Salary of a Beauty Therapist

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Well this is how I would do things.First I would not be employing any staff at all,I would have to be a one man band,then when I have a good client base I would look at employing 1 member of staff,this way I could and would pay her what she actually deserves.
And this is what we are doing? so why are we in the wrong.
You wouldn't not employ, I don't believe you... the hours you have to work you don't don't understand you can not do them for ever.
You will have to be on a minimum wage when you start your gym instructor cause because you are new to the job and inexperienced,we are not so why should we have to settle for crappy wages?.
No, you absolutly WRONG.
I have a friend who cycled for England, fully qualified and very experianced... he still only pulls min wage (on a 40 hours week self employed) working for a big gym chain... you're still jumping to conclusions.
how do you think the therapist and his/her therapist suffer with a min wage coming into the house?
The same as we do... now do you see the point?
Just because we are employers, doesn't make us rich.
As a self employed person do you realise that we don't even HAVE a min wage?
I would actually think they would 100% agree with what I have said.
see post above yours - it's not all about JUST money for some people.

It's still down to supply and demand... this is not a high earning profession and it's not a high profit margin type of business.
You looking at it through rose tinted glasses.
You pay what you can, if you can not pay anymore... then you can not pay anymore... you can not give what you do not have.
 
Yes people want to work in salons how many get told that they will be working on minimum wage on their first day at college ?
now that would be a problem, they colleges should show the student the jobs papers and real advets to show them the going rate.
My local college is really good, the students know and are prepared to work up the ladder.
Hardly any therapists that i trained with are still working in the industry as the money is so crap.
yep, agree same with nursing IMHO - it's a problem.
whats the solution though? small salon are rarely greedy IMO, they just don't all make enough money to pay wages equivilant to office work and such like, my salon certainly doesn't.
but one day it will, as I said it's all about having a plan, yearly performance reveiws and investing in people, staff development will set us apart from the one track minded salons where money is the only insentive, proper career progression is the way forward, if we grow they grow with us.
maybe you could train to do beauty & see if you think minimum wage is adequate ?
ah, at this point we are not reading from the same paper, you have made the same mistake as others who seem to apply blame to the emploeer without a thoiught for the bigger picture.
Spa's can afford to pay more... small business it's not so easy.
Spare cash only comes with your business growinng, it doesn't just appear it has to come from somewhere.

In my case... my wage will simply being handed over to my employee... I can not give any more as I don't have it to give.

Don't forget, the business owners don't have min wage o help them.
If you work out the hours put in it probably doesn't even meet min wage.
But with new business you have to go the extra mile.

Just because we are owners doesn't make us better off.
It's not as easy as you think.
 
Good luck Jom,hope your business grows and grows.Cant say anymore.:wink2:
 
thankyou BABSann.

sorry about what happened to your thread katexx, my only point was about the big pool of labour supply and demands having a affect on wages!!! LOL
went off on a huge tangent, sorry for my part
 
Dont be sorry its great to have such an in-depth debate to read about. There are always two sides to everything (cliche i know but true) and for what its worth, I think you all made valid points at times and we can take away what we want from all this. Thanks from me!
 
Well i have a couple of salons and pay £6.50 to a newly qualified therapist (i.e less than 2 yrs experience) with increases from there for more experience. I know that most salons pay around that mark unless you have a big client list to brong with you.
 
all that will happen from this is poor salon wages = more people going it alone!
i work a full time job and part time in my home salon i am hoping over the next few months i will be doing my home salon job full time give up the day job and stop paying 2 lots of tax for a start...but by doing it alone the money is there and if its your own business you look after your clients better...
paying minimum wage with no bonus or incentives will result it staff rushing thier work and not really caring for the clients! so many shops open and a few months later they close down?! why is this? the clients are out there theres by far more people on ratio to salons ....alot of salons imo (and in my area) that have closed down is more due to the lack of care for the clients yes the shops look great but employing a couple of young girls to work for nothing and expect them to basically run the shop is a disaster waiting to happen....
 
all that will happen from this is poor salon wages = more people going it alone!
i work a full time job and part time in my home salon i am hoping over the next few months i will be doing my home salon job full time give up the day job and stop paying 2 lots of tax for a start...but by doing it alone the money is there and if its your own business you look after your clients better...
paying minimum wage with no bonus or incentives will result it staff rushing thier work and not really caring for the clients! so many shops open and a few months later they close down?! why is this? the clients are out there theres by far more people on ratio to salons ....alot of salons imo (and in my area) that have closed down is more due to the lack of care for the clients yes the shops look great but employing a couple of young girls to work for nothing and expect them to basically run the shop is a disaster waiting to happen....

