{"id":31940,"date":"2026-06-02T05:39:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T03:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/my-little-salon.local\/non-classe\/the-impact-of-gas-prices-on-at-home-hairdressing\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T05:39:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T03:39:28","slug":"the-impact-of-gas-prices-on-at-home-hairdressing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mylittlesalon.fr\/en\/non-classe\/the-impact-of-gas-prices-on-at-home-hairdressing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Impact of Gas Prices on At-Home Hairdressing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The profession of at-home hairdresser is attracting more and more professionals. Over the past decade, the number of hairdressers working from clients’ homes has grown sharply in France. Freedom to organize your own schedule, closeness with clients, no commercial rent \u2014 the benefits are numerous. But for several years now, one factor has weighed increasingly heavily on the profitability of the business: travel costs.<\/p>\n

As fuel prices regularly spike due to inflation, geopolitical tensions and shifts in oil markets, many professionals are facing a frustrating reality: their revenue is growing, but their net income is stagnating, or even shrinking.<\/p>\n

Online, in groups dedicated to at-home hairdressers, the same questions keep coming up:
“How far can I travel without losing money?”
“Should I raise my prices?”
“How do I justify travel fees to my clients?”
“Is my business still profitable at today’s gas prices?”<\/p>\n

It’s a fair question to ask. Because when a business relies entirely on travel, every kilometer driven has a direct impact on the bottom line.<\/p>\n

In this article, we’ll look at how much a trip really costs, why fuel prices are only part of the problem, and what solutions can help protect your profitability without sacrificing your client base.<\/p>\n

How many kilometers does an at-home hairdresser really travel?<\/h5>\n

This is one of the blind spots of many at-home businesses. You charge for a service, but you often forget to measure the real cost of the trip it takes to deliver it.<\/p>\n

A volume that’s often underestimated<\/h5>\n

An active at-home hairdresser typically completes between 4 and 8 appointments a day, spread across a more or less wide geographic area. Depending on whether you work downtown, in the suburbs or in a rural area, distances can add up quickly.<\/p>\n

In practice, many professionals drive between 600 and 1,500 kilometers every month, sometimes more when working across several towns or distant areas.
Over a full year, that easily adds up to between 10,000 and 18,000 kilometers dedicated solely to the business.<\/p>\n

Why it’s essential to track them<\/h5>\n

Every kilometer driven generates costs: fuel, vehicle maintenance, insurance, unexpected repairs\u2026
Failing to account for these costs means underestimating the real cost of certain services. In the most extreme cases, some far-away appointments can even become barely profitable, or downright a loss.<\/p>\n

The first step is to precisely track your travel using an app, a logbook, or a simple spreadsheet.<\/p>\n

Fuel, a cost that keeps rising<\/h5>\n

Long seen as a secondary expense, fuel has become one of the main cost items for mobile professionals.<\/p>\n

Every new price hike at the pump mechanically shrinks the margin earned on services. Unlike a traditional hair salon that receives clients on-site, an at-home hairdresser can’t cut out the travel that’s an integral part of the job.
This dependency makes the profession particularly sensitive to fluctuations in gas and diesel prices.<\/p>\n

Calculating your real travel cost<\/h5>\n

Let’s take the example of a professional who drives 1,000 kilometers a month in a vehicle that consumes 6.5 liters per 100 kilometers.<\/p>\n