The Solo Stylist

Do I really need 10 pairs of scissors?

Craig — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 08:37:57 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that that in my HairKit I had 10 pairs of scissors.

I had some responses to that…

“Why do I need 10 pairs?”

So I asked myself the same question…do I really need 10 pairs?

My scissors all have a purpose. I liken it to anyones toolbox. Mechanics don’t have 1 spanner to complete their work, makeup artist don’t use 1 brush, builders don’t have 1 saw for their work. They all use the right tool for the job.

Sure…they could probably complete the work with just 1 tool but ask yourself the question…could they have been more time efficient using a different tool or would using a different size tool have been less physically draining? Would you rather cut down a tree with a chainsaw or a hand saw?

Hairdressing scissors fall into the same category. Pick the right tool for the right job. My scissors fall into the following categories:

All Rounders

These scissors are what most of us have. They do a bit of everything but can’t do everything evenly. Depending on the blade some will cut blunt and straighter, some will cut soft and have more push on the hair. Some point cut well and some don’t. All rounders are a personal feel scissor and will depend on your cutting style when choosing one.

My personal kit has the following All Rounders:

Yamato N 6.5” – This is my longest serving scissor. I’ve had him 17 years and he never misses a beat. Japanese quality clamshell blades so they are beautifully soft on every cut I do. Excellent for deep point cutting on layers and great for working on finer hair.

Pablo Powder Steel 5.75” – New technology from Excellent Edges. Powder steel makes the blades lighter and stronger and hold their edge longer. The mountain blade makes it a strong blunt cut with extra strength in the tips for precision and point cutting. I have this in a smaller blade length for better control when doing graduation and tighter work.

POP 5” – This is my delicate, small blade for when I’m doing close and detailed work. Unfortunately they don’t have these any more and I’ll miss the thin points when I finally wear these scissors out (hopefully not anytime soon though)

Blunt cutters

These are specialised scissors that are pretty much designed to 1 thing only…cut straight lines.

Stingray 6” – As a part of the Fish Kit range in Excellent Edges these are a part of their speciality range. Hitachi ATS-314 Japanese steel means these will last you your career. Unique K Blade creates a modern day serrated scissor effect to hold the hair in place without the chewy effect serrated scissors give. Perfect 1 length haircuts in 3-4 cuts.

Robin 6.5” – These are my barber scissor. Lots of scissor over comb work. The longer blade makes my work faster and the beveled blade cuts clean every time. I’ve had these modified to have a bayonet point put into them. This gives me extra strength right in the tip for added point cutting capabilities.

Slicers

Marlin 6” – Another specialist scissor in ATS-314. A dedicated slicing scissor and can only do this one thing. Try to do anything else with it and you’ll be sorely disappointed. Super soft for deep point cutting and the fat leaf blades give lots of push when softening and scooping out layers. I have had this scissor for many years but honestly…I tend to rarely use this scissor anymore though because of the next one that came later…

Big Mouth Marlin 5” – Exactly the same scissor as the above Marlin but with a couple of differences. It’s way smaller with fatter feeling blades and has finger rests on both sides. This gives even more push and softness and works wonderfull on freehand carving texture in both long and especially short hair.

Anaconda 6” – A dedicated curly hair scissor. One blade is a slicing blade the other transitions from blunt to slice along the blade. This means I can get strong base on curly hair when I begin my cut that pushes into softness as I close the blade. It’s some sort of sorcery…watch some videos of pointcutter.de on Instagram to see how they work. They cut inside out and it will blow your mind how it can promote curl and movement in a haircut.

Texturisers

Croc 6” – In my opinion…everyone should own one of these. Another part of Excellent Edges ATS-314 Fish Kit. 10 aggressive looking teeth but couldn’t be any further from the truth. It cuts soft, is great for scissor over comb blending work and cuts the most wonderful, chewed on blunt fringes/bangs you can’t make unless you point cut weight out for ages. I use these on almost every haircut I do.

Barracuda 6” – Another ATS-314 FIsh Kit blade. 30 tooth radial texturiser keeps every thing soft. I have this when I want softer layering or for weight reduction in certain ares of the head.

So there’s my dilemma. Looking at what is in my kit and asking myself are they all needed only proves to me I might have only 1 or 2 scissors at most I “could” live without. But only because a different scissor has been invented that can do (in my opinion) a better job. But…I still use all of them at different times.

