How I Organise My Mobile Hairdressing Business

I am excited to share with you all some tips on how I organise my mobile hairdressing business!

During my time as a mobile hairdresser I have made mistakes, but making mistakes has given me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes. I have made the wrong decisions in the way that I organise my business,  but we all learn from our mistakes, right? We need to learn, to improve.

In this post, I visit a number of key things that I have learned since beginning my life as a Mobile Hairdresser!

9 Tips For Organising Your Mobile Hairdressing Business

Correct Cases

During the time I have spent as a Mobile Hairdresser, one of the biggest issues I have faced is finding the right cases to use.

I have had wheels fall off, handles fall off, not enough space. I have spent a fortune! But I am finally happy with the cases I am using and have never felt more organised.

In one bag: I keep all of my colours and coloring tools.

In another bag: I keep all of my cutting equipment.

I have two sections; peroxides and foil, and separate storage for all of my colour tubes.

Recently, I purchased a fold-up tinting trolley Crewe Folding Trolley. It is amazing to take into clients home, you will not have to worry about using the client’s space to put your bowls and equipment.

Extra equipment

I also have a hair mat (DMI Mobile Floor Protector Mat), which not only looks professional, but it also helps to avoid any spillages on my client’s floor!

The Haito Duo Trolley Bag is the by far the best mobile hairdressing trolley bag! It has ample space, is lightweight, and looks professional.

I have chosen the tool bag caddy bag. when at clients I find its more organized I can see where everything is straight away and products are accessible when styling.

On one side I have my products and other my hair tools, this saves on so much time. It’s also very handy to balance your mirror on.

For my hair up equipment, I have a separate box too. I use a beauty box with a different compartment, this keeps everything organised.

I have a separate bag for shampoo, conditioner, and treatments in. For me, I like to keep everything separate so I know where everything is. It is just a simple shoulder bag I use for these products and does not take up to much room in your boot and easy to carry.

Organising your car boot

Let me chat with you about how I organise my car boot because when you get to your client’s house, you do not want to be spending half of the appointment looking for equipment! Especially when it is raining!

I use a storage open-top box, in this I carry extra peroxide, foil, and any extra things you may need when out and about. choose a box that suits your extra stock.

For extra tubes of colours and toner, I simply use a basic plastic container!

The plastic container also works so well for me to keep in the boot, as you never know when a client may want something different or you may need rescuing if your color has not come out how you want. This does happen from time to time, but being organised and prepared is both professional, and is less stressful for you as a Mobile Hairdresser.

Organised stock checks

Yes, it does sound boring, but let me tell you what works for me!

In my garage, I have a number of clear storage draws. In the first draw, I keep tubes of permanent colour, in the second drawer, I keep semi-permanents, and in the third drawer, I keep my high coverage colours.

I always have two of everything. As soon as a tube is empty, I rip the colour tab from the top of the box and keep it in the zip compartment of my colour case. At the end of the week, I know exactly what I need to reorder.

It is vital to be stocked up on gloves and capes!

Before I had a home with a garage I simply used a cupboard in my kitchen. If you have small children, I recommend using high cupboards! I would never put Hairdressing equipment within reach of a small child. The key point is if you are worried about where to keep your stock, do not worry. There always a place in your home that will work for you.

Organise your travel time

What I am going to talk about next is the weakest part of running my mobile business. TIMEKEEPING!

I now try to stick to one geographical area at a time and book 30 mins out in the day. Those 30 minutes are vital if you are regularly running behind because it gives you some time to play with. Hey, maybe you could squeeze some lunch in too!

I start in one geographical area before moving onto the next. Being mobile means you WILL hit some issue with traffic, and you will have clients that like to talk after the appointment.

How do I deal with clients who like to talk? Here is what works for me: When I arrive at clients home, I ask how they are and before they ask how I am. I prefer to go straight onto hair talk! I take out a consultation and we get going with the client’s hair.

Allow extra time for new clients

Always allow for an extra 40 minutes if you are dealing with a new client for the first time. Every new client should get a consultation first because you have a need to carry out a skin test. Use this consultations to get some of the conversations out of the way.

In the past, I have crammed in so much in a day, which caused additional stress. I took action and learned to say no if I cannot fit a client in at that time, but I always offered other times because that is the professional thing to do!

A lot of my clients are regulars, which is great because you build up relationships with them over time. My regular clients book 2-3 appointments at a time. This helps me to organise my diary.

When I have a holiday planned, or simply want to take some time off, I always cross out my diary in advance. You do not want to accidentally book clients in when you are supposed to be out of the Country!

As the last point, always ensure your car is topped up with fuel. So many times I have been running late in the morning only to get in my car and realise that I need to fill it up!

Keep a notepad

Always keep a notepad in the car to make notes during the day.

I am old fashioned, and still prefer paper and pen rather than my phone, it just seems clearer to me when it is written down.

A  notepad is handy to make notes on who you need to get back to, any extra stock needed e.g. foil, gloves, and products.

A notepad is also useful when you are thinking about home life and you realise you need to call the electricity provider, or you simply remember that you need to pick up something for dinner!

Keep client record cards

Client record cards are vital! I mentioned above that I have a preference for paper and pen, but I have finally got an app on my phone with my clients colour records on. As a backup, I always make a note against the clients next appointment in the event that technology fails me!

This process saves space and works a lot easier for me.

Keep up to date with accounts

I used an accountant for years, but recently I have progress to use Quickbooks. Performing my own accounting works very well for me, and allows me to be much more organised because I set aside some hours each week to perform accountancy duties. I keep my receipts in a folder and at the end of each week, I go on my Quickbooks app to update it.

I used to be so unorganised when it came to accounting, but Quickbooks is simple to use AND saves me money. Win-win!

Book clients in advance

I know I covered this in my timekeeping tips, but it is so vital that I wanted to discuss it separately too because booking clients in advance help to keep me organised!

I book all clients in advance, with some clients even booking 2-3 appointments at a time.

Christmas bookings start in July!

This will help to keep you organised, and helps you plan your day weeks, if not months in advance.

Build a relationship with the colour reps

I have recently swapped clour brands. The reasoning behind my decision was that my last colour brand does not offer this service, courses were canceled, and I felt like I did not have the support that I needed to be an awesome Mobile Hairdresser.

It is so important to keep up to date with colour and courses. Without a rep, this is very difficult.

There are some color brands out there that will not work with mobile hairdressers! I finally changed over, and it was one of the best decisions I have made. Yes, it was nerve-wracking to begin with, because this brand was new to me, but with the support I received from my rep, I was able to work with the new brand right from the very start!

When you are working as a Mobile Hairdresser it so important to have support, there are times when we need advice or a second opinion. We do not know everything right?

I have monthly meetings with my rep and even get the chance to have coffee, which we all know is rare! Having a rep as a Mobile Hairdresser, in my opinion, is vital. It opens up new doors to chat with other Hairdressers using the same colour brand. I have met some awesome people and even follow some of them on social media to get some inspiration.

Conclusion

Throughout the years that I have been a Mobile Hairdresser, my biggest challenge was to become more organised. In this post, I detailed the top 9 things that I do to organise my Mobile Hairdresser business.

The important thing is that you learn from the mistakes that you make. I am sure that there are things I STILL do that work against me being organised, but as long as I notice them, I can improve them.

How do you keep yourself orgaised? Do you have any tips that you think should be on this page? Please get in touch and let me know!