Ask any salon owner which service matters most and they'll point at the keratin treatments. Always booked. Always requested. The signature service.
Then run the actual numbers and find out the keratin earns KES 190 per appointment — while the humble wash-and-treatment combo, the one nobody brags about, clears KES 610 per sitting.
Popularity and profitability are different competitions. Confusing them is the most common money leak in the beauty business.
How do you calculate a service's true profit?
Take these away from the service price:
- Product cost — everything consumed: colour, developer, foils, oils
- Staff time cost — the commission or the wage-hour it consumes
- The invisible cost — basin time that blocks another booking
A quick worked example, both services at the same salon:
Keratin Treatment — KES 6,500
- Product cost: KES 2,800 (the treatment itself is expensive)
- Staff time: 3 hours at commission = KES 2,340
- Product used elsewhere while the basin's tied up…
- Contribution: roughly KES 1,360 — about 21% margin
Wash + Treatment Combo — KES 1,800
- Product cost: KES 220
- Staff time: 45 minutes = KES 585
- Contribution: roughly KES 995 — about 55% margin
The keratin looks like the star because the number is bigger. But two wash-and-treatment clients in the same three hours — KES 1,990 contribution — beats one keratin, uses less stock, and leaves your colourist free for a full-colour booking that actually pays.
What questions reveal your profitable services?
Pull these five numbers per service:
- Revenue per service (price × bookings — not just bookings)
- Product cost per service
- Staff time and commission per service
- Repeat rate — do clients come back for it?
- Overall contribution to monthly revenue
What do you do once you know?
Three moves:
- Reprice or rework the low-margin stars. Maybe keratin needs a price bump, a cheaper product line, or a shorter protocol — not a farewell.
- Merchandise the winners. The high-margin combo belongs on your Instagram, your booking menu and your reception counter.
- Watch the mix monthly. Margins shift as product prices move. The service that's golden in March can quietly become a loss-leader by September.
How Podium makes this automatic
Podium records the products used on every service ticket — so product cost per service calculates itself from real usage, not estimates. Revenue per service, per staff member, per month sits on your dashboard, and service-level reports show exactly where your money is made.
The maths this article asks you to do once by hand, Podium does continuously in the background.
Frequently asked questions
Should I just delete my low-margin services?Rarely. Low-margin services often bring clients in the door. Fix the margin — price, product or time — before cutting anything.
How often should I review service profitability?Monthly for the top ten services. Podium's reports make it a five-minute review.
Where do I find product costs per service?They're recorded on each service ticket automatically as products are used — the exact amounts, not guesswork.
Want to see your true margin per service without building a spreadsheet? Book a demo and bring your price list.