I have these scissors for 2 main reasons:

They make my work easier
They make my work better

The easier they make your work the better it is for you. I’d rather a scissor that can give me the result I want with a few cuts than a cheaper pair that I have to do 20 cuts for the same result. In a long term career that amounts to 100s of 1000s of extra thumb, wrist, elbow and shoulder movements. My body is going to thank me down the track for this as well.

Key Points:

Right tool for the right job
Tools are designed to assist you
The right tools will look after you physically

Until next time…

Craig

The Solo Stylist

P.S. Not sure if freelancing is right for you?
Download the free “Are You Ready to Freelance?” Checklist and find out where you stand.

Get your download here

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Why I love being small

Craig — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 09:06:24 +0000

I love being small…

I work for myself, I work only the hours I want to work…

I’m not accountable to anyone and I only work with those I want to.

I used to own mid to large salons. By large I mean 20+ staff. I love working with hairdressers, helping them grow and learn and have them basically become a part of your family. I love owning and building salons. I’ve now built 8 salons and 4 side businesses and I’ve been successful with them. As much as I love them it took me 20 years of owning salons to realise it wasn’t actually my thing. I was sucked into the belief that the only way to be successful in hairdressing is to build a big award winning salon with a large number of staff. To be super popular on social media and the envy of all other hairdressers.

Only problem is…the bigger I got the more of a burden it became to me.

I ran a good ship but problems are always going to arise. People get sick, people go on leave, people will make mistakes. Everyday there was always an issue deal with. Nothing I couldn’t rectify or work through but it was always left to me to fix. Me…the top of the chain…all accountability remained solely with me and I accept that.

I put systems in place, employed management, tried many different techniques in order to gain more personal time and relieve the burden that can sometimes be all engrossing when running a small business. But the issues still weighed on my shoulders alone.

Staff are a wonderful thing. The only problem is they’re not there forever. Everyone moves on at some point. I see too many salons thinking that their staff should be grateful for them working for them.

It’s actually the other way around…the salon should be grateful for their staff.

We’re in a time where any salon you walk into would employ you in a heartbeat as long as you can hold a pair of scissors and a comb. Staff shortages have never been bigger. If you’re in a salon you love and are being looked after well then kudos to you…you’ve found a unicorn. Salons that look after their staff well are wonderful ambassadors to this amazing industry and if your on a good thing then stick with it.

More than likely though…it will end. All things do.

You may just want a change for something different.

Be careful with this decision though…the grass isn’t always greener.

My change was for myself personally. I no longer wanted the pressure of small business and after being in my own businesses a didn’t really want to be an employee. I still needed an income but didn’t want to have to be committed to one place doing a set amount of hours with a limited amount of time off. Unless I could find that unicorn salon that worked with me on my wants and needs through employment I was probably going to end up resenting the job and the industry.

Being a Solo Stylist now gives me the best of both worlds. I get to run my own ship and still be able to associate with other hairdressers depending on what work I’ve planned and where I am.

I’ve been told it’s selfish because a Solo Stylist doesn’t help the growth of hairdressing by not having apprentices. I still give back to the industry by running education, teaching hairdressers about scissors and tools, presenting to apprentices at TAFE and sharing all of my advice to any hairdresser willing to listen. It’s just not the “traditional” way we’ve all been brainwashed into believing.

I now give back more by interacting with 1000’s of apprentices and hairdressers as opposed to the small amount staff I had in comparison over the years. I still do the clients I love doing in a salon environment only at the times I have set aside for this work. I take leave when I need to…no questions or justification. If I need to make up time or do extra hours because I need to have time off…that’s totally my decision as well.

Being a Solo Stylist puts me in control of everything and lets me prioritise the most important things to me. It gives me more interaction than I’ve ever had with the industry and makes my world a better place and me a better person. I just had to realise it.

Key Points:

Prioritise yourself
Small is the new big
Your options are endless

Until next time…

Craig

The Solo Stylist

P.S. Not sure if freelancing is right for you?
Download the free “Are You Ready to Freelance?” Checklist and find out where you stand.

Get your download here

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What’s the most important tool in your kit?

Craig — Sat, 13 Sep 2025 09:18:49 +0000

We all have a bunch of things in our kit.

Some of them are used everyday…lots of them get used every now and then.

The tools we have should be there for a reason. They should have purpose and most importantly…they should make your work life easier.

I’m pretty sure I would have 100’s of pieces of equipment in my kit (maybe one day I’ll actually count them all?). Tools for salon work, tools for session work, tools for runway work (including multiple versions with different voltage for work in different countries). In a freelance situation you need to have your own tools on hand and be able to produce the looks you’re asked for.

I’m often asked “what tools can’t you live without”?

But that’s like asking “how long is a piece of string”?

