If you are a lash artist, you are also an entrepreneur. One of the fundamentals of running a successful business is making profits. You may have just started your lash business and are growing your loyal clientele, or you are an established lash artist expanding your business; either way, as an enterprise, you need to review your finances to assess if you are making worthwhile profits. It is a red flag if you are just breaking even or have not had an increase in your earnings from the last few years.
Has your revenue stagnated? If your answer is yes, it is time you implement a well-planned strategy to up your prices. It may not be the easiest step to take, and one of the challenging aspects may be dealing with your clients and the fear of losing them. Don’t fret! Here is a 101 guide to help you decide the right time to take the plunge and how to seamlessly plan through reviewing your finances, increasing your service fees, and gently breaking it to your clients. Let’s go!
How to evaluate if your lash services need a price increase
Let’s face it, lashing is no mean feat. It requires an immense amount of concentration, perseverance, dedication, practice, and love for the art to make you do a perfect set of lashes, and you also learn to be more efficient with time. As a beginner, you may have started at lower rates, but as you grow, so should your clientele. You may want to expand your business or need a helping hand; if you are confident in your skills and have developed a friendship with your clients or loyal clients, it is a reiteration of your success. This also means you need to increase your prices.
Some other helpful tips:
- Do market research on your competitors in your area; if you think you are charging a considerably lesser amount than them, it is time you value your skills more and consider a price increase.
- If you want to find work-life balance and reduce the number of clients, this would be an excellent time to review your clientele. Most lash artists love their job but burning yourself out with back-to-back appointments or dealing with demanding clients can rob you of your joy. Filter out the clients you think are not worth your time and choose the clients you know believe in quality and have confidence in you. Remember working smarter is the key, not harder.
- As a lash artist, you always look to improve your job. You may have upskilled and learned to do a new style of lashes, relocated to a better suburb, upgraded the quality of your products, or won an award that should confirm that you need to value your expertise more and consider a revision of your service prices.
- Do you manage your finances independently or have a financial advisor? Either way, it is time for you to get all the numbers out on the table and assess your balance sheet. With the prevailing pandemic and inflation, are you making enough profits? Because if you are not, it is time you reassessed and got your balance sheet leaning on the black.
Do market research on your competitors in your area; if you think you are charging a considerably lesser amount than them, it is time you value your skills more and consider a price increase.
If you want to find work-life balance and reduce the number of clients, this would be an excellent time to review your clientele. Most lash artists love their job but burning yourself out with back-to-back appointments or dealing with demanding clients can rob you of your joy. Filter out the clients you think are not worth your time and choose the clients you know believe in quality and have confidence in you. Remember working smarter is the key, not harder.
As a lash artist, you always look to improve your job. You may have upskilled and learned to do a new style of lashes, relocated to a better suburb, upgraded the quality of your products, or won an award that should confirm that you need to value your expertise more and consider a revision of your service prices.
Do you manage your finances independently or have a financial advisor? Either way, it is time for you to get all the numbers out on the table and assess your balance sheet. With the prevailing pandemic and inflation, are you making enough profits? Because if you are not, it is time you reassessed and got your balance sheet leaning on the black.
When should you increase your price?
Imagine your client comes to an appointment, and you spring the new price list on them? Would you expect them to continue with them? No, right? Increasing your price, especially to an existing client base, can be precarious. It would be best if you did some prior planning and put a proper strategy in place. The holiday season is a great time to increase your salon price. Research indicates the holiday season creates a ‘buyer brain.’ During the festive season, customers are happy and have a to-do list to tick off. They are mentally more focused on the tasks to be completed than on the purchase itself. Start having conversations when your clients start to make their appointments for the holiday season. You will be surprised how you may not have to try as hard to get them into the fold.
How much should you increase?
The first step is to factor in your breakeven cost for each year which will include your rent, utilities, supplies, insurance, marketing, and other expenses (for example, $10,000). Following that, you need to calculate the working hours you want to invest every month. For example, let’s assume you are seeing clients 8 hours and 5 days a week.
- 40 X 4= 160 hours per month
Based on this, calculate your cost per hour and minute.
- Cost per hour = running cost per month(10,000) / hours per month (160 hours) = 62.5
- Divide the number of hours per month by 60 to get the cost per minute
- Cost per minute = 62.5/ 60 = 1.04
Imagine 1.04 as the cost you incur per minute in doing your client’s lashes.
Now calculate how much you need to charge your clients per minute to earn your profit.
Your per-minute rate needs to be greater than your cost per minute (i.e., greater than $1.04).
To work on how much you want to increase, you must factor in the profit margin you want to make. On average, it can range from 2% to 20%. Consider the time you are investing, the products you are using, the service you are providing etc.
Calculate your cost per minute by adding your profit margin percentage to your cost per minute. Further, multiply that with each lashing session to calculate your service cost.
- Per minute rate = cost per minute (1.04) + profit margin (10%) = 1.14
- Service cost = per minute rate (1.14) X lash session time (60 mins) = $68.40
Your service cost would be the amount you would be charging your clients.
Similarly, you can calculate the selling price for your retail range.
How to tell your clients?
This could be one of the most complex parts of your transition to your new price point. When booking your clients for the next session, inform them about the latest price list. Adding value to their loyalty card can be an excellent way to slowly coax them into accepting the price change. For example, add a free lash cleaning session or inform them as an appreciation of their loyalty, you would bump up their loyalty points for more rewards in the future.
Avoid emailing them to announce the change, your reason could get lost in translation, and you may lose clients. Instead, communicate one-on-one with them to ensure you are conveying the right message- that you are a business that cares, not one that only focuses on profitability.
If you receive any pushback from your client, reason it out with them, be transparent, and communicate with clarity. Be patient in explaining the change. Do not be afraid of the questions; ensure you stand your ground and do not get intimidated. If a client lashes out on social media, politely reply to them and affirmatively mention your reason for doing that. It may not always be a pleasant experience with a few clients but rest assured, clients who love quality over quantity will stick with you.
Prolong Lash Partner Program is a great way to purchase our products at significant discounts that allows you to make profits as high as 60%. We also provide the support you require to run your business because we constantly endeavour to create an economically independent and supportive lash community. Know your worth and take the path of success.
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