Podcast Summary: Thriving Stylist Podcast

Host: Britt Seva

Episode #419 – 7 Numbers Most Stylists Aren't Tracking But Should Be

Date: January 5, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Britt Seva tackles a common blind spot for hair stylists and salon owners: the critical business numbers that actually determine profitability and sustainable growth, beyond the surface-level metrics most people focus on. She introduces listeners to seven crucial-but-overlooked financial numbers every stylist should track, offering practical advice and candid perspective backed by over a decade of industry coaching. Britt’s tone is supportive, direct, and empowering, aiming to make financial tracking less intimidating and more actionable for beauty professionals.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why Most Stylists Struggle With Tracking Numbers

• Stigma & Discomfort: Britt addresses the discomfort and even shame many stylists feel discussing money and tracking metrics, acknowledging that business skill training is largely absent from traditional beauty education.
• Industry Reality: “The average income of a stylist in this country today is less than $30,000 a year. Meanwhile, the students I’m coaching are averaging more than twice that…and many are in the multi six figure per year range.” (13:53)

2. Metrics Most Stylists Already Track (and Why It’s Not Enough)

• Standard Tracking: Most stylists know how to “pull a report” for guests served, new guests, and total revenue, but few actually track these numbers month-to-month in a way that helps them spot trends or make business decisions.
• “That’s reporting. I’m talking about tracking. Tracking is when you sit down… and make a note somewhere of what your business did for the month.” (10:24)

3. Advanced But Overrated Metrics

• Revenue Source Tracking: Knowing which services or retail products generate income can be useful, but Britt downplays retail revenue (“I have it as a side dish” – 15:58) and argues against over-relying on pre-booking and service ratios, citing her own experience and coaching data.
• Pre-Booking Myth Busting: “There is no strong correlation between stylists who pre-book and stylists who don’t anymore.” (18:12)
• Utilization Percentage: Important, but Britt introduces a simpler, more digestible approach later in the episode.

The 7 (Better) Numbers Stylists Should Track

Britt’s Fresh List, Never Shared Before:

1. Total Pre-Tax Income Goal

• Set a clear target for the income you want after business expenses, but before taxes.
• “Pre-tax income is the money that you’re allowed to spend on personal expenses that does not take into account taxes.” (23:40)

2. Total Service Revenue Needed

• Calculate how much gross revenue you need to hit your pre-tax income goal, considering commissions, rent, supplies, etc.
• Example: To take home $50k, you might need to generate $100k in service revenue.

3. Total Gratuity Revenue Needed

• Treat tips as an important (and often under-accounted for) component of income to offset service targets.
• “Gratuity revenue actually offsets the service revenue needed and makes that goal feel so much more tangible.” (26:43)
• Insight into how stylists have a ‘funny money’ relationship with tips, often underrating their business impact.

4. Abandoned Revenue

• Money left “on the table” from open calendar slots that could have been filled.
• Calculation: Add up hours available vs. hours booked; multiply gaps by average hourly rate.
• “If you’re a stylist who has just four hours of gaps…that is $20,000 a year in abandoned revenue.” (32:19)
• This number “will eat your business alive…you would be shocked and amazed.” (33:01)

5. Average Hourly Revenue Produced

• What you actually earn per booked hour — reveals whether price or demand is impacting your income.
• Useful for identifying patterns (e.g., cut-heavy months vs. color-heavy months).
• “You’ll have a better guesstimate every single month about how much money you’ll end up taking home…” (36:00)

6. Percentage of New Clientele

• Track what portion of your business comes from new clients; vital for sustainable growth.
• Healthy businesses should have 8-10% new clients per year, matching typical retention loss.
• “There should always be a bit of new clientele in your business.” (39:11)
• High percentages are fine for building, but beware of “bleeding out” (not retaining new clients).

7. Pacing Towards Annual Goals

• Monitor your month-to-month progress toward yearly income and revenue targets.
• Early tracking gives you time to course-correct; waiting till October is “way too late.”
• “If by June I’m not halfway there, I have to ask myself, okay, what am I going to do in the last half of this year to make sure that I can still pull that off?” (45:37)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Cutting and coloring skills will only get you so far, but to build a lifelong career as a wealthy stylist, it takes business skills and a serious marketing strategy.” (02:10)
• “If all we had to do was hair, everybody would be a millionaire. It’s so much more complicated than that…this money piece and this tracking piece is the piece that holds most people up.” (05:20)
• On tips: “There’s something about holding that hundred dollar bill…that’s our relationship with cash versus our relationship with a credit card is swipe it, swipe it, swipe it. Credit card money doesn’t feel like real money in the way a hundred dollar bill does. We do that with tips and gratuity.” (27:43)
• “Abandoned revenue is this weird thing that we don’t look at and we ignore and it will eat your business alive.” (33:01)
• “Every healthy business today, literally every single one, is actively taking new clients all the time.” (39:11)
• “Knowledge is power, right?” (46:33)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:43] – Introduction to the topic: industry discomfort with tracking and why it matters
• [10:24] – The difference between reporting and tracking
• [15:00] – Typical tracking: guests served, new guests, total revenue, and limitations
• [18:12] – Debunking the importance of pre-booking and advanced metrics
• [21:53] – Introducing the 7 overlooked metrics
• [23:40] – Explaining Pre-Tax Income goal, Service Revenue, and Gratuity targets
• [32:19] – The eye-opening cost of abandoned revenue
• [36:00] – Calculating average hourly revenue and using it in forecasting
• [39:11] – The necessity of tracking new clientele percentage
• [45:37] – The importance of pacing towards annual goals and checking your progress

Tools & Resources

• Free Calculator Tool:
  Britt is offering a professionally designed, downloadable calculator to help track all discussed numbers.
  Note: This is a limited-time free resource, accessible at thrivingstylist.com/revenue. Later, it is available only to paid program members.

Closing

Britt wraps up by encouraging stylists to “make hard things easier” and embrace business tracking as the gateway to true wealth and freedom in their careers. She acknowledges financial tracking can be daunting, but offers support, actionable tools, and an open invitation for follow-up questions via reviews or social channels.

“So much love, happy business building, and I’ll see you on the next one.” (47:13)