There is no right or wrong time to raise your prices.

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Fear can make us do some really crazy things.

Like not trying new techniques ‘cause we’re scared it won’t turn out, or not wearing that outfit because you get anxious thinking about what someone could say, maybe you’re scared of what your clients will think so you haven’t implemented that much needed price increase. 

Fear can hold us back from growing ourselves and our businesses. 

I’m no stranger to fear, maybe you heard about my biggest hair mistake and how it led me to hide in fear for nearly 8 months?

Yup, believe me, I so get it. 

And that’s why I wanna help you squash those fears around raising your prices. 

You know it’s long overdue, you’re undercharging and you want to charge your worth but you have absolutely no idea where to start. 

I gotchu.

The 5 Simple Steps to Raising Your Prices as Hairstylist

Step 1: Knowing if it’s time to raise your prices

I can’t tell you how many times I hear these things from my students:

• “Well I just raised my prices”

• “Is it time to raise my prices?”

• “I only raise my prices once a year…”

And you could go on and on about: is it “right” and I wanna tell you right now…

There is no right or wrong time to raise your prices. 

Here are a few things to think about to determine if it’s the right time to raise your prices:

• Have you kept up on your education?

• What kind of experiences have you had?

• How long have you been in the industry?

• What’s your supply and demand?

Those are all really important things to consider when asking yourself “is it time to raise my prices?”.

Step 2: Knowing your costs

So many hairstylists and beauty professionals don’t know the cost of running a business. I was one of them ‍♀️

When I first opened my salon I was so excited to see the money coming into my bank account. I thought I was rolling in it. 

I was so excited about the money that I forgot that I had things like rent to pay, bills to pay, taxes to save up for (something that ended up costing me), and that’s not even getting started on the little things around the salon that add up. 

It’s important to understand that money you’re taking from your clients isn’t going directly into your pocket and you need to know your profit margins. 

It’s important to break things down and understand your costs. 

Consider the costs of the following:

• Rent for your salon space

• Your foils

• Your tools

• Your color (want an easier way to calculate color costs? Check out SalonScale here)

• Your impulse buys at the distributor

All those things need to be factored in when it comes to whether or not you should raise your prices.  

Step 3: Be fair

Now I’m not talking about being fair to your clients (although you definitely should consider that), I’m talking about being fair to yourself. 

It’s really easy to undervalue ourselves, especially if you’ve been undercharging for years. But it’s time to start seeing your value and your worth and start charging accordingly. 

I want you to ask yourself:

Are you investing in your business without raising your prices to reflect the knowledge and wisdom that you have?

It’s not about waiting until the “perfect” time. Your skill and talent are there, your knowledge is worth something. 

People aren’t just coming to you for what your hands can do, people are coming to you for what your brain can tell your hands to do. 

Step 4: Be prepared for the conversation

Yikes, I know right? This is probably one of the factors that has been holding you back from raising your prices, right?

And I get it. Uncomfortable conversations are uncomfortable. But here’s the thing, it doesn’t have to be uncomfortable. 

When it comes to communicating about raising your prices I want you to remember the 5 touchpoints of communication:

1. Send an email

2. Post to social media

3. Post a sign at the salon

4. Have a face-to-face conversation

5. Remind them at checkout

Now, a lot of us have the email, the social media post and the sign down. We got that! But face-to-face conversation is really the most important part. 

If you want some help on what to say to your clients I’ve got a FREE template that you can download here. 

Remember, you’re not doing this to your clients or at your clients, you’re doing it for them. 

Step 5: Take action

I know you’re like me and you’re addicted to learning but allergic to implementing, but not today!

Today you are gonna be an action taker. 

Knowing isn’t enough. Knowing how to raise your prices, knowing when to raise your prices, knowing how to be fair and knowing what to say is all great and wonderful. But you still need to do it. 

One of the most important parts of learning and implementing is accountability and community. 

So I want you to ask yourself:

• Have you taken action?

• Are there things that you’ve learned that you know you wanna do, that you know you can do?

Capability is not the question here. You know that it’s time to raise your prices, you know it’s long overdue, you know you’re worth more than you’re valuing yourself right now, but you don’t have the accountability piece, you don’t have the community of like-minded individuals cheering you on. 

Because that is when we take action. 

And friend, I want you to take action. I want you to find that community that lifts you up and motivates you to succeed. 

And if you’re looking for a community of people who think like you, act like you, stress out like you do, I want to invite you into my Stress-Free Community, for my students.

But I’m not saying you have to join my community. I want you to surround yourself with community and accountability because that’s what will help you take action. 

And if you want to ditch the stress and the fear once and for all, if you want to take big or little steps in your business, whatever it is that you’re wanting, I want to invite you to get on the waitlist for my program Rock Your Business, your stress-free guide to earning 6-figures.

You’re a big deal and you’re worth it, friend. 

I hope you enjoyed these 5 steps to raising your prices! Are you ready to take action? Why don’t you take a screenshot and tag me on Instagram @dawnbradleyhair letting me know you’re ready. You might end up featured in my stories!

I’m always cheering you on, see you next time.

Go on, binge the latest posts (you know you wanna)…