Base your service price on costs and hours you actually sell, not every hour you spend at work. Add direct materials, allow for your pay and a reserve, then compare the result with the value customers receive and are willing to pay for.
A barber may spend eight hours at the shop but only five with clients. Cleaning, ordering supplies, administration, breaks and empty appointments take up the rest. Dividing monthly costs by every working hour makes a service look cheaper to deliver than it really is.
First calculate the hours you can offer customers after regular administration and breaks. Then apply a realistic booking rate to that capacity. Allow for holidays and seasonal demand over a longer period rather than using your busiest week as the baseline.
Count each expense once. Do not add your pay separately if it is already in running costs. The same applies to staff costs and materials. Teams with different cost structures may need separate hourly rates and a considered allocation of overheads.
This planning model suits a simple, owner-operated business:
Include essential preparation and cleanup in the appointment duration if they prevent another booking. If you already deducted that time from available capacity, do not include it again.
These figures are an invented example, not market averages or recommended barber prices. All versions retain the same euro-based model; this is not a local price benchmark.
| Input | Example |
|---|---|
| Monthly running costs | €1,200 |
| Monthly owner pay target | €1,800 |
| Monthly reserve | €300 |
| Available monthly hours | 120 |
| Booking rate | 75% |
| Time per service, including blocked time | 45 minutes |
| Materials per service | €3 |
You sell 120 × 0.75 = 90 hours. The monthly target is €3,300, so the required contribution is €3,300 ÷ 90 = about €36.67 per hour.
Service price: (€3,300 ÷ 90) × 0.75 + €3 = €30.50.
Round the final result, not the intermediate calculations.
At 120 such appointments, revenue is €3,660. After €360 in materials, €3,300 remains for the planned items. That is not €3,300 in net profit.
The example excludes VAT and does not calculate tax. Businesses unable to recover VAT should use the costs they actually bear. The €1,800 pay target is not automatically take-home income. Confirm your cost basis, taxes and contributions with your accountant.
| Booking rate | Sold hours | Model price |
|---|---|---|
| 40% | 48 | €54.56 |
| 60% | 72 | €37.38 |
| 75% | 90 | €30.50 |
| 80% | 96 | €28.78 |
This is not an instruction to charge €54.56 when your calendar is quiet. It shows that the current combination of demand, capacity, costs and price does not meet your target. Consider better utilisation, a different service scope, lower overheads or a higher price supported by customer value.
A trainer targeting €2,400 a month across running costs, pay and reserve offers 100 hours and sells 60%. The hourly contribution is €40. A one-hour session with €5 in direct costs gives a model price of €45. Include venue hire either in monthly overheads or per-session costs according to how it is charged, not both.
The model gives you a starting point. Expertise, location, demand, scope and customer outcomes also matter. Compare equivalent services: a quick cut without washing is different from a consultation, wash, cut and styling.
Before offering a discount, calculate what remains after direct costs. A discount may fill a particular gap, but if it becomes your regular price, the original plan may no longer work.
Once your price list is ready, customers should see both the price and duration when booking. Fulpio connects these details with staff and time selection.
This is a demonstration profile in Slovak, not a customer testimonial. Explore Fulpio for product details.
No. With a cost of €20 and a price of €24, the markup is 4 ÷ 20 = 20%, while the margin is 4 ÷ 24 = 16.67%. State which costs your margin includes. Price minus materials is not net profit.
Not automatically. Customers also pay for your expertise and the result. Check whether the saved time really creates another bookable slot and whether scope and quality remain the same.
Review pricing when costs, service duration or booking rates change materially. For a new service, compare estimates with the first completed appointments, then review regularly in line with seasonality.
The calculations are Fulpio’s illustrative planning model. The Slovak guide Základy podnikania explains the general principle of allowing for costs and your own work. It is not used as a source of current tax rules. The cover is an AI-generated illustration.