The tools are totally dependant on what work you are doing…

There would be no point me saying my scissors are my most important tool if I’m doing runway work. We almost never cut hair in this environment so my scissors become my least needed tool in this situation. Where as, if I’m on floor doing clients…my scissors become the most important tool in my kit.

So…what sort of work do you do the most?

I personally do more cutting of hair than any other task over the average month so I would then rate the following most important tools:

Scissors

Comb

Product

Dryer

Brush

That’s what I would consider the most important to allow me to be able to produce the work I do…and in that order.

Without scissors I can’t cut hair…simple.

Add a comb and I can be more precise in what I cut.

Add product and I get control over the hair.

Add a dryer and I can manipulate hair.

Add a brush to the manipulation and I get polish and finish.

It all compounds to produce better work.

But where does it stop? In my opinion…it never does. I don’t just use 1 scissor on every job, I actually have 10 pairs. I also use 5 different combs regularly. There’s 100’s of different products to use. I always have a spare dryer on hand (just in case) and my brush bag contains at least 15 different brushes I can think of…maybe more.

If you invest in quality tools they’ll last you a lifetime. I have 17 year old scissors that still cut as beautifully today as when they were first purchased. I have 10 year old brushes that are still in amazing condition that are used most days. I believe in these quality tools so much I set up HairKit.com.au because I was unable to find most of the tools in Australia that I needed to have backstage at the major Fashion Weeks around the world. Without these tools I’d never be able to produce the quality needed to earn repeated work in this field (but that’s a story for another time).

All of your tools are important…but when building your business the most important ones are the ones you need today.

Key Points:

Understand what’s missing in your kit
Build your kit in order to make your work easier
Invest only in the best quality tools you can afford

Until next time…

Craig

The Solo Stylist

P.S. Not sure if freelancing is right for you?
Download the free “Are You Ready to Freelance?” Checklist and find out where you stand.

Get your download here

Start your journey now

Join The Solo Stylist for exclusive tips, strategies, and resources to launch, grow, & monetize your solo stylist business.

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When do you become good at hair?

Craig — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 03:22:32 +0000

When does one become a good hairdresser?

At what point does hair mastery come into effect and who is the judge of that?

There’s a general rule of thumb when learning any skill set…

10 000 hours!

The unwritten rule is you need to spend 10 000 hours practicing a skill before you can be called proficient in it. That sounds like a long time and a lot of work but how long is that?

10 000 hours is the equivalent of 5.5 years working full time at 38 hours a week for 48 weeks a year.

So that means you’ve become a proficient hairdresser just by doing your apprenticeship and then working for the next 2.5 years? That’s not very long at all. In my opinion…that’s the point when you realise what sort of hairdresser you want to be. It’s what you do from here that makes you unique.

10 000 hours only makes you a proficient hairdresser not an amazing hairdresser.

You become amazing when you’ve done 10 000 of each of the things you do. If you specialise in cutting it’s 10 000 bobs or 10 000 graduations. If you do colour it’s 10 000 balayage or 10 000 tints. That’s going to add at least another 15-20 years on to your timeline for becoming an expert in your field.

Realistically…the majority of us won’t get this far in the industry. Statistics show the exit rate in hairdressing is high. I get it…it’s a hard job and taxing on the body over this period of time. The hours can be long, the money can be bad and your hands and legs are going to hurt a lot.

Most of us will never get to this “perfection” level simply because we won’t be there long enough. The rest of us will never reach the level of perfection we are striving towards because it’s actually impossible to attain. If you’re still hairdressing after that amount of time you obviously love what you do and will always want to be better.

There is no perfect hairdresser…no one gets it “perfect” 100% of the time. Styles change everyday…we always have something new to learn. The looks you see online and in competitions aren’t real. The editing that you see isn’t what it looks like in real life so stop comparing your work to what you’re observing.

Concentrate on your own goals and looking after your clients. This is how you can create a great work environment and life balance for yourself. Enjoy your learning journey for however long you continue this for. Keep it fun and be patient. You’ve got heaps of time.

There are only two real judges of your talent:

You
Your returning clients

That’s all you need.

Key Points:

Hairdressing skills take time
Don’t compare yourself to others
You’re amazing to your clients that keep coming back

Until next time…

Craig

The Solo Stylist

P.S. Not sure if freelancing is right for you?
Download the free “Are You Ready to Freelance?” Checklist and find out where you stand.

Get your download here

Start your journey now

Join The Solo Stylist for exclusive tips, strategies, and resources to launch, grow, & monetize your solo stylist business.

