A salon owner who learned the numbers the hard way.
I'm Stevee Devonda, a salon owner with two salons. Everything on this site started as a problem I had to solve in my own salons, on real wages and real rent. The Australian tools are those same calculators, built on Australian rules for Australian salons.
From our own salon records, before sales tax, 2019/20 against 2025/26. Our own salons' results, not a promise of yours.
Full columns don't mean money in the bank.
Before Iron + Ivy opened, I studied small business management. It gave me disciplines most salons are never taught: knowing what every service really costs, what the team really costs, and what's left once GST, wages, commission, product, leave and overheads have taken their share.
I learnt and developed the skills and knowledge that grew our business through multiple recessions and the cost of living crisis. We made decisions on what the numbers said, not on whether a week felt busy.
Most salon owners are brilliant at hair, at people and at building a beautiful experience. Very few of us were ever taught the commercial side. The tools out there are usually too generic, too complicated, or built by people who have never run a salon. So I built the ones I needed, and now you can use them too.
Your numbers, in your hands. With the right tools and the right knowledge, you can take control of your numbers and grow your business. And if you work with a coach, a mentor or an accountant, you’ll walk in with your figures already worked out, so your time with them goes further.
Steveeco-owner of two hair salons, Iron + Ivy and Revolver
Same chairs, different rules.
Every salon runs on the same floor: the same colour bills, the same rebooking worries, the same quiet Tuesdays. But the money underneath depends on where you are. You have the Hair and Beauty Industry Award with its weekend and public holiday penalty rates, super at 12% on top of every wage, leave loading, GST at 10%, BAS every quarter, public holidays that change by state, and a tax year that starts on 1 July.
A calculator built for another country gets all of that wrong for you, and so does a spreadsheet from the United States. So every Australian tool is built on Australian rules, with the rates in one place that updates for every buyer when they change on 1 July.
Every Australian rate in the tools was checked against Fair Work, the ATO and the state governments, and the rates page shows the date each one was checked. The targets in the tools are our own starting points, not official benchmarks, and you can change every one. If you spot something that doesn't match how it works in your state, tell me and I'll fix it for everyone.
From a business course to two salons
Business training
Before 2019I complete a small business management course and learn the disciplines that still run our salons.
Iron + Ivy opens
2019My partner, Lauren McMurray, starts Iron + Ivy, in one of the most expensive towns around to run a business, and I take on the business side.
A tough year
2020The disciplines hold, and Iron + Ivy’s sales grow 24% over the 2020/21 year.
Revolver opens
November 2024Our second salon: a boutique salon for the locals.
The Numbers Room
2026The tools I built for our salons, rebuilt so any salon, stylist or clinic can use them.
The Australian tools
Opening soonThe same tools, rebuilt again on Australian rates and rules, for salons, stylists and clinics in every state.
Built in our own salons first.
I run our two salons on the first versions of these tools, which I built myself. The Australian ones are the same calculators, rebuilt on Australian rates and rules, so any owner can pick them up and use them without a business degree.
How I think about salon numbers
You're not bad with money
You were never shown the maths. Once you see it, it's not hard. It's just nobody's favourite job.
An answer beats a framework
You don't have time for a twelve week course. You have twenty minutes on a Sunday night. So the tools give you a number and tell you what to do with it.
Kind to people, firm on numbers
A stylist who's under target isn't a problem to be managed. They're a person who needs one clear thing to aim at. The numbers make that conversation easier, not colder.
Your numbers are yours
Nothing you type into a calculator is sent to me. It stays in your browser. I never name clients and I never share anyone's figures.
A note on what this is not
I'm a salon owner, not an accountant, a lawyer or a financial adviser. The tools give you general information to make your own decisions. For tax, awards, employment agreements and anything with legal weight, check with a professional who knows your situation and your state. Good ones will be pleased you turned up with your numbers worked out.
Not sure where to start?
Tell me what's going on in your salon and I'll point you to the right tool. If a free check is all you need, I'll say so.