Hiring your first stylist: what to get right

Be clear why you are hiring

A first hire usually happens for one of two reasons. Either the diary is full and you are turning clients away, or you want to offer something you can't do yourself. In the first case you are looking for someone close to your own style who can cover the busy hours. In the second you want a skill you don't have: a colour specialist, a barber who is strong on beards and fades, a beauty therapist.

That difference shapes both who you look for and how you pay them. A stylist hired to fill your diary earns from your clients; a specialist may bring a following of their own.

Trial day and right to work

A CV tells you little about how someone cuts. Ask for a trial day or a couple of services in your salon, on a model or a willing regular. You will see their technique, how they talk to clients, how tidy they are and how they manage time. Agree in advance whether the trial is paid; many salons pay for a full trial day, and it is worth checking what applies to you.

If you are taking someone on as an employee in the UK, you are expected to check their right to work before they start; GOV.UK explains how to do it and which documents count. Other countries have their own rules, so check locally.

Experienced stylist, junior or apprentice?

An experienced stylist can take a full column from the first week, but costs more and may expect commission or a rental deal. A junior stylist or apprentice learns on the job, helps with washes, blow-dries and clean-up, and grows into the role. Apprenticeship schemes come with their own rules, training requirements and sometimes funding, so look into the details before you commit. Whichever route you take, decide who trains them and how much of your own time that will take.

Choose a pay model

Salons typically use one of three models: commission on takings, fixed wage + bonus, or chair rental. For a newer stylist working on your clients, commission or wage + bonus usually fits best: they aren't left owing rent after a quiet week, and the client list stays with you. An experienced stylist with their own clients may prefer to rent a chair, which raises the employment status question. Compare the models in chair rental vs commission.

What to put in writing

• Pay model and rates: which amount the share is worked out on, different rates per service, any retail commission.
• Who keeps tips, who absorbs card fees, who pays for product.
• Advances: when, how much and how they are taken back.
• Pay frequency: daily, weekly or monthly, and pay day.
• Working days, hours and how holidays are booked.
• Clients: who counts as whose client, and what happens to client records if the stylist leaves.
• Probation period and notice on either side.

Running the probation period

Even a good stylist needs time to settle into your way of working. Agree the probation period up front and decide what you will look at: quality of work, how they talk to clients, timekeeping, cleanliness and care with the till and records. At the end, both of you should give honest feedback; a probation that drifts on with "let's see" tends to end badly.

Rather than handing your most loyal regulars to the new stylist straight away, start with new clients and those happy with anyone.

First-day set-up

1. 1

   Add the staff record

   Enter their name, phone number and, if you have more than one, their branch.

2. 2

   Enter working hours

   Add weekly hours and days off, so the diary works out free slots correctly.

3. 3

   Choose their services

   Tick the services they offer, so online clients can only pick them for those.

4. 4

   Create their own login

   Each stylist signs in with their own phone number and password; never share one login.

5. 5

   Set up their pay rule

   Enter the same model, rates and start date as in the written agreement.

Spend the first week alongside them: price list, taking payment, closing tickets, greeting clients. It heads off a lot of misunderstandings later.

Transparency builds trust

Most problems with a first hire come not from money but from not being able to see the numbers. A stylist who can't see which lines were credited to them will view the figure on pay day with suspicion. On the other hand, they have no need to see the till, the salon's takings or anyone else's earnings. The right balance is full sight of their own work and none of anyone else's.

Short pay periods help too: a stylist who confirms each day's earnings gets no surprises at the end of the month.

Your first stylist in Makastam

In Makastam you add the stylist as a member of staff; their working hours, time off and services feed the diary and the online booking page. They sign in with their own login and, in the stylist view, see only their own appointments, their own ticket lines and their own earnings. They can't give discounts, take payments or open the till, and they can only change prices on their own lines if you allow it. Panel language is set per user, so your stylist can work in English while you use Turkish or German.

You set up their staff commission rule as commission, fixed wage + bonus, or chair rent. Earnings are recorded line by line as tickets close, and the pay period closes daily, weekly or monthly. On the "My earnings" screen the stylist confirms the period or disputes it with a note. For the detail, read how to calculate staff commission.