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5 Things to start your business today

Craig — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 09:08:06 +0000

You can start your business today…seriously.

There are only 5 things you need and you can do it on the cheap.

1. ABN (Australian Business Number)

This is the first step to starting your own business. Every business in Australia has to have one and setting up as a Sole Trader is the easiest (and cheapest) way to get started.

You’ll need to make sure you register for GST if your business will generate over $75000 in sales. Downsides are you are responsible for your own income tax, superannuation and GST (if applicable). You can’t “employ” yourself in this model but it’s a perfect place to start the Solo Stylist journey and test the waters before committing to bigger goals. You can always look at different financial structures as your business grows.

You can find all of the details here: https://www.abr.gov.au/

2. Space

You need somewhere to work. With a chair and a mirror, some power and maybe a basin. It depends on what style of freelancing you’re doing…maybe you’ll mix it up? That’s the beauty of freelancing…you can do what you want.

Maybe you want to do 1 day mobile if you have housebound clients or visit shelters or homes. You might need your own portable chair and mirror? Or you might rent a chair in a fully equip salon and just tell your clients where you’ll be operating out of. This could be 1 space or could be across multiple sites. It can be even across multiple towns or cities…the choice is yours. All you need is to find a space you like working out of at a price you are comfortable paying (a good guideline is 10-20% of your daily takings depending on what’s included with the rent).

3. POS (Point Of Sale)

Get yourself a mobile POS system. Having a digital appointment book and cash register helps keep all of your client details, records and transactions on something as simple as your phone or iPad is a godsend. You can take payment or bookings anywhere.

I personally use Square Appointments and do everything through my phone. It’s just easy, and the best thing…it’s free (I personally use the $40 per month subscription for some extra features). You can create online booking options as well to help free up your time.

Link a Square reader to it ($50) and you have mobile payment system setup and ready to go. At 1.9% transaction fee this is amazing value when you look at what it costs for terminal rental with an EFTPOS machine through your bank. Unless you can get your bank to be under 1% in fees then this is a no brainer for a Solo Stylist. You could avoid fees altogether and take cash only or bank transfers but my personal view on this is cash jobs sound unprofessional and waiting for bank transfers is asking for non payments and time wasted chasing unpaid services.

If you are interested in signing up with Square this link will get you free processing on the first $1000 you take using Square https://squareup.com/i/CRHAIR1234

4. Website

How are people going to find you if you don’t have a website? You can setup your online profile just with social media (Facebook, Instagram) but you never own that information and with so many people being hacked on social media these days there’s a very big risk that if it goes down you won’t be able to access it for a while. Don’t rely 100% on social media for your business…it’s too easy to lose.

Building a 1 page website for your business is easy. It’s all you need to just have a presence online then use your social media to guide all traffic to this webpage. Use something as easy as https://carrd.co/ (from as little as $15 per year) to make yourself look more professional, let your clients know where you’re operating from and how they can make appointments and contact you.

5. Tools

These things I’m sure you already own but make sure you’re your tools are a reflection of your work. We’re already a looked down upon industry and not taken as seriously as we should be. Once we go mobile it’s taken even less seriously by society. Purchase the highest quality tools you can afford. Trust me…your work shines when you have the right tools for the job. Expensive scissors cut better, expensive dryers make work faster, the right products give better results. Don’t skimp on tools if you want to be take seriously.

It can be this simple…

Costs can be as low as:

ABN – $0

Rent – $0 (mobile) – $150 (rent a chair)

Square – $50

Website – $15

Tools – $0 (if you already have them)

Total – $215

Test the waters…start it as a side project and see if it’s for you or not. Start off with 1 job a week or 1 day a week in your own time. If being a Solo Stylist is where you want to be…this is the best way to start…you don’t have to risk anything. What have you got to lose?

Key Points:

You can start a business today
You don’t need as much as you think to start
For less that $250 you could be a Solo Stylist tomorrow

Until next time…

Craig

The Solo Stylist

P.S. Not sure if freelancing is right for you?
Download the free “Are You Ready to Freelance?” Checklist and find out where you stand.

Get your download here

Start your journey now

Join The Solo Stylist for exclusive tips, strategies, and resources to launch, grow, & monetize your solo stylist business.

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When did you last attend education?

Craig — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 00:35:26 +0000

Being a solo stylist gives me super freedom in what I do and where I go.

I can be at home in my studio doing the clients I love doing one week and then in New York working on a Tom Ford show the next. I might return to my studio the following week and then be back in Paris for a Chanel show the week after followed by driving around NSW visiting regional salons.

