Business Practices, Retail, and Client Relations
Pricing and the service menu
Price from your costs: product cost per service, time, overhead, and a reasonable profit. Build a clear menu with service descriptions that match your license - no medical claims. Retail pricing commonly uses keystone (double the wholesale cost) as a starting point; track inventory with a par level so retail and backbar do not run out or expire. Rotate stock first-in, first-out, and check expiration dates.
Records and confidentiality
Keep an intake form, consent, service notes, patch-test results, and product recommendations for each client, stored securely. Share information only with the client's permission or as required by law. Keep safety data sheets (SDS) for every professional product accessible in the shop.
Client relations
Confirm appointments, explain what you are doing and why, set realistic expectations, and never promise permanent results. Handle complaints with listening, apology for the experience, a clear remedy, and documentation. Late cancellations and no-shows are managed with a written policy stated at booking, not invented at the desk.
Employment and money
Understand the difference between employee and independent-contractor/booth-rental arrangements, including who provides supplies, carries insurance, and pays taxes.
Traps
- 'Guaranteed results' advertising is both unethical and a legal risk.
- Over-promising retail results, or selling a product the client cannot use, damages trust and invites complaints.
Rule of thumb
If you would not want the statement read back to you in a complaint, do not put it in the chart or the ad.