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The dark side of freelancing in the beauty industry

freelance

The dark side of freelancing in the beauty industry

Nowadays, many hair stylists, barbers, nail artists and beauticians decide to freelance instead of seeking for a full-time job. They are tempted to do so by the vision of flexible working hours, unlimited earning potential, selectivity with projects and a sense of independence. This sounds alluring, especially for young mothers who need more flexibility to be able to take care of their children. Unfortunately, freelancing is not all unicorns and rainbows and every beauty specialist who decided to follow that path will sooner or later face the dark sides of being self-employed. Let’s take a closer look at the disadvantages of being a freelancer.

Financial uncertainty

When you are a freelancer, in theory, you decide how much you earn by taking up as many commissions as you want. Sadly, there is a huge disconnection between theory and practice in this case. You never know how many tasks will come your way - especially before you establish your personal brand. There will be days when you will not have time to make yourself a cup of tea, but also days when you will hear the wind blowing through your empty appointment book. Therefore, there may be months when you will feel like ruling the world but also months when you will be living paycheck to paycheck. It is hard to keep calm in such circumstances, as you will never know whether the end of the month will bring you profit or loss. Moreover, your earnings will no longer equal your salary - now it will be also a budget for equipment, tools, products, marketing activities and everything else you need to do your job. In addition to that, your electricity and water bills will rise rapidly and if you are a mobile freelancer, you will have to cover fuel payments as well. Not to even mention that any sudden malfunction of your equipment will bring you not only repair costs, but also the loss of all appointments (meaning: earnings) until things are fixed.

Difficulties with work-life balance

Being a full-time employee, you have to take up every assignment you are commissioned to by your boss. Being a freelancer, you will sooner or later find yourself taking up every appointment out of fear that you cannot afford rejection. After going without any visits for days, you will be happy to take on anything, even after your self-set working hours. Or you will not be able to say “no” to a client who needs an urgent, last-minute appointment because you do not want to disappoint anyone who assures you having your monthly bills paid. As a result, you may notice that trying to run away from a nine-to-five job, you ended up having a six-to-twelve one instead. Not being able to clearly distinguish your work time from your free time is a real problem for freelancers - it may cause severe stress and anxiety, as you never truly unwind and relax. There is also one more psychological issue that may affect you - loneliness. Working regularly in a salon you are getting involved in relations with your teammates. Some of them may even become your friends. As a freelancer, you also get your healthy dose of daily social interaction with clients, but those relationships are rarely close. That is why even after eight hours of talking with people you may feel lonely - and it may be truly nerve-wracking.

Being your own boss

When you are freelancing, you have to learn to paddle your own canoe. You cannot limit your work to providing treatments exclusively, you have to be your own boss, accountant, secretary, marketer and manager at the same time. What does it mean in practice? First of all, you have to become familiar with keeping track of tax-deductible business expenses, making estimated tax payments, and so on. Secondly, you will be the one signing contracts, buying equipment, managing stock and taking care of financial statistics - you cannot shrug this off and say that you have no idea how to do it. As a freelancer, you are no longer just a hair stylist, barber, nail artist or beautician. You are a business owner - and you have to deal with every aspect of it. This is where beauty business software comes handy - you basically get an assistant that will take care of many of your additional responsibilities. Booksy records detailed appointment history, provides automated reminders and marketing campaigns, generates financial statistics and reports and even supports online bookings. It is truly a blessing to have such a helper when you are freelancing. Besides, you have to develop a very strict sense of self-discipline and be able to be your own manager. Scrolling through social media, hours-long lunch breaks, getting up really late because your bed is so cosy and no one forces you to be in the salon at eight - you have to be strong enough to overcome those temptations.

Difficult relationships with clients

Working in a salon you meet troublesome customers from time to time - it is unavoidable. If they are notorious no-shows, are known for trying to avoid payments or are getting aggressive, you just ban them out of the salon and call it a day. It is far more difficult when you are a freelancer - there is no one around to help you, or even to give you a second opinion on whether the situation really requires such a harsh intervention. You are definitely not keen on the idea of losing a client, and vision of getting a negative review online makes you truly petrified. You cannot afford that - so you are likely to swallow your pride and just keep working. It is not a healthy situation. Unfortunately, there are customers that consider freelancers’ services somewhat less significant than those provided by an established salon - hence, treat them less seriously. You may seem more like a colleague to them, someone who wants to earn a little more money on the side. That is why they are likely to treat appointments lightly, cancel them last-minute and get very surprised when it comes to paying a full price. These people consider freelancers’ services a cheaper version of a salon experience, so you have to be very careful and avoid such clients if you can. Here Booksy comes of help again letting you secure your bookings with required prepayments and/or cancellation fees and also, if need be, ban problematic customers from further using your online booking system.

No full-time job benefits

Lastly - you are not getting any advantages typical for full-time jobs. So forget about maternity or paternity leave, company-sponsored health benefits or paid holidays. You do not work - you do not earn. Moreover, no one will back you when you get sick - any health issue will end up with cancelling appointments and possibly dealing with the backlash from doing so. Being a freelancer has its pros and cons. Some beauty specialists will love the freedom and independence it gives, but others may get overwhelmed by the stress and number of responsibilities. No matter if you decide to take that step or not, remember that you can always rely on your digital assistant - Booksy software was created to fit the needs of both salon owners and self-reliant freelancers. Get familiar with its features and ease your work with Booksy today!

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