Home hairdressing pros and cons

Home hairdressing has many advantages and disadvantages. It provides the advantage of not having to leave home in order to go to work. This means it can save you money on childcare and meals, as well as save you valuable time. Working from home also gives you the advantage of being able to spend the time in between appointments taking care of more personal business or spending more time with family and friends. It also removes the expenses and hassles of commuting back and forth to work.

Another advantage is that you’ll not have to be constantly transporting your equipment around. You can select one area of your home and dedicate it to being your work area. Basically, you can control the entire work environment, including pricing, atmosphere, which products to use, and what services to provide.

Although these are all good reasons, they can turn into being the very reasons why not to work from home. If you have young children or pets, you will need to ensure they will not interfere with your work or annoy your customers in any way. You’ll also need to not let personal matters distract you from performing your work and managing your business on a professional level.

You’ll probably want to limit your customers to just people you personally know, or to those who have been referred to you by trustworthy customers, friends, and relatives. Otherwise, you may be placing your entire family and property in potential danger from unknowingly inviting criminals into your home. These customer restrictions may force you to charge higher prices, or lower your potential income.

Moreover, you may have to limit appointments to a time schedule that easily fits into your family’s home life. This may mean not scheduling appointments on weekends and evenings, when your family is most likely to be home. Since most people use home hairdressers for the convenience of having weekend and evening appointments, you may lose a lot of customers due to the appointment time limitations.

Another thing to consider is the increased cost of your home’s utility bills and insurance premiums. You’ll be using much more electricity and water, as well as have an increase in sewage waste. How well can your home and local utility companies handle the increased usage? By law, you must have adequate insurance coverage to protect your customers and their property, as well as to protect yourself, your family, and your property.

You’ll also need to ensure you’ve obtained any necessary licenses and permits, and are obeying all the laws and regulations for operating a home-based business in your area. Many areas have special codes for hairdressing. Moreover, your home will have to meet high health and safety standards at all times, so it will have to be kept very clean.

You may have to keep your children, pets, and anyone who smokes out of the selected work area. You’ll also have to safely secure and properly dispose of products that contain any potentially dangerous chemicals or waste hazards. You may also have to remodel your home to make it roomy enough to make a separate work area or to make it more accessible to the handicapped customers.