Started charging by length instead of flat rate for color, and my income jumped $300 a month
For two years I charged a flat $120 for all over color no matter what. A client with hair down to her waist took me 3 hours and used almost double the product, and I still made the same as a 45 minute root touch up. After doing the math on my supply costs in March I switched to base plus length, starting at $95 and adding $20 per zone past the shoulders. I booked two more clients a day because shorter cuts move faster, and nobody has complained about the new pricing yet. Curious if anyone else here has moved away from flat rate, and how you explained it to your regulars without losing them?
Man, this is the part nobody warns you about when you're starting out. The long hair client is basically a different service than a root touch up, and flat pricing treats them the same. What worked for me was telling my regulars the price change was about time and product, not about them personally, and I gave everyone 60 days notice so it never felt like a surprise at the chair. A few grumbled, but the ones who stayed tipped better because they knew I wasn't rushing them to make up the loss somewhere else.