The freedom that comes from being a Solo Stylist is unlimited. You just have to find the work. If you’re good at what you do the work will come.

The down side of being a Solo Stylist is you need to be organised. This can mean planning out your calendar months…even years in advance.

Most of my work is booked 12 months in advance. I start my planning in October for the next year for all of my business stuff. I book out all of the dates I will and won’t be in my studio, where I’ll be travelling to and when I will be committing to it.

This isn’t a thing I ever enjoyed doing. I always was a last minute decision person.

Now…without this planning my business would become the containment of full time employment to me and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the freedom I have.

Not everything is always perfect though.

The hardest thing about being a Solo Stylist is the lack of community. A lack of external influence and communication with like minded stylists.

This dawned on me last week…

When did I last attend education?

Our industry is progressive. Styles come and go. Quite simply…it’s always changing. We need to keep up with these things and know what to do when our clients ask for that current look.

I remember once having to be in Adelaide for work purposes. While I was there I was lucky enough to be invited to attend Jamming Session by Parlour Academy and Friends which was sponsored by Hair & Beauty Co (DunGud, Nine Yards, O&M). A free event run annually that brought over 200 Adelaide hairdressers together at the Chateau Apollo to watch 3x 30 minute sessions of local hairdressers where 17 hairdressers from different salons in the Adelaide area presented on stage. 9 live demos and 8 pre done models. It was a mix of apprentices presenting what they are doing on floor, long term stylist presenting on stage for the first time along side industry heavyweights including state, national and internationally awarded hairdressers. They even organised for 20 high school students doing Hairdressing Cert II to bus it in to the event just to show them how wonderful and fun the hairdressing industry can be. To top it off…even a former Australian Hairdresser if the Year flew in from Brisbane just to MC the event.

This event blew my mind…so much sharing and support for every single person in the room no matter where you were sitting in your career.

Now the question is…do we do enough personal development and training for ourselves?

As a Solo Stylist getting work and getting paid takes priority. We always put this first and forget about our own development because it’s not as important. We keep doing this and before we know it we’re telling ourselves “I can’t attend that because I’m too busy”.

This is why future planning is so important.

Commit to an education budget and how may hours you are going to spend on it. If you need technical education to upgrade your skills most companies will have their education calendar finalised for the year by the end of January. Go through them, pick what you want to up skill yourself on the year and book it.

Don’t tell yourself I’ll book it closer to the date. By the time you get closer you’ll have filled your book with other work and then justify the “I’m too busy” excuse that everyone uses.

Without external education we go stale. Sure…we can spend time learning things online when we have “time” but let’s face it…we all know we’re not going to commit as strongly to that as we should.

External education should be a large part of a Solo Stylists journey. We don’t have the luxury of bouncing ideas off our work colleagues, there’s no one beside us to watch and be influenced by. We can kid ourselves that we don’t need to educate but if you truely believe you have nothing new to learn then there’s a good chance you’re already stale.

Where else are we going to get inspiration from? We can only rely on ourselves to make the commitment to continued learning. After my Adelaide attendance I realised I wasn’t committing to this and saw how much I was missing out on by being in my own work bubble. I’m making a change and I know how much better my work will be because of it.

Attend a workshop or look and learn soon. You might just be inspired to make a habit of it.

Key Points:

Education stops us getting stale
Book education in advance and commit to it
External influence is super important when you work by yourself

Until next time…

Craig

The Solo Stylist

P.S. Not sure if freelancing is right for you?
Download the free “Are You Ready to Freelance?” Checklist and find out where you stand.

Get your download here

Start your journey now

Join The Solo Stylist for exclusive tips, strategies, and resources to launch, grow, & monetize your solo stylist business.

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The Going Rate Myth

Craig — Sat, 16 Aug 2025 08:59:38 +0000

One of the questions I constantly see popping up on many hairdressing forums I follow is always:

“What’s the going rate for a freelance/rent-a-chair at the moment?”

Is there a going rate?

What makes everyone think there is a standard pricing for this?

Do you ask what does everyone charge for a haircut or colour?

I believe there is no such thing as a going rate.

We base our prices of our services in relation to our costs. To run your business successfully we need to make profit. If there’s no profit you’re paying money to have a business. While this is able to possibly be covered for the short term or when times might be slow, profits must be made to recover those losses before we go bust.

