11 Hairstylist Mistakes To Avoid in Your Business

A hairstylist is a creator that has to evolve towards mastering the arts of the hair industry continuously. 

If you’re new at this, you should know there are a few mistakes every hairstylist makes at least once in their career.

The mistakes we’re going to talk about could also happen if you started getting really comfortable at your job and think everything is running smoothly, so nothing new or wrong could occur.

Here’s a list of hairstylist mistakes to think about and try to change if they’re familiar to you.

1. Rushing Yourself

Even if you’ve been in this industry for a while, or your salon colleagues have the same experience as you, but you’re taking longer to finish an appointment, don’t rush yourself into finishing something quicker just for the sake of it.

Everyone works at their own pace, and in the end, the client only cares about the final result. Once they booked an appointment with you, they committed a part of their time to visit you for the look they wanted.

Rushing yourself may end up with a messy hairstyle and ultimately with losing that client. 

If you do wish to include speed in your work process, patiently work towards that goal until you notice great improvements. 

2. Comparing Yourself to Other Hairstylists

In general, comparing yourself to others is not a great idea. Our lives and backgrounds are different. 

It goes the same for hairstylists. 

Comparing yourself to your colleagues will only make you feel down. The sentiment amplifies if you’ve just had a bad experience at the salon, and you start checking a few fellow Instagrammers. 

Everything in there may look flawless, but you have to understand they had experienced failure too, but they’re not going to post it online. So before comparing yourself to other hairstylists, try to get the whole picture.

If you do want to compare yourself with others, do it for inspiration and extra motivation.

3. Not Doing Enough Consultation With Your Clients

One hairstylist mistake that can cost you a client is not asking enough questions before a hair appointment. 

You have to be really thorough with this, especially with hair coloring consultations. 

Try to get the full history of your client’s hair coloring and understand what they want to change.  Ask them enough questions to see what they need in terms of a haircut as well.

Maybe what your client asks you is not doable, or it will damage their hair. If you’re not getting the detailed version of their hair history, they may end up with an unwanted color.

If you’re doing the consultation the right way, you may actually have to say no to that client and suggest something else. 

4. Not Being Open to Criticism

Being a hairstylist means creating very personalized services, which are basically a form of art. People always criticize art, and that doesn’t mean yours is not good, but it’s something subjective that people respond differently to. 

A hairdresser mistake you could make is to take people’s opinions way too personally. 

Or, on the other hand, you may actually do something wrong from time to time. Allow people to offer you constructive criticism. It’s one of the best ways to grow.

Moreover, you can and should invite clients, colleagues, or even your boss to offer you feedback. In this way, they’ll know you care about their opinion. If it involves criticism, take it as a sign to improve your work.

5. Staying in Your Comfort Zone

In any field of work, we tend to like doing something more than other things, but if we want to thrive and be professionals in our niche, we need to get out of our comfort zone. 

It goes the same for hairstylists.

If you want to be seen as a real professional hairstylist, you must always learn new things, experience something you haven’t done before, and be constantly curious.

6. Overbooking Yourself 

If you’re an experienced hairdresser but not having an apprentice to help you with your appointments, overbooking your schedule is not the best idea.

It’s the same if you’re at the beginning of your career trying to build a clientele, so you start creating many appointments. 

You will end up not paying enough attention to your clients, and you’re going back to rushing yourself, which is something you shouldn’t do either.

This will make your clients unhappy and will make you feel constant pressure and anxiety because of your extra full schedule. 

If you want to be more productive in your salon job and have more time for your clients, here’s a trick: using an appointment scheduling app for hair salons can save you time and money. Apps like Goldie allow you to send text message reminders to clients to avoid no-shows and lets you personalize your own online booking website so that clients can book themselves without having to call you every single time. Also, it allows you to take deposits and full payments from clients, so you can secure your income.

You can download the app from the App Store or Google Play & start with the free plan. 

7. Giving Away Discounts and Free Services

It’s good to have discounts and giveaways from time to time, especially if you have loyal customers. Plus, it’s a great way to put in practice marketing ideas for hair salons and hairstylists.

But don’t offer them just because your client is your friend. A lot of friends will add up, and you’ll find yourself working for free. 

This is about your career and people respecting you as a professional.

8. Showing Up With an Unprofessional Appearance

Another mistake a hairdresser can make is not dressing up for the job they have. 

Working in the beauty industry means helping clients feel good about themselves. This doesn’t only include the services you provide for them, but also the way you look while doing it.

When they see a professional-looking hairdresser taking care of their appointments, your clients will feel more comfortable and confident in your skills.

Tip: If you want to avoid having health problems due to working in a standing position, I’d recommend you to wear only the best shoes for hairstylists, so your legs will be protected and fatigue will not be a problem anymore. 

9. Changing Salons Frequently  

Sometimes a salon change needs to be made, and there are a few reasons to do it. It could be related to you outgrowing the place, not fitting there anymore, or it can be simply a relocation matter. 

But a possible hairdresser mistake could be changing the salon way too frequently. This does not look good for your clients, as they may think you have an unprofessional attitude, so the problem lies with you and not the salon you’re working for.

Besides, there’s the possibility that some of your clients you had while working at one salon may not change the place together with you, and you end up losing them.

10. Having Deficient Working Habits 

One terrible hairdresser mistake you can make is to have poor working habits like missing your appointments, showing up late, making your clients wait for you, or constantly texting while having a customer in the chair. Your clients and, ultimately your work, require your undevoted attention.

When you expect to be treated like a professional, the only way is to act like one. 

11. Not Taking Enough Classes

In the beauty industry, perfecting your work is an absolute must. Staying relevant for your customers means keeping up with all the beauty trends, new products, and techniques. This means you have to sign up for courses or seminars as much as possible. 

Considering that hairstyle trends change a lot and really fast, it would be ideal to invest in your education yearly or as many times as necessary to feel prepared. This will help you be ready for anything a client asks of you. 

A hairstylist’s mistake you want to avoid is to think once you know something, that something will stick, and it will be enough over the years.

Conclusion

These are a few common mistakes a hairdresser should avoid. The industry may come with some moments of pressure, but as long as you’re investing in your education as a professional and always keeping your eyes open to what is happening in your industry and with your clients, these hairdresser mistakes will become easier to overcome. 

If you have a memorable mistake you’d like to share, feel free to write it down in the comments section. 🙂