# 347 There Is No Perfect Salon Pay System (And That's the Problem)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/grow-my-salon-business-podcast-758002/347-there-is-no-perfect-salon-pay-system-and-that-s-the-problem
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/grow-my-salon-business-podcast-758002/347-there-is-no-perfect-salon-pay-system-and-that-s-the-problem.md
Podcast: [Grow My Salon Business Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/grow-my-salon-business-podcast-758002)
Published: 2026-05-12T09:22:53+00:00
Episode link: https://growmysalonbusiness.com/podcast/347
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/546165fb/cb9a5121.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/grow-my-salon-business-podcast-758002/episodes/347-there-is-no-perfect-salon-pay-system-and-that-s-the-problem
Duration seconds: 951

## Resource

How you pay your salon team is one of the most confusing decisions you'll make as a salon owner. Salon owners often compare pay structures with other salons, copying what seems to be working elsewhere. But the real problem isn't which pay system you're using. It's that most salon owners have never stopped to ask what a good pay system actually needs to do. In this episode, I cut through the noise around salon pay structures and explain why there is no universal right answer. Instead, I walk through the fundamentals of salon pay structures and why understanding your own numbers matters far more than benchmarking against the salon down the road. By the end of this episode, you'll have a clear framework for evaluating your own pay structure, a benchmark worth knowing when it comes to employee costs, and a clearer understanding of whether your pay structure is working for the business or against it. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN Why copying another salon's pay structure without understanding your own numbers is a recipe for financial stress The one test that tells you instantly if your pay system is broken Why staff retention problems aren't always about money, and what actually drives people to leave The 40% benchmark for employee costs, what it means, and when exceptions apply How to build a pay structure that is simple, transparent, and trusted by your whole team IN THIS EPISODE: [00:00] Introduction: The question every salon owner worries about [00:26] Why salon pay is one of the biggest sources of confusion in the industry [01:00] The dangerous myth of a perfect universal pay system [01:32] Who this episode is and isn't for: employed income-producing staff only [02:07] The seminar exercise that reveals how different every salon's system really is [03:02] When your pay structure i…

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## Transcript

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