October is the best month for raising your prices, according to salon owner, NAILS blogger, and CND educator Holly Schippers. It’s an idea she first heard from Alicia Bryant-Mayes, owner of Denver’s Body & Soul Salon and Day Spa, and she’s been preaching it ever since.

“Giving notice that your prices will be going up sometime in October tends to have the smallest lost client count because few people want to give up their favorite nail professional right before the holidays,” Schippers says. She recommends raising prices in step with the cost of living, at the very least — say 3%. “It may sound scary to raise your prices, but if you do the math, 3% of $50 is only $1.50. If you make it an annual or bi-annual increase, it will come to be expected and most people won’t think anything of it.”

Schippers advises against instituting an annual price hike in January, however. “A lot of clients are running short on funds after the holidays. This can make someone far more inclined to question the increase — or even the necessity of nail services at all,” she says. “If prices are increased in October, then come January it’s already part of the budget and not something to focus on or fret about.”

Clients should be given a few weeks’ notice before implementing a price increase. “You can let them know in early October and raise prices November 1, or you could make your announcement is early September and raise October 1,” she says.

You can find sample wording for your price increase notice on Schippers’ FingerNailFixer blog at www.nailsmag.com/increasescript.

Staff Writer

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