I agree with this 100%

Something to bear in mind salon owners that pay minimum wage, is that the girls you employ may bite your hand off to get the job initially but once they've gained some training, experience and clients they will be off to a better salon with better wages or will work for themselves.

I should know as myself & lots of other girls did it at the salon i first worked at !

I think there is some great advice on this thread and if stops just one salon owner exploiting their staff then thats fantastic !! :green:
 
But once they've gained some training, experience and clients they will be off to a better salon with better wages or will work for themselves
Depends how you define "better" if that's just a finacial thing then yeah, your going to loose those people if they are not willing to wait for the company to develop and develop with the company.
If the company is lucky enough to go big, but they bailed early, it's there loss.

As said by other members, 2 sides to every coin.

The employers side:
The employer would only want loyal and commited people in there business, your people are your company.
People who are willing to help build the foundations become part of the structure.

Now the employees side:
It's the point when your employer doesn't have a development plan for you and doesn't ask where you see yourself in the next 5 years, you have no visable career progression.
This is easy to do with KPI's and attainable incramental targets.
Doesn't give you a way forward this this is where you would start loosing what I would see as valued employees.
In this case, it's the companies loss.
 
The employers side:
The employer would only want loyal and commited people in there business, your people are your company.
People who are willing to help build the foundations become part of the structure.

The only problem with this is that the salon at the end of the day belongs to the owner not the therapist employed, she will be building up your business (which will take a good 3 years to become very established) with little gain and no assurance that when you are doing well that you will raise his/her pay or keep him/her on. The loyalty and commitment I am afraid comes with insentives and rewards not with promise of a £1.50 pay rise in 3 yrs time. I thought when you opened a business you put the budgeting for staff into your business plan before you open to assure you can pay your staff a fair wage. :lol:

This is just my opinion though everyone has the right to run their business with their own acumen.
 
No, 1st priority of the business is to breakeven.
Budgeting for staff is done on a forcast in your business plan very early stages of initial setup.
A fair wage to an employer is whatever the business can afford to pay, if there's no more money in the pot then you have to do the best with what you have got.

It probably would take 3 years to become very established but a 3 year target wouldn't be what I called...
attainable incramental targets
... ^^^ shown on your KPI's.
You would start by assessing yourself (as a business entity) and see where you saw yourself in 5 years and set your own targets.
These would be rolled out to your staff so they know what your are aiming for.
You would tell them where they fit in as key people in your organisation who by meeting there realistic/attainable incremental targets would contribute to you reaching your own long term plan.

These incremental targets would give your employee time to display there loyalty and commitment.
If they are meeting the targets, then they would be helping develop your business and as such they would be developing with the business...
build the foundations become part of the structure
... meaning for them - career progression, promotion, finacial gain would naturally come along with this and the extra responsibility of the job.
And the revenue would be there to pay them because your business has grown.


In 3 years your company if it went exceptionally well, could have 3 salons open!!!
Career progression for the right people could be very fast.
 
So we have £12 turnover take away £4.80 (or more) = £7.20
Lets say you pay yourself (the owner min wage) = £5.35
Leaves you with = £1.85 to cover all the TAX, insurance, energy bills, equipment, stock, consumables, your own nat ins contributions, your mortageg, your food, your kids clothes, your petrol etc etc
Your business is you personal survival... you just do not have the amount of spare cash you obviously think is available to spend on staff overheads.
This is what I don't understand, taking a wage but then using the business profits for personal expenses. Surely those profits would be better used for salon.

If you feel justified in only paying minnimum wage that is your choice & I'm not going to make judgement on that. My only point is that there is then no incentive for the therapist to give their all to your salon. As a therapist why would you go all out to promote a salon, do alot of retail & encourage return business, if there is nothing in it for you.
 
A fair wage to an employer is whatever the business can afford to pay, if there's no more money in the pot then you have to do the best with what you have got.

