Choose the leak you are checking today

This checklist exists because hiring is the most expensive way to solve a problem that was never a staffing problem.

Role economics

• You have written down what this person must produce weekly for the role to pay for itself
• You have used your own chair-hour figure, not an industry number you read somewhere
• You know what happens to that arithmetic in a quiet month

Capacity need

• You are turning away work you would want, repeatedly, at times you would want to work
• The diary is full of the right mix, not full of underpriced hours
• You have checked whether a price change or a menu change solves it first

Employment model

• Employed, self-employed, booth rent or commission — chosen deliberately, and correct where you are Worker classification is a legal question with real consequences. Check locally before you agree anything.
• Pay structure written down in numbers, including what happens to product and tips

Written responsibilities

• The role is described in observable behaviour, not adjectives
• What is handled by Friday of week one is written down
• Standards are stated as things that happen, at a time, recorded somewhere

Onboarding time

• You have blocked your own hours for training, and priced the loss of those hours
• Someone other than you can answer the ordinary questions

Demand

• The new person’s column has a plan for being filled that is not “we’ll see”
• Existing clients have a reason to book with someone new

Payroll and cash buffer

• You can pay this person for the ramp-up months from money you already have
• Employer costs, cover, holiday and equipment are in the number

Local obligations

• Registration, insurance, licensing and payroll obligations confirmed locally before the first shift

Your first fix is ______ because it affects ______

Permits and advice

• Licensing, registration and inspection requirements confirmed with the actual body, in writing
• An accountant has seen your numbers before you sign anything

Lease

• Term, break clause, rent reviews, service charge and what happens at the end, read by someone qualified
• What you are allowed to change, and what you must put back
• Water, drainage, ventilation and power confirmed as adequate for the services you will actually offer

Fit-out

• Quoted, with a contingency you have written down as a number
• A date the space is usable, and what you do if that date moves by six weeks

Utilities

• Accounts opened, meters read, and standing costs added to the monthly fixed number

Insurance

• Public liability, treatment, contents, and anything your services specifically require — checked locally

Booking and payment

• Booking system chosen, tested on a phone, and loaded with your real menu
• Card payments, deposits and refunds tested with a real transaction before day one

Suppliers

• Two suppliers for anything you cannot work without
• Product cost per service calculated, not estimated

Menu economics

• Every service priced from your own hourly figure and your own product cost
• The appointment length in the booking system matches how long the service actually takes

Soft opening

• A quiet week with real clients before you announce anything
• A way to collect what went wrong that is not you remembering it later

Cash plan

• Months of fixed costs covered before the first client, written as a number and a date
• The month you will re-check the plan, in the diary now

Your first fix is ______ because it affects ______

Nine steps. Walk one real booking through all nine and mark where she has to think.

Discovery

• She can find you by the service she wants, not only by your salon name
• What she finds first says what you do and where you are

Choice

• A first-timer can identify the right service in under a minute
• Nothing on the list requires her to already be a client to understand it

Price

• She knows the number before she commits her time
• Additions are priced, and she knows which ones might apply to her

Confirmation

• Arrives immediately, with date, time, service, price, address and policy

Reminder

• Sent far enough ahead that she can still move it inside the notice window
• Contains a way to change the appointment that does not require a phone call

Arrival

• She can find the door, and somebody speaks to her within a minute of it opening

Consultation

• Somebody asks what she liked and did not like last time
• The safety question is asked and the answer is written down

Checkout

• The total contains no number she is hearing for the first time

Rebooking

• She is asked, in words, with two named options, every visit
• Whether she said yes, no or later is recorded

Your first fix is ______ because it affects ______

Almost every no-show policy that fails, fails at the same place: the client never actually agreed to it, and the salon applies it unevenly.

Clear terms

• One notice window, one charge, one rule for a missed appointment — written in plain sentences
• The same numbers appear on the booking page, the confirmation and the reminder

Visible agreement

• She agrees to the terms at the moment of booking, and the system records that she did
• Nothing in the policy is discoverable only after a fee has been charged

Reminders

• One reminder outside the notice window, one inside it
• Both make it easy to move the appointment rather than only to keep it

Easy contact

• There is a way to tell you she cannot come that takes fifteen seconds and no courage

Deposit handling

• What is taken, when, what it is applied to, and what happens on a cancellation — in writing Card-on-file and deposit rules depend on your payment provider and your local consumer law. Check both.

Consistent exceptions

• One person decides exceptions
• The reason for every exception is written down at the time

Record

• Missed appointments are recorded against the booking, with the contact attempt and the outcome
• You can answer “how many did we lose last month, and to whom” without guessing

Recovery message

• A warm message goes out the same day, mentioning the policy once as fact
• A second one goes out if there is no reply, offering two named times

Your first fix is ______ because it affects ______