As the saying goes, time is money; especially when you are a therapist. There are only so many hours in a day and if a third of your time is taken up unnecessary tasks instead of servicing clients, then you are going to find your income suffering significantly. For beauty therapists running their own salon, the difference in annual incomes can often come down to poor time management and senseless wastage.
Buy in bulk and save
I’m not saying you should go out and buy enough stock to last a lifetime, but buying bulk of items you use daily such as your pre and post ancillaries is a great way to save. Look at getting refillable bottles that have trigger spray handles. These triggers give you full control over how much product is used, plus you don’t have the risk of spilling and wasting the product during your treatment. Simply hang them off the side of the trolley so you have quick and easy access to each product.
Time saving waxes
There are lots of waxes on the market these days that a specifically designed to save therapist’s time. Waxes in the form of perfectly sized discs or Melts and powder waxes heat extremely fast and make it easy to top up your wax pot between clients. Microwaveable waxes with jars that fit in the wax heater is another innovation that has revolutionised the world of waxing. No mess, no fuss and a very quick and easy clean up at the end of the day! Roller wax cartridges can be a great addition if you have young or inexperienced therapists as they roll an even thin layer of wax and can significantly speed up treatments in relation to larger areas such as legs, arms, back and chest.
Quality not quantity
More often than not, cheap products will end up costing you more due to poor quality or performance issues. For example, cheap strips tear easily and allow wax reside to seep through to the other side. You need to look at the bigger picture; if your strip rips you will need to use another. If your strip has wax seeping through to the other side, you need to throw it out sooner. If your gloves tear, you need a fresh one (and we all know it’s near impossible to get a fresh glove on a sweaty hand!) In all these instances not only are you wasting money using more consumables but you are also wasting precious time! This goes for your cleaning accessories too. You need good quality cleaning solution that requires very little physical exertion and gets the job done quickly.
Multipurpose products
One of my favourite money saving tricks is finding multiple uses for the one product. For example, I use the back of a used wax strip as a cleaning tool to remove wax residue. Simply fold your strip in on its self, spray the back with your after waxing oil or citrus cleaner and there you have it, something that was going into the bin now has a new purpose as your cleaning tool. There’s no need to waste money on these consumables, it all adds up!
The bare necessities
Have a good look at your treatment room and consider what a necessity is and what you could work without. I like to look at my disposables firstly – simple things such as rubbing in Pre Waxing Oil with your gloves on can save on tissues and cotton pads. Disposable G-strings serve no purpose other than to make clients feel more comfortable. Instead of placing one on the bed at the start of each treatment, ask them “are you happy to go without a g-string?” don’t ask them if they would like one because this makes them feel like you would be more comfortable if they wore one. Many people don’t actually mind whether they have one or not but if it’s there, or you make them feel like it’s a necessity they will feel obliged to use it.
Washing for days
Many therapists will add a modesty towel to their treatments. This idea is all well and good but at the end of the day it is just you and your clients in the room. Each towel you use, you need to wash! I personally place a plastic sheet over the bed, fold up one towel to create a headrest and place a sheet of perforated bedroll over the top (for Brazilians place one sheet under the clients’ backside also). This way there is no need to wash multiple towels at the end of the day and you can hopefully get away with just one big load! The same goes for your uniform also. Many uniforms that look great but at the end of the say you need something that is light weight, machine friendly and dries quickly!
All these things may seem minimal but over a financial year the results will amaze you. If you can save a dollar or a minute here and there, why wouldn’t you?
Lilliane Caron is Owner & Director of Caronlab Australia.