I base my business around a very simple percentage breakdown:

Wages 50%

Tax 15%

Rent 10%

Misc 10%

Stock 5%

Profit 10%

As a simple example I’ll explain:

If I brought in $3000 for the week in my freelance business I would break that amount into 6 different areas:

50% Wages ($1500)

$1500 of this amount would instantly be allocated to wages (including Superannuation and PAYG Taxes). Wages will always be your biggest allocation of expenses and without it…you aren’t getting paid. Pay yourself first…it’s super important.

15% Tax ($450)

Tax is important. If you don’t pay the Tax Office is coming looking for you. BAS is instant 10% on every dollar you declare as income. Don’t take this for granted…it’s the law to pay these things. Make a seperate bank account specifically for this purpose (most banks will have a specific tax account you can create but any simple linked bank account will do the same thing). That way, when your quarterly BAS statement comes in you already have the money aside and it’s never a shock when it arrives. I put an extra 5% as a back up just in case. Sometimes a tax bill can be bigger than you thought they would be…if you have back up in reserves you’ll never have to worry about not being able to pay.

10% Rent ($300)

Rent should average around 10% of your income. If it can be less then that’s even better. Rent would include the cost of your space you work from, the price of the chair you rent or vehicle costs to get to your work places if you’re mobile. This isn’t set in stone in my eyes though. This can have give and take as well…it’s all dependent on what income you can obtain by being in that location as well as what the space you rent from offers.

eg.

The space you rent may include towels, laundering, refreshments, assistants, etc. This alone may be worth paying extra rental costs for.

The space could be located in a more affluent area and is fitted with higher quality furniture and equipment. You would expect to pay a higher price for these things and there fore could charge at a higher rate for your services.

10% Miscellaneous ($300)

I classify miscellaneous as everything else you might need to run your business. Anything that doesn’t fit into the other categories.

5% Stock ($150)

This should really be the maximum amount to should be spending in usage of stock (colour and professional products). If your numbers are higher that this you should seriously think about getting a better deal with your supplier or finding a new one. If that’s not possible then the only way to then achieve this is to have an increase in you’re prices because they’re not set at a profitable price point. Retail doesn’t come under this list as this should be a part of your setup costs. Any retail you stock should also be at 100% markup. When it sells you then have the funds to replace it to your inventory.

10% Profit ($300)

$300 to put into a seperate account. This is a reward for doing well in my business. If you can allocate yourself a profit first mindset your business will thrive. Reward yourself every quarter with a set percentage of these profits. You deserve it if your business has them.

Breakdown:

$1500+ 50%

$450 15%

$300 10%

$150 5%

$300 10%

________________

$3000 100%

As I said…this is a basic breakdown and percentages should be tweaked to suit your own personal business.

eg. if you allocate 12% to rent costs because you get extra inclusions last stated above the you could reduce your miscellaneous costs to 8% as some of these costs are included in the rent allocation.

So basically…

The going rate should actually be a non exist concept to your business. Base the number on what your business needs to operate successfully and profitability. Paying what everyone else is paying might not be suited to your business at all.

Key Points:

Price is determined by costs
There’s no such thing as standard pricing
Doing what everyone else is doing isn’t going to help you

Until next time…

Craig

The Solo Stylist

P.S. Not sure if freelancing is right for you?
Download the free “Are You Ready to Freelance?” Checklist and find out where you stand.

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Are you in your dream job?

Craig — Sat, 09 Aug 2025 09:17:03 +0000

I love my work.

I love it more now than I ever have.

It hasn’t always been that way. There were days when I thought I was done in the industry. I wasn’t enjoying the work. It impacted my creativity, my business and my personal life.

I got stale.

I was doing the same thing day in day out. Turning up to work and ticking the boxes. Dealing with problems as they appeared and staying longer than I should have, thinking these were important things that only I could sort.

This wasn’t for me. I shouldn’t be feeling this way. It wan’t healthy.

If I didn’t change something it would have been the end of my hair career.

I had to work out what I wanted from my work. Could I have the best of both worlds? Could I have a work life balance that suited me?

Turns out I can.

I now have better hours, more money and more personal time.

Here’s what I learned from my experiences in this:

– Don’t be accountable to anyone else.

I decided the freedom I desired couldn’t be achieved if I was restricted with employment or staff. I wanted the freedom to be able to do my own thing…everyday…anytime I wanted to. Never to have to ask for permission.

Employment restricted me. I didn’t like having a limit to the amount of time I could have off. Having restrictions to the amount of Saturdays I could take off. We have social lives…we have families…our personal lives are important.

Then having to commit to a certain amount of hours in one space wasn’t for me. Being in a salon for 38 hours a week would kill me, not only mentally but physically as well. Hairdressing is hard on the body and that type of workload. I’m a creative and I need external stimulation. I like to travel and see what’s happening around the world with hair so I made it happen. I can now attend and do hair at as many fashion weeks around the world as I want.

