SirenSpas
New Member
I own a nail salon with two employees. Recently, both of them went shopping for more nail salon supplies as we needed hand lotion and nail files and they wanted to visit a new bulk store right by their house. I told them to keep their receipts so that I could reimburse them. The problem is that they went absolutely wild and bought $300 worth of stuff. Quite frankly, it's a combination of stuff that won't bring increased profit to the store and overbuying needed items. Like floating soap in the shape of rose petals, Gucci logo nail stickers, fancier tools for themselves, and 400 pedicure bath bombs (which is the amount we would use over to years). The things we did need, like the lotion, they bought without price shopping when they could have gotten it cheaper at our normal supplier.
On one hand, I simply don't have the money to pay them back. Finances have been beyond tight since the pandemic and I'm pulling from my savings to keep the lights on. I also don't feel like paying for fancy soap that I didn't even ask for when it won't bring increased profits.
On the other hand, my business would be nothing without them. Both of them have been hired for less than two months and they have brought in more customers than my last three employees combined. Good nail techs are very hard to find in this city and I hesitate to offend them and risk them looking for work elsewhere when they would be so hard to replace.
So ultimately, this leads to several questions that I would like to hear from experienced business owners.
1)Should I reimburse them in full?
2) Should I only reimburse for the needed things that they bought vast amounts of without price shopping? How do I decide what's needed versus what is not needed. Some of the purchases are a grey area, such as nail gems. Which, they weren't needed, but if we do sell them, they'll be worth the purchase.
3) If I don't reimburse them, what's the gentlest phrasing I can use to explain that I didn't approve of this and they'll have to pay for their mistakes themselves?
On one hand, I simply don't have the money to pay them back. Finances have been beyond tight since the pandemic and I'm pulling from my savings to keep the lights on. I also don't feel like paying for fancy soap that I didn't even ask for when it won't bring increased profits.
On the other hand, my business would be nothing without them. Both of them have been hired for less than two months and they have brought in more customers than my last three employees combined. Good nail techs are very hard to find in this city and I hesitate to offend them and risk them looking for work elsewhere when they would be so hard to replace.
So ultimately, this leads to several questions that I would like to hear from experienced business owners.
1)Should I reimburse them in full?
2) Should I only reimburse for the needed things that they bought vast amounts of without price shopping? How do I decide what's needed versus what is not needed. Some of the purchases are a grey area, such as nail gems. Which, they weren't needed, but if we do sell them, they'll be worth the purchase.
3) If I don't reimburse them, what's the gentlest phrasing I can use to explain that I didn't approve of this and they'll have to pay for their mistakes themselves?