Why join a professional association?

[My Gorgeous Bod]

Somewhere I heard that at some point those of us in the beauty industry will be compelled to join a professional trade association. Something to do with standards but I can not remember the source and have tried for a few hours to find anything online or here. And as part of that was the idea that it would be better to join an association sooner rather than later when regulations may compel much stricter criteria. There was also some mention of earning CPD points (Continuing Professional Development) as is done in other industries and the complementary.

From my web-searching I see that The Guild, BABTAC, and APT all promote themselves as professional associations and do insurance but as far as I can see it is the insurance that seems to be the dominant activity with the freebies and special offers thrown in. For insurance purposes not all would accept my range of qualifications as it depends on which of my training providers had paid to be under their name.

I found this old discussion: http://www.salongeek.com/biz-geek/86792-babtac-fht-guild-beauty-therapists-help.html but my question is not about seeking insurance but should we be looking at joining a professional association? And if so, what can they offer me as a mobile beauty therapist (apart from insurance!)?

Thank you for any ideas or thoughts. I am not sure if I have explained myself.

Caroline x

 

[The Guild]

A trade association is generally about being recognised as a professional.

I cannot speak for the other companies mentioned, however, the Guild do everything we can to support our members. Our two directors are experts in treatments and business, so a member can call for advice on any of these subjects.

The 'freebies' we offer are in support of our members. Discounts on credit card payments, Yellow Pages advertising, classified ads and web design services are all there to help you push your business further. We also run voucher schemes and national promotions to drive clients to your business.

You can also advertise that you are a member of a trade association to your clients.

"For insurance purposes not all would accept my range of qualifications as it depends on which of my training providers had paid to be under their name."
With regards to this comment, I must explain our accreditation. We cannot simply accept every certificate that arrives, as we have no way of knowing what level or quality of training has been received. Training schools go through our accreditation process so that we can check that the courses offered are up to a satisfactory standard. We then know that those qualifications are suitable for insurance purposes.

We could just offer insurance, but we choose to support our members and their businesses as much as possible.

 

[My Gorgeous Bod]

Hi Louisa-Jane and thank you for your response to my question

A trade association is generally about being recognised as a professional.

Since writing my post, and since reading your response, I have been doing more research. The thing about being recognised as a professional is that at the moment, being self-employed as a mobile beauty therapist I don't have anyone wanting to ever see any of my qualifications and I could say Pink Elephants and I'm sure it would be accepted as a professional qualification.

However, I now see that if I were to be trying to work with say, the local health authority or other institutions or places of work, then they may well would like to see a membership of professional association, or even require it.

I cannot speak for the other companies mentioned, however, the Guild do everything we can to support our members. Our two directors are experts in treatments and business, so a member can call for advice on any of these subjects.

I have to say that I picked up the telephone to The Guild to make enquiries and had an extremely nice person on the other end of the telephone so hats off to yourselves for that personable service. I wonder how much a member would phone you up and seek help as opposed to using say, this excellent Salon Geek forum? My "problem" is that I am fairly new to the business and I have not experienced too many difficulties and so do not know what issues are to be encountered that has not been discussed by others here.

The 'freebies' we offer are in support of our members. Discounts on credit card payments, Yellow Pages advertising, classified ads and web design services are all there to help you push your business further. We also run voucher schemes and national promotions to drive clients to your business.

I understand this and think it is a very good added value, though there are aspects I just would not use I am sure many others would.

We could just offer insurance, but we choose to support our members and their businesses as much as possible.

Back to the insurance chestnut. My insurance is due for renewal - it is currently with one of the well known beauty insurers and they accept my range of Diplomas gained from different places, but I have an advanced Certificate from an organisation who I get the impression have chosen not to get accreditation by any of the usual bodies (but are highly valued) and so I would not be covered for insurance if I were to go with insurance that is currently being provided by any of the Trade organisations. I would not want to get insurance twice at this stage so am in a bit of a dilemma on the insurance.

So far I do not seem to have found a trade association which is not tied in to having the insurance as well.

It could be that it was something to do with the governments NICE Guidelines Welcome to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence which may have been mentioned to me, but so far I think they are only relevant if I was to develop the holistic side of my treatments and work with clients with certain conditions. I haven't yet found anything of substance for mainstream beauty therapists that says they should join a professional association.

If you have read all this then I take my hat off to you and have followed what I am saying then: :hug:

Any more thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Caroline x

 

[zel218]

The reason why I join any organization is to benefit from it, and gain more knowledge in the industry. When you join certain organizations you will have in-depth knowledge from reputable people in the same business and you can apply those learnings to your own business.

 

[nailzoo]

Quite simple really ........ You are one voice, an association is many, if you want to see change on a positive note, you need an association that represents you and what you care about.

 

[My Gorgeous Bod]

Thanks Zel218 and Nailzoo for your input, and I so agree that is why I would join a professional association. I also note that you are both in countries outside of the UK which I think is relevant. I know I am fairly new to this industry and do not know how much our trade associations have been involved in being a voice for us, but I must say that so far I have not seen any sign that they do that. It would be very interesting if someone could turn around and say that I am wrong and that actually they have done this or that.

It would also be interesting to know if there are trade associations for the beauty industry in other countries and if they are seen to be a voice.

Caroline :hug:

 

[Kim Lawless]

Hi Caroline. I understand what you're getting at. As far as I am aware, there are not any 'authorities' or 'governing bodies' that one is able to become a member of without payment of some sort, whether it's insurance or membership fee's.

 

[My Gorgeous Bod]

Hi Caroline. I understand what you're getting at. As far as I am aware, there are not any 'authorities' or 'governing bodies' that one is able to become a member of without payment of some sort, whether it's insurance or membership fee's.

Hi Kim and thanks for your input. I expect to have to pay a membership fee of some sort to join a professional association, it is just that I'd want it to be that rather than another insurance broker. In a way, it is so good to not be bogged down by governing bodies and the like especially as I probably would not have found it so easy to set up in the business! But that isn't really the point, and I was under the impression that if we were not part of a professional association then we would be clamped down. Perhaps I should stop being concerned about this and let it go.

Caroline x

 

[nailzoo]

Payment is often required just to cover the basics of administration , most associations are not for profit and just needs a leg up to pay for "the basics" nothing in life is free.