I also don’t do staff anymore. I loved my staff but they were also a restriction.

The buck stopped with me as a salon owner. I was responsible for everything that happened under my roof. If they were off or away who is the one who has to cover? Who needs to make the calls…who needs to keep it running? You do.

I was a slave to my staff and my business. Not anymore.

– Set your limits

How many hours can you do a week? Sure…we can do as many as it takes but that takes it toll mentally and physically. Some people will be better at it than others but to me that’s not the real question…

How many hours in your week are more important than work?

I prioritised my children. I wanted to be able to drop them to school and pick them up on set days. They are only young once…and I didn’t want to miss that time because I had to work.

What ever you might prioritise is just as important.

I knew what hours I didn’t want to work to suit my lifestyle and then set my available working hours around that. I refused to miss things because of work.

– Follow your dreams

Picture your perfect job. What are you doing? Where are you?

If you don’t know it you’ll never achieve it.

Here’s my picture:

I’ve started work mid morning after sorting my kids for school. I’m only doing the hair of the clients I enjoy doing. I don’t rush…I take an hour for each client as a service space. I drink great tea and coffee and I’m listening to a great selection of vinyl on my vintage stereo. I’m surrounded by art and collections of things I enjoy and I’m talking to my clients about all the things I did at Paris Fashion Week and if I’ll be heading to New York next. I do one late night because I still enjoy working in the evening. It’s a different vibe and there might even be drinks of great wine with the clients. I’m looking forward to working on Saturday because I love how busy it can be…and that’s fine with me because I know I get to spend the following Saturday enjoying family life because I have it off. The week ends with music pumping as I clean the space with a beer and reflect on how good of a week it was. I’ll then have the next 3 days off as rest and to work on my business ventures.

This isn’t just positive thinking…this is what my actual week of work looks like.

I’m happy to work…none of my goals can be achieved without hard work. I just do the work around my priorities now.

My own hours, my own rate, my own choice of the work I do.

I’m a Solo Stylist and I love my work.

Key Points:

You don’t have be accountable to anyone else
Know where your priorities lie
Your dream job is achievable

Until next time…

Craig

The Solo Stylist

P.S. Not sure if freelancing is right for you?
Download the free “Are You Ready to Freelance?” Checklist and find out where you stand.

Get your download here

Start your journey now

Join The Solo Stylist for exclusive tips, strategies, and resources to launch, grow, & monetize your solo stylist business.

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Do You Live In The Real World?

Craig — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 02:10:08 +0000

“yeah…but that won’t work in the real world”

How many times have I heard this?

I have been in business for the past 20 years. I’m now pretty confident that my ideas are going to be successful and work. I have been through the struggles of start ups. I’ve had many successes and just as many failures and I have learned many valuable lessons from all of these things.

But the most consistent thing I’ve seen over this time when starting something new is the following:

I have a business idea and I run it by my friends, family and work colleagues. Because I want acceptance and affirmation that my idea is a good one. That it will be successful…that’s its something they will support me in.

It’s a lifestyle idea that suits me perfectly. It gives me the work life balance I’ve always dreamed of. I had been thinking about it non stop and I know it will work. I’ve done my research…it all makes total sense.

Then I asked other peoples advice and what they thought about my plans…

I wanted people to like my idea. That they thought it was great…that they would be supportive.

Problem is the world is full of dream stoppers. People who believe 9-5 is safe. That you need job security to get ahead in the world. They’re the one who’ll tell you that you’re idea won’t work and will have all the reasons why:

“Business is too risky”
“What if you get no clients?”
“The economy bad right now”
“You won’t make enough money?”
“You can’t work less hours…that’s impossible”
“You’re not a big enough name to be able to do that”
“You need a secure job, working for yourself is too hard”
“That sound great…but it doesn’t happen in the real world”

These were the people who have never stepped outside of their own comfort zone. Why should I believe them? What experience do they have to justify this advice? Have they started their own business before?

I set out to prove them wrong.

That’s exactly what happened with my Solo Stylist career.

I wanted the following from my business:

more money
more time for myself
more time for my family
more travel opportunities
less physical working hours

I knew exactly how to achieve it and was about to put it all into place

I balanced my hours to suit my lifestyle and I only work hours that work for me. I worked out exactly what I needed to do and made the leap. I had belief in my ideas.

I wanted to flip this industry and no longer do the same thing the rest of the hairdressing industry continues to do year after year expecting it to change.

