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Expert: - 2/3/2007


Question
Hi,

I wondered if you might be able to answer what the average commission percentage(out of 100%) for hairdressers in Central NY? I wanted to know and searched, but didn't find anything. The reason for asking is my Mom has a shop(for 25 yrs) and recently she had to cut her employees down on commission from 55% to 45-50%. It's this or go bankrupt. What is surprising to me is that her employees make that much on commission. I don't know any business willing to give you half of what comes in the door. Her employees don't pay booth rent, have all supplies furnished at no cost and are covered insurance/health wise, all in a busy downtown location. So I feel like she was overpaying them to begin with and now it has hurt the business to the point of needing a drastic change. She's always had to scrape to pay the bills and hasn't been able to pay herself lately. Do you have any knowledge about this kind of info? Thanks for your time.

Answer
Hairdressers here in New Hampshire start either at 45-50% and stay usually at 50-55%.
This seems to be a good system. Commission only so if you don't do any haircuts for 2 days then you make nothing, which is a downside.
A 50%commission is normal protocall for this area. You may want to check other eareas to see if it is the same.

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Michelle Dunn

Expertise

As one of the Top 5 Women in Collections, one of the Top 50 Collection Professionals, and winner of the Business Excellence award, I can answer any questions about debt, debt collection, improving business credit, creating a credit policy, enforcing a credit policy and collecting on past due accounts. I can also answer questions in regards to starting a debt collection agency since I have been a bill collector for over 24 years, started and ran my own collection agency for 8 years, and maintain my 12 year old Credit & Collections Association for members of the credit & debt collection industry. I am also the author of the popular and award winning book "Starting a Collection Agency, how to make money collecting money" now on it's 3rd edition. This book has won a the Writers Digest self published award as well as the New York Book Festival Award. I am a repeat contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and have been featured on NPR, CNN, as well as many other national radio and television programs. I have also been featured in national publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Smart Money, MSNBC and much more. I have 17 published books to my name and am an accomplished speaker and consultant. I currently write 9 columns for newspapers, magazines and online portals worldwide.

Experience

I have over 24 years experience in debt collection, I started and ran my own collection agency for 8 years and I am the founder & owner of my Credit & Collections Association that I founded in 1998. www.credit-and-collections.com

Organizations
My Credit & Collections Association, I was also a member of the American Collectors Association and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce for 11 years. I am a member of many writing groups as well as my local Women Inspiring Women chapter. I am a member of Know More Media as an expert for their blog on business credit.

Publications
Business NH Magazine, Smart Money Magazine, MSNBC, CNN, Forbes.com, The Wall Street Journal, Home Business Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine and website, many books, newspapers and television programs as well.

Education/Credentials
I have written 17 books in my collecting money series and one for Entrepreneur Press called the Ultimate Credit and Collections Handbook. My newest book is being published by John Wiley & Sons in May titled, The Guide to Getting Paid, how to weed out bad paying customers, collect on past due balances and avoid bad debt. This book is also being sold to many colleges as a text book.

Awards and Honors
My book Starting a Collection Agency, how to make money collecting money won an award from Writers Digest and the 2007 New York Book Festival in the "How to" category. I have won 2 awards from Dun & Bradstreet and Governor Jean Shaheen. I was nominated as one of the Top 5 Women in Collections twice as well as having been selected as one of Collection Advisor's Top 50 Collection Professionals by my peers.

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