Running a salon in Sydney: summer at Christmas, beaches and long commutes

A Southern Hemisphere year

For a salon in Sydney, the biggest weeks of the year all land in early summer: work Christmas parties, school formals, end-of-year events and the run-up to New Year's Eve on the harbour. Then the long summer school holidays begin, many locals go away in January, and the diary rebalances until school goes back in late January or early February.

1. 1

   From October, open the diary further ahead

   Extend how many days ahead clients can book online, so regulars can secure their pre-Christmas slot for brows, lashes, nails or a cut before the rush.

2. 2

   Post your holiday hours

   Add a short announcement to your booking page with the days you close between Christmas and New Year, so nobody turns up to a locked door.

3. 3

   Win clients back in February

   A "We miss you" message can go automatically to clients who gave marketing consent and have not been in for the number of days you choose.

Beach suburbs, the CBD and the Inner West

In the Eastern Suburbs and on the Northern Beaches, warm weather brings demand for waxing, brows, lashes and nails ahead of beach weekends, and plenty of clients book around a swim or a surf rather than a nine-to-five. CBD salons and barbers near Town Hall, Wynyard or Martin Place follow office hours, with lunchtime and after-work peaks. In the Inner West and the suburbs further out, regulars and families keep the week steady, and Saturday mornings are often the busiest time.

Long treatments are where the money is in a beauty salon, so give each one an honest duration in your service list. When a client books several treatments together, the appointment takes up their combined time, and the online booking page only offers therapists who are free for the whole stretch.

Long commutes and late arrivals

Many Sydneysiders travel a long way to work by Sydney Trains, the Metro, the light rail, buses or ferries, and a delay on one line can run through the whole evening. Clients who commute from further out tend to arrive late rather than not at all, which is easier to absorb if your evening is not booked back to back.

• Leave short gaps between appointments at your busiest evening times.
• Choose when reminders go out. For after-work clients, a reminder a few hours ahead reaches them before they leave the office.
• Clients who book through Telegram can cancel there themselves while there is still enough notice, which frees the slot for someone else.

Reminders and confirmations go out free of charge through Makastam's Telegram bot; details are on the Telegram reminders page. Missed appointments are marked as no-shows and counted on the client profile. Our guide to reducing no-shows has more practical ideas.

Sydney time and Australian dollars

Makastam stores the country, time zone and currency per business. A Sydney salon runs on Sydney time: AEST for most of the year and AEDT while daylight saving applies in New South Wales, from October to April. Bookings, reminders and the end-of-day report follow your local clock through the change, and tickets, the till and reports are in Australian dollars.

Prices are entered before tax and you set the tax rate per line, including zero. Whether you need to charge GST and how to report it depends on your business, so confirm it with your accountant or tax agent.

Staff, rosters and chair rent

Sydney salons often combine employed staff on a roster with contractors who rent a chair or room. Each person logs in with their own account and only sees their own appointments, ticket lines and earnings. Working hours and days off sit in the diary, so nobody can be booked with a therapist on a day they are not rostered on.

Running a beauty salon? The beauty salon page shows how separate diaries, retail and treatment-based commission work together.