Practical Tips for Your Hair Salon (5)
Restrooms
Restrooms in a hair salon should be immaculate because people judge a place by the cleanliness of their restrooms. If possible, it would be good to have separate ones for men and women because there are some women who would never go into a mixed restroom. It would also be good to have a special third bathroom if possible, for your employees only.
Assign different hours to your workers to check the bathrooms regularly and to see what is needed. When your salon builds up, you might consider hiring a cleaning person to sweep up the hair and regularly clean up the restrooms. Little by little, and you will be successful.
Are you considering having a playroom in your hair salon for the children that come? That would be a good idea as long as you have someone in there who is overseeing their playtime. Children will throw toys at each other, point, threaten, and accuse the other child when something happens, fall and hurt themselves, and always cry. They will bring their treats in there and the treats, such as gum or gooey cookies or candy, will stick to the toys and play chairs.
Ask yourself if this is what you would like. Putting them all in a room together doesn’t mean they are going to get along or be quiet. This is why if you decide to go this route, the ideal solution would be to have a supervisor to prevent them from falling or throwing things.
The location of the children's room should be as far away from the lobby as possible. You don't want those waiting to have their hair done to hear the rumblings and commotion going on in the room. Another thing to consider if you have the playroom is to first get a quote from your insurance agent to find out how much the liability will cost you if Junior falls and breaks his arm.
Children’s Toys
Again, the most important thing is to have an overseer who will be monitoring them continuously to ensure everything is going well. A good idea is to have your attorney draw up a contract for the parent to sign that will hold you not liable for what happens in the playroom while they are getting their hair done. You are not a babysitting service.
Another consideration about the children's room is their toys. Anything with sharp edges or toxic components is a no-no. Children will fight with toys and also put them in their mouths. You can have a television set on with a children's program and a few plastic chairs arranged around.
The way to a mother's heart will always be through her child, but are you really ready and do you have the patience? Many a child's first haircut ends up being a horrendous experience for the hairstylist and the child because the child refuses to sit still.
I've even seen mothers hold their child on their lap, while holding the child's head and forcing him to get his hair cut, while the hairstylist strains to try to give a good haircut in this most unprofessional and uncouth way. Meanwhile, the child is screaming and flailing his arms and legs to get out of the stranglehold. What a dilemma a child's first haircut can be.
In time, I refused to cut any misbehaving child's hair in fear of poking their cheeks or nipping their ears with my scissors. Ironically, when you tell the mom to take a walk around the block or go shopping while you have the little one in your chair, you can talk to them about the cutting procedure. The majority of the time they will straighten up and be still and love coming back to you.
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