How do I check a hair salon’s colour product ordering and waste habits?

Start with the invoices for the last year. Which colour lines does the salon buy, from whom, and how often? Set the totals beside the number of colour services in the booking system. A rough link between the two shows the shop is controlled. A loose link prompts questions.

Then look at habits in the back room. Are tubes and bottles stored neatly, dated and counted? Do stylists weigh or measure colour, and do they record formulas so leftovers are small? Ask what happens with unused mixed colour, and how colour waste is disposed of.

Check stock on hand. Old or expired colour has little use, and a large stock count inflated before the sale might be offered as part of the price. Count it yourself. Ask about supplier terms, volume rebates and any rental or loaned equipment from a supplier that may not transfer to you. Also ask whether the owner places orders or whether stylists order for themselves, because shared ordering without a count is where waste and loss usually begin. Watch a colour service if the owner allows it. How much is mixed, how much is left over and whether the bowl is rinsed or reused will tell you more than the invoices do about the habits you would inherit. Ask what stylists are told about overmixing, and whether anyone has ever been asked to change.

Key takeaways

• Match a year of colour invoices with the number of colour services.
• Look at how colour is measured, recorded, stored and disposed of.
• Count stock yourself and check dates before it is included in a sale.