Are you having a challenge with time management inside your salon or as an independent stylist? When you consider that you aren’t actually selling haircuts and the real commodity you sell is time itself, it becomes clear how important it is to improve in this area.

Being intelligent with scheduling and time management is one of the most important things you need to get good at. The saying that time is money has never been truer. Before we help you become more efficient with your time, let’s provide the motivation needed to get better in this area.

How Time Management = Money in a Salon

Have you ever noticed how many 15-minute gaps are in the average stylist’s appointment book? On their own, 15 minutes might not seem like much. However, it becomes a large problem once you equate how the time pertains to money lost.

What if you discovered four 15-minute gaps of non-working time inside every day of one of your hairstylist’s work schedule? That’s one full hour, or the equivalent of serving one client, when you aren’t generating revenue. Let’s assume an average bill of $100 per client. That means you’re losing out on an extra $500 in revenue over the course of one week. Are you comfortable giving up $2000 per month in this way?

Time Management for Stylists is Money!
Time Management for Stylists is Money!

If you now consider the entire year and take out holidays, other time off and sick days, it gets even worse for your salon. If your average stylist works 46 weeks, then you’re losing about $23,000 in potential revenue from those little 15-minute gaps.

It’s very possible that you don’t need to hustle to bring in more clients or stylists. You simply need to improve your time management skills. Let’s discuss four simple ways to improve your time management results.

Discover Those Gaps

The first order of business is identifying where those 15-minute gaps exist. Start each week by investing a few minutes to look at your appointment book. Where are the gaps in the booking calendar?

Next, call clients to see if you can more efficiently use the calendar by having a few of them come in 15 minutes earlier or later. Your goal is to get more appointments to fit hard up against the next client time. It’s going to seem difficult when you start the process. Keep at it until you get better at scheduling in this manner.

Automate the Process & Use Reminders

Find booking software that allows you to email and text client appointment reminders. You’ll find that your ability to keep a tighter schedule requires some gentle nudging.

Make sure your calendar software sends out an email reminder the day before the appointment and the morning of the appointment. Then, use a text message as their appointment nears. Keep the text message polite and provide them the ability to respond if something changes on their end.

Get the Entire Team Behind this Idea

Call a meeting with your team and explain a new way you’ve discovered that will put more money in their pockets. Show them the math of finding those 15-minute gaps so they see clearly how much money is being left off the table due to simple time management slip ups. Most of your staff would rather work smarter than harder and this is a direct way to show them how to accomplish that goal.

Measure Your Success

Chart how much each stylist is making over each month. Visibly seeing the increase on a chart helps keep everyone motivated to continue improving this time management plan.

Use the above tips to manage your time and increase revenue all at the same time.