Focus on "productive hours"

Productive time is that which is spent generating income for the salon by the proprietor and his staff. A salon which has three full time stylists and opens for 40 hours a week will not achieve 120 productive hours per week. According to Annette Mieske, author of Hairdressing Business Management (Blackwell 1990), 40% - 55% of all working hours are likely to be productive (ie to generate income) in a typical salon. While this figure might rise as high as 70% in a very well run salon, as few as 30% or so of all working hours might be productive in a less efficient business.

Although many proprietors (around 95%) cut hair, most have to divide their time between working productively and managing the business. Certain staff members, such as receptionists and managers, may not generate any income directly. A salon might suffer from particularly low productivity if employees are poorly motivated or inefficient. Stylists' time may be used non-productively as a result of;

• making tea, coffee and other refreshments for clients
• cleaning, answering the telephone and carrying out other similar tasks
• standing idle during empty appointment slots
• refusing appointments or turning away clients towards the end of the day, in order to reduce the workload (particularly when left unsupervised)
• working slowly, due to inexperience, laziness, because the hair style is a very complex one or because the client's hair is difficult to work with
• waiting for facilities (such as backwashes and dryers) to become free
• re-doing work for dissatisfied clients
• spending time training or assisting students and newly qualified stylists

In addition to the above, time may also be lost through illness, paid holidays and other (sometime unauthorised) absences. In order to motivate staff, many proprietors have introduced bonus and commission schemes which are based on productivity.

Productive time may be lost as a result of a number of other factors, including missed or altered appointments and late cancellations. Some stylists are simply quicker than others and are able to do more work in the same length of time.

Mobile and freelance hairdressers may lose productive time as a result of factors which arise from their particular operating practices; mobilers, for example, must usually spend a considerable amount of time travelling from one client to the next.