Although this is obviously the attitude of many employers, (I am not saying it is not the usual business practice) it just makes no sense to me. How someone gets their business up and running to a decent standard when they can only employ staff straight out of college with little experience to help run the salon (due to salary putting off the more experienced) and expect them to carry your business for you for 3 years on a pittance is beyond me.

If one can not afford to pay their staff a decent wage then as was suggested earlier it would be a good idea to build business up with the owners doing the hard graft as they will be the ones reaping the reward at the end of the day. Then when they can afford to pay someone more experienced who will enrich their business they can do so and then employ trainees e.t.c. as they expand. You would for example not buy in cr*ppy products or broken massage beds, or grubby second hand sunbeds because you couldn't budget for them. Why is the staff salary where the penny pinching comes in? it suggests that they are not such an important commodity. Without the staff the salon would stop making money completely! :eek:

You are earning minimum wage because you are making that sacrifice for the good of your business, knowing that you will eventually make much more and can take the profits when they are up. They are earning minimum wage because you want to use them as a means to an end.
 
Just wanted to add in JOMs defence that I know of quite a few salons that pay below the minimum wage, never mind above the minimum!
 
I know some sweat shops in China where staff are paid £6 a week...no JOM's not so bad (only kidding, I know this is not the same thing) :lol:

I don't want to attack JOM (honest I don't) as he is doing what he feels is best for his family which is understandable. I am just looking at the bigger picture. To be sucessful can mean different thing to different people.

x
 
I have recently returned from living overseas where I had my own buisness (Home based salon) now my husband and I have returned back to the UK.
I am setting up again at home but have a part time job whilst i build my buisness I have 10 years experience and would like to ask how much i should be earning the salon is offering £6.25 an hr with no commition and I feel it is not enough. :eek:

I work in a salon on a 50% commission and I make about $40/hr (canadian). Although I started at the bottom, with jobs that paid only minimum wage and as I gained more experience and more clientele I made more money.
 
This is what I don't understand, taking a wage but then using the business profits for personal expenses. Surely those profits would be better used for salon.

If you feel justified in only paying minnimum wage that is your choice & I'm not going to make judgement on that. My only point is that there is then no incentive for the therapist to give their all to your salon. As a therapist why would you go all out to promote a salon, do alot of retail & encourage return business, if there is nothing in it for you.
LOL it doesn't work like that.
You don't take a wage ... the business profits ARE your wage.
Your business and you are not seperate, they are the same legal entity (unless a ltd company) small salons are normally not limited.
They are known as sole traders, doesn't mean you work on your own, you have employees but it's just the legal term.

Your business is in debt, then you are in debt... your business goes under, the creditors can take your house, your kids playstation everything.
 
Although this is obviously the attitude of many employers, (I am not saying it is not the usual business practice) it just makes no sense to me. How someone gets their business up and running to a decent standard when they can only employ staff straight out of college with little experience to help run the salon (due to salary putting off the more experienced) and expect them to carry your business for you for 3 years on a pittance is beyond me.

If one can not afford to pay their staff a decent wage then as was suggested earlier it would be a good idea to build business up with the owners doing the hard graft as they will be the ones reaping the reward at the end of the day. Then when they can afford to pay someone more experienced who will enrich their business they can do so and then employ trainees e.t.c. as they expand. You would for example not buy in cr*ppy products or broken massage beds, or grubby second hand sunbeds because you couldn't budget for them. Why is the staff salary where the penny pinching comes in? it suggests that they are not such an important commodity. Without the staff the salon would stop making money completely! :eek:

You are earning minimum wage because you are making that sacrifice for the good of your business, knowing that you will eventually make much more and can take the profits when they are up. They are earning minimum wage because you want to use them as a means to an end.
sorry but I will not carry on with this debate.
I have said if you grow they grow, if you earn more they earn more, as you develop they develop.
Doesn't get anymore clearer than that yet your still saying comment like expecting ppl to work on a pitance.
 
I have said if you grow they grow, if you earn more they earn more, as you develop they develop.

I have to agree with this.

I have found that in school, they told us we would be making all this great money, when in reality, we started out at the bottom. Unless you are lucky to get out of school and fall right into a full clientele, then you have to build up from scratch. So that means that when you are new and inexperienced you get paid less then someone who has a lot of experience and clientele. A new salon that cannot afford to pay more than min wage at the beginning is a great place for a newbie to start out at, and as they grow and their client list grow, then so should the pay.
 

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