Research Your Target Audience
Thinking about starting to work with hair extensions can be daunting, but it doesn’t need to be. There are so many reasons why offering hair extensions can be good for you and your business. Not only will it be an extra service that you can offer to your existing clientele but it can also help you attract a whole new circle of customers and the rewards you get from changing peoples lives when they discover a new found confidence is an amazing feeling!
Firstly, you should think about your existing clientele and this will help you determine what methods of extensions will be best for you to take up. There are many different methods of hair extensions out there but they are all best suited to different hair type, outcome and lifestyles. Your current clientele could be currently based from your local area or maybe you are talented in a certain service. Maybe you have a younger clientele because there are colleges or universities nearby or maybe you are a balayage queen or perhaps you live in a village and your clientele are slightly older. Either way hair extensions are for all clients, all ages, all hair types.
Here is just a little insight to help you see what methods of hair extensions are best for what:
Wefts – These techniques is sown to the natural hair after either braiding the hair or adding nano rings. Wefts are amazing for a very big impact, lots of length and thickness, a full mane!
Tapes – tapes are a fantastic method to learn as they can be very versatile, these are fantastic for the older clientele that would like some thickness and for creating bulk to frame the face.
Nano rings – these are known to be the smallest type of method, they are great for fine hair and can be very discreet.
Micro rings – these are great for thicker hair as you can allow more hair in the rings. Great for adding length and also thickness.
Fusion bonds -these are usually fitted to thicker, stronger hair and also known as pre-bonded hair extensions. A heat clamp is used to melt the bond to the natural hair.
There is no need to worry if you fancy trying a method that you think might not suit your current clientele. With the correct advertising, some good word of mouth and people will always be willing to travel for the right hair extensionist. We are lucky to have so many online, free platforms to use to advertise from, use these to your advantage.
Find the Best Training for You
The training you receive is going to be the key point that kicks off your career in hair extensions. It is very important that you choose the best training for you. This can be so hard as there are so many people out there offering training courses. The prices can really vary, some say you can learn in a few hours, others a couple of days. This decision is down to you. Step back and think about your confidence, maybe you know the basics already and just want to learn the ins and outs and receive a qualification, maybe a shorter course will be for you or maybe you have no idea where to start, make sure you invest in a course where someone is willing to give you their full attention and time.
Training can also be available to you online or you can tend to find some local to you. As a hair extensionist with years of experience, I would always advise a 1 to 1 type of training where possible if you have no experience in hair extensions at all and you are starting from the beginning.
Always look for recommendations, speak to someone who has taken the course already. Once you have chosen a course that is best for you it is very important you make the most of the time you have paid for. Always ask questions, take notes and never feel embarrassed to ask and ask again. Most training providers will provide you with their details so you can always contact them after you have finished your training for any help you may need.
You need to remember that hair extensions are just like other hairdressing services, consultation is key and insurance needs to be in place. Maybe you are thinking this is not for me or maybe you are thinking its too much hassle, wrong! Chances are if you colour hair already then your are already taking bigger risks, so this will be a breeze. The insurance side is all pretty simple, you can call your current insurance provider and they will normally be more than happy to add cover for this service if its not included already. Now your key part to play is consultation forms and aftercare sheets. This is an essential part of the service for both you and your client. If you have completed a consultation form and your client has signed it then you are covering yourself, also you are reassuring your client that you are working professionally. You can buy these direct from hair suppliers, if not you can find some templates online to work with.
Practice Makes Perfect
Similar to when you finished your NVQ, going straight out onto the salon floor can be so nerve racking, so make sure you get as much practice in as possible before you start doing extensions on clients. Use friends and family to help you get used to the fitting and removing of the methods you have chosen. Even if they do not want to keep the hair extensions in, just to let you get the opportunity to practice on a real head is great. We know every ones head is so very different and it is important for you to get used to working out your placement for the hair with different head shapes and hair types. You can always purchase yourself a block head and buy yourself some budget hair to practice with. It is important to practice refitting and removing the hair not just the initial fitting. Time yourself to make sure you are up to speed each time you practice and you will soon find yourself ready and confident to start offering the service to your clients. You can always start with your clients that you know will have a bit more patience with you and offer a free fitting for all first appointments until you feel confident to start charging properly.
Buy Cheap, Buy Twice
We know this all to well, but yes I am afraid to tell you it still applies with hair extensions! The quality of the hair and tools you use it key for your future business. Sounds a bit much, right? But its very true, just like any other service. If you visited two eyelash technicians, one who used lashes and tools which were obviously very cheap and one who used tools and lashes that were clearly professional and money had been spent, both of which the result looked the same, we know who we would visit again. Your also bound to tell friends and family about your experience with that particular service. Maybe you tell a friend ‘yes they look lovely but her tools and equipment seemed a bit cheap and tacky’ its very likely this friend will now tell another and so on, this is then potentially a whole load of people that will now not visit that particular technician.
Using cheap tools not only looks unprofessional, they are more likely to break. What can be worse that trying to carry out a professional service to a paying client with tools that keep breaking, embarrassing! Also, the hair is the key point to this service, you could use cheap hair and your fitting could be the best in the world, this is still going to be an awful experience for your client. Cheap hair is not good for your clients natural hair and can cause lots of problems, if the hair becomes very dry very quickly which is common with cheap hair, the hair will become very tangled and frizzy. Your client will then put a lot more tensions on there hair in order to get rid of the tangles and frizz and this is going to cause tension on their natural hair which could have devastating results. Big problems for your clients are big problems for you!
Being new to the hair extensions game you are not expected to know what is good and bad hair, what company supplies the best hair. This is something a good training provider will advise you about so make sure this is part of their training. Most training providers will work alongside good hair and tools suppliers with good reputations. If they don’t then ask, look online and ask fellow extensionists for recommendations.
Click the link to have a look at the tools we supply to 1000's of hair extension specialists across the globe.
https://www.hairmadeeasi.com/collections/all
Pricing For Hair Extensions
Daunting right? We can break it down for you. There are many ways in which you can price your services for hair extensions. You will know which is best for you. Don’t feel nervous about charging large amounts for this sort of service. You have invested hours and hours of your time and a lot of money into this qualification. This is an advanced service that not everyone offers. You have also taken the time to practice to perfection, remember you are the professional here.
Creating a price list for the hair extension services you now offer is very simple. You can price these services in a similar way to other services. Key point to remember is to cover the price of your equipment, the hair and your time. Lets run through an example:
If your clients is looking for a full head 200grams of Nano rings at 18inches, if the hair from your supplier with your trade discount is going to cost you £220, plus the service will take you 2 hours and lets say you charge £50 per hour, then add a little on top for the beads plus to cover your tools you have purchased, lets say £20. Your clients service will cost a total of £340.
In summary thats -
- Hair cost £220 + fitting time £100 + tool costs £20 = £340
Some people also choose to add to the price of the hair to make more of an instant profit. Its best to have a look at other salons and stylist offering hair extensions local to you and judge your prices not far from theres. You don’t want to price yourself too much lower than theirs as too cheap can scare people off and attract the wrong sort of client.
Most importantly what you need to know is that the hair extension industry is ever growing and is a wonderful and friendly industry to be a part of. Here at Hair Made Easi, we are very lucky to work with so many hair extension specialists in different stages of their career and it makes us all so proud when we see our products are helping them to save time, take the stress out of fitting and bring in more revenue.
If you need any more advice please reach out on our contact us page and we will be happy to answer any questions you have.
Written by Kelsey Hardwicke
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