I run a 3-chair salon and rent is 18% of revenue — is that too high?

Rent is a fixed cost, so the percentage is really a measure of how full the building is. The same lease at 18% in a half-empty salon can be 11% in a full one. Before negotiating with a landlord or looking at a move, work out what the chairs you already pay for are producing per open hour.

Chair-hours are the unit that matters. Three chairs open 45 hours a week is about 585 chair-hours a month. On £20,000 of revenue that is roughly £34 per available chair-hour. Getting to 12% occupancy at the same rent needs about £51 per chair-hour, which comes from filling empty slots and from price, not from working the same hours harder.

An underused chair is the most direct lever. If one of the three chairs sits empty for a large share of the week, renting it to a self-employed stylist converts dead floor space into a fixed weekly income that goes straight against the rent line, with no wage cost attached.

Moving is the last option, not the first. A move costs a fit-out, disrupts the client book and resets the lease clock, and a cheaper unit in a weaker location often loses more walk-in and repeat trade than it saves in rent.