Let’s Talk About Pricing!

Pricing, gives you shivers doesn’t it? Why do we all dread putting a price list together and completely lose our heads over it?

Well I tell you now, once you break it down it really isn’t as scary as you may think!

There is different factors to consider when putting together prices and here’s some of them;

Firstly and most importantly don’t forget about your talent, please know your worth & keep that in mind!

Products / Kit

I suppose apart from your initial training which you need to bare in mind of course, your kit is like your life! Which if like most of us, you’ve probably spent your whole entire life on it. I dread to think how much I have spent over the years! But this is so important to factor into your prices, if you’re willing to invest into the best products for your clients you must reflect this in your prices.
If you think about it, when you go to get your hair done & they use top end hair products and left your hair is in such amazing quality that you walk out feeling like beyonce then you’d be happy to pay more wouldn’t you? It’s only the same with nails… if your clients walk out in love with their nails and they last them 3 to 4 weeks then it’s more than worth the money!

Training / Skills

Your training has to come into your prices. If you didn’t spend the money on training to do them you wouldn’t be a nail technician! Another example for you, electricians spend time learning their skill doing apprenticeships etc and once they become qualified they charge for their skill and the training they have done. So with us nail technicians, just because it is nails doesn’t mean we can’t charge for the qualifications we have spent time and money on learning.

Especially if you chose to do more courses to perfect your skills, you are doing this to benefit your work which as a result will benefit your client as they’ll walk out of your door with amazing nails!!

Rent (if you have a salon or rent a space)

Of course this doesn’t apply to everyone as quite a lot do have home salons nowadays! But if you do have your own salon or rent a space from someone, this is an expense against your business which is something you have to consider when pricing your work. If you aren’t making enough to support your livelihood then you can’t afford to do it? When I looked at my prices when I had my salon (before I upped my prices), I was barely making minimum wage!

We are all guilty of it but don’t compare yourself to others in your area on what you should charge. They simply aren’t you! How do you not know that they are millionaires and have no rent to pay and their income is pure profit? Think about it like that 😊

Bills (such as electric/water)

The one five lettered word we all hate, bills!

But unfortunately they have to be paid, so when it comes to pricing it is something you definitely need to consider. Whether you work from home or a salon, electric is used in both settings. If you have a salon you will have other bills to consider which affect your outgoings such as water, broadband etc. But for most of us it’ll just be electric, as without that we wouldn’t be able to do our gels!

Insurance

This one is an absolute must. To be safe and cover yourself under any circumstances you must be insured. It’s up to you on how high you want your insurance to cover but whatever the cost, factor this in to your price as I’m sure if your client was to have an injury in your premises they would want to be covered too!

Booking system

Now I used to be a paper diary girl but it all got a bit much and I swapped over to an online system, which I must say has changed my life! I know it isn’t for everyone but wow.

So if you like me use a system that you have to pay for, this is also a cost to factor into your prices.

Time

One way I look at my prices now, I work out what I want to earn and give myself a rough hourly rate.

That way I know how to price freelance work on the day that I do it by working out what I need to earn hourly.

Time is money girls!

Don’t say Sorry!

This is a MUST. When upping your prices or addressing your prices in general, do not apologise. We as an industry and me included are so apologetic for things, we should own our decisions we make because we can! Your prices are your prices and you’ve done all the ground work to put them together, therefore you shouldn’t need to say sorry to anyone. You’re worth the price you choose to put on your price list, so you should be proud and not sorry 😊

When you consider each of your outgoings above and actually add them up to work out your monthly expenses, I bet you would be pretty shocked!! This is why it’s so important for you to ensure your prices are calculated properly and give you opportunity to make a profit.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and would like further insight into pricing and money mindset with a live class in the new year, please let us know on the news feed! We would love to hear your thoughts!

Written by Suzanne Nicolle