Discounts: Are they a good idea?

Hair & beauty business coach, Maddi Cook of Boss Your Salon, shares advice on offering discounted services to family & friends…

We’ve all been faced with the dilemma of giving a discount to friends and family. While it may seem like a good deed to hook up your loved ones, let’s dig into why offering discounts might not be the best move for your business. Join me as I spill the tea on why it’s important to tread lightly when it comes to slashing prices for your nearest and dearest.

1. The model in our industry is trading time for money

There are only so many hours in a day, and doing nails isn’t easy on the body, to say the least. Many people either offer ‘mates rates’ treatments during the week (and so make less money in that time than from a full-paying client), or ‘squeeze them in’ outside of working hours. This can cause feelings of resentment and tiredness.

Some pros have been known to take their nail kit to a hen weekend or Christmas dinner to perform free nail services. This is both your reminder and permission to never do that!

2. It can quickly end up feeling like a one-way street

Yes, if you do a freebie for a family member who takes care of your kids so you can work, then fill your boots. But for most people, the benefit of these discounts only goes in one direction – and when you see your clients so regularly, these can soon stack up.

Let’s say you’re giving a £20 discount every four weeks, that’s a whopping £260 per year that’s missing from your pocket. I’d always recommend looking at the numbers, because once you add up all the discounts and freebies over the longer term, you really see the true cost of not charging what you should. 

3. Sometimes friends and family can be our worst clients

They can waltz in 20-minutes late with a coffee in hand (and not even one for you!), and whip out hands featuring picked-off nails that haven’t even heard the words ‘cuticle oil’. Then, they can show you a photo of the most intricately detailed nail art, and ask to be out in an hour so they can meet the girls for bottomless brunch.

They can also often see us as hobbyists, asking how ‘your little nail business’ is doing. And I wonder if this is because they know us first and foremost as their school friend, their baby cousin, or their next-door neighbour, and as a professional and business owner second? Our clients meet us as the pro first, and the personal relationship is built on top of that.

A good rule of thumb is, ‘would I accept this from any other client?’. If the answer is no, then something needs to change. And yes, it’s hard. It feels like the stakes are higher when it comes to friends and family. Maybe you worry that they’ll think you’re ‘big for your boots’, or that ‘family should take care of family’.

However, the best way to take care of one another is to show a mutual respect. And in business, that means paying for your time and expertise, following your policies, respecting your working hours and paying the prices you set. If they can’t do that, then there are plenty of other nail artists they can go to – and pay full price.

Showing love to our friends and family is important, but let’s find better ways to do it than slashing prices and feeling resentful or taken advantage of. You deserve it. 

Maddi x