Hi salon geeks,

I am training to be a beauty therapist and almost qualified, the problem being is lots of my friends and family and any other random person are saying i can practice on them if i need to. I began practicing on people without charging them for any products but as time has gone by i am becoming better at what i do and i am almost qualified but everyone still wants their treatments for free because they think they are doing me a favour! I have spent a fortune on products but no-one seems to want to pay, my mates seem to think i should do treatments at mates rates, what does everyone else do?

Just tell them that as your products are costing you money & you are going to need the time to devote to paying customers it is no longer commercially viable for you to continue doing free treatments. You must remember that although they were doing you a favour they were also benefitting with free treatments.

Thank you for your advice, once I am qualified and have a price list out do you think I should do mates rates or charge everyone the same? Seen as most of my clients are mates at the moment I wont make much money if I charge them all mates rates!, Its just I feel a bit mean charging full price, do I just need to toughen up?

I don't do any mate rates full stop - toughen up is the answer! Seriously though, how many of your friends would take a discounted hourly rate from their employers?

i agree ur still got to get products when u finish doing the freebys they no you are capable and ur time product cost start charging for the treatments they want coz otherwise they will take advantage forget the mates rates u r a professional so charge accordingly good luck and stick to ur guns

It's a shame we dont know this is how it will end up before we start out practising on them lol. I got really p'd off with my mates wanting everything for free. Give them a price list and say now that you are qualified then here are your prices and because your my friend you will get x amount off.
xxx