Too many people live in fear of the unknown. They will never take the risk for themselves and believe you shouldn’t either if they can’t. The majority actually don’t want you to succeed because it justifies their decision to stay safe. If you succeed it shows their personal failings to themselves. If you fail it justifies their fears.

Remember…you are the only one who can achieve your own goals.

Don’t let them drag you down…don’t believe anyone that says it won’t work. Let them live in their world and make sure you live in yours.

Key Points:

Know what you want to achieve
Don’t let other people drag you down
Make sure you live in your world…not theirs

Until next time…

Craig

The Solo Stylist

P.S. Not sure if freelancing is right for you?
Download the free “Are You Ready to Freelance?” Checklist and find out where you stand.

Get your download here

Start your journey now

Join The Solo Stylist for exclusive tips, strategies, and resources to launch, grow, & monetize your solo stylist business.

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Are you ready to freelance?

Craig — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 23:55:47 +0000

Have you thought about going freelance?

If so then ask yourself are you ready to take that step?

We see everyone advertising rent a chair spaces with great deals to entice you through the door, telling you what a great deal it is and how wonderful life will be because of it.

It’s not as simple as it sounds.

There’s more legal ramifications to it than most people are aware of and the current way many salons are doing this is going to come back and bite them in the not too distant future.

So what do you need to freelance? Here are my most important things to have before you can even start thinking about venturing in to your Solo Stylist journey:

Good skills in your chosen area

If you’re going to cut hair in your own business then make sure you can cut well. Same with colour, bridal, perming, styling, etc…whatever you are going to provide…be the best you can be at it. Educate yourself often. Do courses, watch YouTube, subscribe to online education. People will expect a quality result.

A client base

Without this you don’t have a business. You need regular returning clients who are happy to pay your prices. These people are who pay you and without them coming to you…you have no income.

How many do you need? I have a previous newsletter covering this here if you want to refresh your memory.

But it’s as simple as hours worked per week x number of weeks you want them returning.

30 (hours) x 6 (weeks) = 180* (clients)

*if you allocate 1 hour per service.

A place to work

A chair and a mirror are all you need to start. This could be in a salon, in your home, travelling to a home or venue. You just need a space.

This is totally dependant on your own personal feel. You might like the excitement of being in a busy salon surrounded by other creatives or being in a small space to only have one on one interaction with your client.

The proper paperwork

I’m not an accountant or financial advisor and can’t give you any advice on this but I can recommend that you get yourself a good accountant to help you with these things.

Find one that will sit down with you and go through all of the things needed to set up your own business. The best things I got from mine when starting my Solo Stylist journey was

Setting up as a registered company over being a sole trader

How to set up my bank accounts to allocate money automatically to cover GST, BAS, Super, etc.

Assistance in correctly allocating business expenses in my accounting software.

Insurances

I can’t stress insurance enough. If anything happens to you as a Solo Stylist and you can’t work you’ll be glad you paid for this. Talk to an insurance broker (you’ll find there are some who specialise in this sort of insurance) to discuss you individual needs for you business. Don’t forget to consider things like Public Liability (for anything that might happen to your client during a service) as well as income protection, medical, permanent disability or death (for yourself…god forbid).

Working Capital

Cash is KING.

I can’t stress this enough. Have as much working capital sitting in your bank account as you possibly can before venturing into your solo career. Personally…I’m a fan of 3 months working capital sitting in your bank account after all other setup costs.

But what is working capital and why do I need it?

Working Capital is excess cash sitting in your bank account to assist in the running of the business. Every business will have Fixed Costs (the minimum amount it will cost you to run your business each month…wages, insurances, rent, etc.) that will be the same each month. Having 3 months worth of fixed costs put aside is what helps when you may have a slow month or if an emergency expenditure or opportunity comes up unexpectedly. Always endeavour to replace or build that amount as quickly as possible though. Think about it as a safety net…just in case.

If you have these things in place you’ll be off to a great start building your Solo Stylist career.

Making the move to a solo career isn’t as daunting as you might think.

Key Points:

Anyone can open a business
Make sure you’re well prepared before starting
Have a safety net for those unexpected times that come

Until next time…

Craig

The Solo Stylist

P.S. Not sure if freelancing is right for you?
Download the free “Are You Ready to Freelance?” Checklist and find out where you stand.

Get your download here

Start your journey now

Join The Solo Stylist for exclusive tips, strategies, and resources to launch, grow, & monetize your solo stylist business.

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The post Are you ready to freelance? appeared first on The Solo Stylist.