have an abundance of towels is at the dispensary where all of the shampoos and conditioners are located. More is never enough, and accidents happen all the time. If there is a water spill under the shampoo bowl, the first thing you will want to do is throw some towels on the floor to soak up the puddle before it spreads. If your client is sitting there because she is waiting for her perm to be rinsed and she starts dripping from the dye or perm, having access to fresh towels can save your life! Be sure to have plenty of cotton balls on hand too.
 
Mixing Room
 
This is the place you go to mix your client's customized hair color formula. You can keep her secret formula at your station or locked away in your cabinet. She cannot see what you are putting in where or with what, but she is trusting you completely. Again, accidents happen, and you will want to clean it up quickly. Use the towels to soak up the excess and always wipe around the mixing bowls and containers. So make sure you have a ready supply. Towels are used for everything except mopping the floors. The mops and brooms should be in a closet not too far away.
 
As you learn about ordering supplies and for your steady clients, you will know that you will have to maintain a regular inventory of the more popular hair colors, then those that seem outrageous or trendy. It is best to have a few of them, but a larger supply of those you are using. Always order more items before they are needed, at least a week or two ahead of time.
 
Mixed hair dye
Photo: Africa Images/Canva
The worst-case scenario is when a woman comes into your salon wanting a particular color, and you do not have it because you are waiting for your order to be delivered. This is when you become the mad scientist and are mixing colors in the back to achieve the color your client is used to having. Or have a friend in the salon down the street that you can send someone to borrow the hair dyes. These things happen, and if you do have to borrow or buy the color from another hair salon, chances are they will return the favor in the future. What goes around comes around.
 
Sometimes, you will have an ideal trustworthy worker who will be able to keep track of the types and items used for you and your employees and either order for them or give the list to you. In fact, she can give the order to you to initial it before it is ordered. If you do end up having such a person, it is wise to check the inventory from time to time yourself and also consider supplementing your worker with a little extra pay.
 
Shampoo Bowls and Chairs
 
Although you may be watching your finances, it would be best to try to get the best shampoo bowls and chairs you can possibly afford. The reasoning is because of your back and your clients' comfort.
 
Hair wash station or hair salon shampoo bowl
Photo: Jacob Lund/Canva
The standard shampoo bowl and chair is typically very uncomfortable for your client while you stand on the side, contorting your body to adjust the chair to shampoo their hair. Not ideal. The client isn't really very comfortable because she is not able to put her legs up and she is trying to adjust the chair and bowl, too.
 
Some clients have short necks, and this contributes to a special problem for them and the shampooer. It can be almost impossible to wash and rinse a head of hair with a short neck without getting water all over the place, on the floor or on their back. And with the twisting and stretching on both sides, there can be back issues that arise.
 
The latest equipment is designed for you to be able to shampoo your client's hair from the back of the bowl with fewer back problems. In this way, the client's head is right there in front of you and usually at the height of your abdomen. Most important is when you are having your bowls installed to make sure the shampoo bowls are at a reasonable height to accommodate your height and your back.
 
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