Running a salon in Dublin: debs, weddings and an international city

Northside, southside and the commuter belt

Many clients reach the city centre by DART along the coast, by Luas on the Red and Green lines, or by Dublin Bus, while others drive in from Meath, Kildare or Wicklow. A salon near a DART station in a coastal village, one off Grafton Street and one in a suburban shopping centre will each have their own peaks. City-centre spots often fill at lunch and straight after work; suburban salons are busier on Saturdays and late-opening evenings.

Clients coming in from the commuter towns usually plan their visit around the train or traffic home, so they value knowing exactly when they will be finished. Set realistic service durations, and when a client books a cut and colour together the appointment will take up their combined time. That way the diary does not promise a finish time you cannot keep.

An international workforce and many first languages

With large tech and finance employers around the Docklands and the city centre, a good share of Dublin's clients and salon staff grew up somewhere else. Newcomers often look for a stylist online rather than through word of mouth, and they want to book without a phone call. Your online booking link, in your Instagram bio and on your Google Business Profile, is often their first contact with you.

• The booking page opens in the client's browser language where available (English, Turkish, German, Russian or Arabic), and they can switch it on the page.
• Each member of your team chooses their own panel language, which helps when stylists from different countries share one diary.
• If you prefer to look at new clients' bookings before confirming them, switch off automatic confirmation: online bookings then arrive as "Pending".

Debs, weddings and the occasions calendar

Few things fill an Irish salon diary like debs season, when school leavers head to their dances in late summer and autumn, often in groups of friends who want to get ready together. Add a long wedding season, Christmas parties, Communions and Confirmations in spring, and you have several waves of occasion bookings each year, many of them involving more than one stylist.

1. 1

   Open the diary early

   Before debs and wedding season, extend how many days ahead clients can book online so groups can reserve their slots weeks in advance.

2. 2

   Keep big parties off the public page

   If you would rather discuss bridal parties or large groups first, keep those services off online booking and add an announcement asking people to get in touch.

3. 3

   Credit each stylist for their part

   When one person does the blow-dry and another the up-do, each service goes on its own ticket line under the right name, so commission is split fairly.

The hair salon page explains how long, multi-stage appointments and shared tickets work in more detail.

Students and term-time demand

With Trinity, UCD, DCU and TU Dublin all in the city, students are a steady part of the trade from September to May. They book late, often the same day, and mostly from their phones. A minimum notice setting stops a booking from appearing in ten minutes' time, while a Telegram booking link lets students who use Telegram book and cancel without calling. If they cancel there while there is still enough notice, the slot goes back on the booking page for someone else.

Missed appointments are marked as no-shows and counted on each client's profile. For more ways to cut them down, see our guide to reducing no-shows.

Client records you can rely on

Colour formulas, preferred stylists and notes on what a client did not like last time are worth more than any loyalty card. The client profile keeps these alongside past tickets and the last visit, so a new stylist can pick up where a colleague left off. "We miss you" and birthday messages only go to clients who have given marketing consent; how you handle personal data under GDPR more generally is worth confirming with your own adviser.