Thriving Stylist Podcast Episode #402

How Salon Owners Can Stop Taking Clients and Make More Money
Host: Britt Seva
Date: September 8, 2025

Episode Overview

In this focused and “mathy” episode, Britt Seva tackles a taboo but crucial topic for beauty entrepreneurs: how salon owners can transition away from taking clients behind the chair while increasing both their own earnings and the financial health of the salon. She unpacks common misconceptions, lays out clear financial math, and reframes leadership for sustainable growth—ultimately making a case for why real business success hinges on the owner's ability to step fully into a leadership and mentorship role.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why the Owner Should Stop Taking Clients

• Leadership Capacity: Britt argues that the happiest, most profitable salons are led by owners who aren’t tied to the chair, but committed to leading and growing the team.
  • “When I see like the happiest, fastest growing, most celebrated, most rewarded, most in abundance salon teams, it's where owners have the capacity to lead.” (02:23)
• Analogy to Other Industries: Owners running the register is compared to a small business barely surviving; true business health comes when the owner isn’t needed for day-to-day earnings.

2. Myth-Busting: Replacing Owner Revenue is NOT Enough

• Case Study: Britt shares a story of a salon owner planning for maternity leave, who learned the hard way that merely covering her own service revenue ($25k/month) wasn’t sufficient to maintain salon profitability.
  • “She was wrong…That's not how the math maths.” (05:29)
• Startup Mindset vs. Growth Mindset: Early on, the owner's production covers expenses—but that’s not scalable for long-term success.

3. The Real Math: How Much Revenue Is Actually Needed?

• Detailed Example: “Siva Salon” Breakdown
  • Scenario:
    • Total annual revenue: $500,000
    • Owner's contribution: $150,000
    • Team’s contribution: $350,000
    • Profit margin: 15% ($75,000)
    • Owner draws: $70,000 annually
  • Key Math Shift:
    • When owner steps away, revenue produced by employees only contributes ~50% to the bottom line (e.g., 50% commission rates).
    • To maintain the owner’s income and profit, the team must produce the owner's take-home pay × 2, beyond replacing their service revenue.
    • "For every dollar in new service revenue that's done by the team, the business keeps 50 cents...I still want my $70,000...so you take $70,000 times 2, which is $140k on top of the $150k we needed to replace.” (17:18)
• Final Target:
  • Team needs to produce $640,000 in revenue solo (not counting owner’s work), up from the prior $500,000, before the owner can step off the floor and maintain current compensation and profit margins.
• Why the Double Calculation?
  • When the owner produces revenue, it all goes to the bottom line. When stylists produce it, half goes to their commission, only half remains for the business.

4. What’s In It For Stylists?

• Income Growth: If team revenue doubles, stylists’ paychecks do too.
  • “If I can convince your owner to build a plan to increase demand so that the revenue of everybody in the building doubles... you get to take home twice as much money, does it start to sound okay for your owner to step off the floor? I'm going to say probably yes.” (22:31)
• Ensures Salon Stability: Owners “off the hamster wheel” means more support, mentorship, and business upgrades for the whole team.

5. How Long Will This Take? Reasonable Growth Timelines

• Healthy Growth: 15% annual growth is standard; some salons in her program hit 30–50%.
  • “If you were a salon that was growing relatively quickly and your revenue was growing 30% year over year, in 2.3 years, your salon would go from that $500k to $640k, and the owner could step away…” (25:23)
  • At 15% growth, the journey is about 5 years; at 10%, about 6.5 years.
• Key Levers: Demand generation and strong marketing are non-negotiable for this upward trajectory—not just counting on stylists to self-promote.

6. Actionable Advice

• Run Your Own Numbers: Know your targets to shift from survival mode to a purposeful growth plan.
  • “If you had that as your own personal goal, I think you'd feel like you were off the hamster wheel and actually working towards something.” (28:38)
• Reinvest For Growth: Resist taking all profit as draws; fund marketing, team development, and upgrades.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Owner Leadership:

  • “I want to work for a salon owner who knows how to run a business.” (04:14)

• On the Math of Stepping Away:

  • “That's not how the math maths.” (05:29)
  • “For the owner to step away, still be able to pay themselves, their team to still make great commissions, the salon to still be profitable...The owner needs to not just replace the service revenue that they were generating from behind the chair…but also we need to generate my take home pay times two on top of that.” (17:18)

• On Growth Pace:

  • “15% year over year is healthy. Anything more than that is great.” (25:51)

• On Motivation:

  • “Once the team...gets to $640,000, I can still take home $70,000 a year as an owner and not have to take clients anymore. And my goal is for every owner to know what their target is, because it's motivating to you, and it's going to help incentivize you to build a team that is producing at that level so that everybody wins.” (21:15)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [02:23] — The ideal salon: owner as leader, not busy stylist
• [05:29] — Why simply replacing owner revenue fails (the “math maths” problem)
• [09:40] — Real Siva Salon example: how most owner-driven revenue models look “on paper”
• [17:18] — The actual formula: owner’s take-home pay × 2 + revenue replacement
• [22:31] — What stepping back means for stylists (double pay, more stability)
• [25:23] — Timelines: realistic expectations for doubling revenue
• [28:38] — Final advice: set clear targets, reframe your growth mindset

Takeaway

Britt Seva demystifies a major salon owner challenge with straight talk, numbers, and empathy. Owners hoping to step fully into a leadership, mentorship, and strategic role can and should do so—but only with real math, a growth mindset, and a commitment to team success. For stylists, it’s not a loss—it’s a path to greater prosperity and a better place to work.

“Hope this has been helpful. So much love. Happy business building. I'll see you on the next one.” (29:20)