You bring your creative vision to life every day with your clients – now it's time to apply that creativity to saving some money! Whether you're just starting your business or are looking to switch gears and avoid breaking the bank, we've put together these tips for getting the most bang for your buck.

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1. Recycle & DIY Your Decor

Even if you have an expensive aesthetic, there are ways you can make your space yours without spending tons of money. Look around your living space to see if there's anything you can bring over, like books, plants, and wall hangings.

If you're looking to impress with sophisticated wall art, consider using an open-source database like this one from the Metropolitan Museum of Art – you can download your favorite pieces, then have them printed at an office supply store for cheap. Bonus points if you thrift a picture frame for it!

Finally, you can save or thrift cool glass bottles, jars, and glasses to place around your space, and fill with colorful plants, fruits, or even wax beads.

2. Get the Right Payment Processor

Credit cards are nearly avoidable these days, but the fees to process card payments can add up more than you'd think. Believe it or not, you could be spending more on processing fees than you realize – some processing fees can add up to thousands of dollars of lost profit in a single year.

Protect your earnings by using a payment processor that offers the lowest rates possible while also being safe and secure to use. For example, GlossGenius’s built-in payment processor offers super simple, low rates at 2.6% – no contracts or hidden fees.

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3. Keep a Separate Bank Account

It’s always a good idea to keep your personal finances separate from your business finances. If you want to pay yourself, have the bank transfer money from your business banking account to your personal banking account.

Using a separate account will help you track your expenses more effectively. It will make it easier for you to budget expenses, since it’s easier to see line-for-line what you’re spending money on.

4. Protect Your Time

No-shows and last-minute cancellations are some of the biggest sources of financial loss for beauty and wellness entrepreneurs, but it doesn't have to be this way! There are plenty of strategies you can employ to protect your time – and your money – from delinquent clients and time-wasters.

Cancellation policy

Your cancellation policy will have two components: the cancellation window, and the fee. Your cancellation window should be the amount of time before the appointment that the client should notify you. Usually this window is 24 or 48 hours, but choose the amount of time that will work best for your profession and your schedule.

Then select your cancellation fee. Check your local regulations to see how high of a fee you can charge for last-minute cancellations (in some states, the max you can collect as a fee is 50%), and make sure that clients (especially new clients) are aware of the cancellation policy before they book with you.

Then, if a client cancels their appointment within the cancellation window, they will be charged the fee. Rather than being out the full amount of their service, you can recoup some of that money and spend your time being productive in some other way, like calling clients on your waitlist!

Deposits

We always recommend requiring a deposit for your most expensive, time-consuming services. Different from the cancellation policy, the deposit is collected at the time of booking, and then that deposit gets applied as a discount to the service total during checkout. If the client cancels, you can choose whether you'd like to refund the deposit.

Note: You can set different deposit amounts for different services, so while we recommend using them for your most expensive services, you can do smaller deposits for your less expensive services if you'd like.

Waitlist

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When business is booming, you may have prospective clients blowing up your Instagram DMs asking for an appointment, or you may be booking out months in advance or working overtime to accommodate everyone (look at you, all successful!), but this is a recipe for burning yourself out.

Tons of pros start by jotting down a waitlist with pen and paper, but there is an easier way – when you use an all-in-one, beautiful business management app, you can have a waitlist that's built into your booking site, and even add clients at your discretion. That way, when you have an opening in your schedule, there's no need to flip through scraps of paper or scroll through old DMs – just tap into your waitlist and add another client to stay booked and busy!

5. Get Free Products by Recycling

Several beauty and skincare shops have programs where you can recycle old products in exchange for free or discounted new products. For instance, when you bring in five clean, empty black pots to a LUSH store, they'll give you a free face mask to take home!

Other stores like MAC and Kiehl's have loyalty and recycling programs you can take advantage of to get some free products. Consider joining loyalty programs, especially brands that have professional lines, to get discounts on all your purchases and earn points to redeem even more rewards!

6. Quick Make-up Fixes:

• Fix broken lipstick by using a match or hairdryer to heat it up and reshape.
• Fix broken eyeshadows and pressed powders with some rubbing alcohol.
• To prevent compacts from breaking in your bag, put a cotton ball or round inside.
• Learn how to depot eyeshadows.

Interested in try GlossGenius for your business? Sign up for your free 14-day trial here!

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