Working as a Beauty Therapist in a Salon or Being Self-Employed?

When our students finish the course and finally receive VTCT Diploma, they become employable and can finally start looking for a job. 

However, we understand that it is hard to decide what type of employment to choose: Employed or Self-Employed?

We have decided to make your life easier and wrote down advantages and disadvantages of becoming Employed or Self-Employed Beauty Therapist.

Employment. Working in a Salon or a Clinic.

Almost half of the people (47%) from the beauty industry choose to be employed. Most beauticians start by getting employed by a salon or a clinic. Therapists and Artists find it to be the easier way to start the career, as you can get the industry feeling, have clients and learn from experienced colleagues. At the same time, there is number of disadvantages that makes people to want working as a freelancer or a self-employed. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being employed, we will list below.

Advantages of being an employed as a Beauty Therapist in the salon/clinic.

+ Stable salary. This is probably the biggest and most significant plus of working for a company. You will know that you are guaranteed to get paid on a certain day and you will know how much. For many people, it is stability that is the determining factor for the work path they choose.

+ Stable amount of clients. Another great advantage of working for someone is that every day you come to work, you most probably have clients and even if you don’t, the employer will still have to pay you.

+Your boss and management are responsible for marketing and advertising what means no hustle for you to find your own clients.

+You do not have to worry about the taxes, pensions, allowances etc. You can also apply for mortgages and loans, as banks prefer stable income and are more likely to give it to you.

+All the equipment and materials are the salon’s expenses. You will not have to worry about looking after your stock, deliveries and of course, paying for that. We all know how much some equipment and materials might cost…

Disadvantages of Employment.

• Fixed Wage. At the beginning, you agree with your employer how much you are getting every month and you most probably will be fine with that. However, after a while, you might start feeling that this wage is not enough for you anymore and there is not much you can do to increase it as it is stable and fixed. This might stop you from the professional growth.

• The risk of being fired. The owner might decide one day that he wants to lower the costs and shorten the staff (think about Covid-19, you never know what else can happen), the economic situation might get worse or he/she simply can find someone more competent that you. I am not saying that will happen, but there is a risk of being fired and having to look for a new job.

• Whether you want it or not, you will have to do what the management tells you to do. You might feel tight by someone else’s rules, but these are the regulations and if you are employed, you have to follow them as at the end of the day, you represent the company
• Fixed hours. For some people it might be an advantage, whether for other creative souls it is a restriction that they won’t like. When you are employed, you have to come and leave work at a certain hour, you have to pre-book the holiday in advance and you get a certain number of weekends.

Becoming a Self-Employed Beautician/Cosmetologist.

According to NHBF, 57% of people from the beauty industry choose to be self-employed. Self-employment is when a person is classified as self-employed in order to manage their business activities. This means that a person (individual) is a business and is engaged in commercial activities. In simple words, a person and a business are “one and the same”. 

What does it mean in the beauty industry? You can either rent your own space to take clients or also, work in a salon/clinic, however being responsible for your own taxes and have a flexible schedule.

What are the Self-Employed Beauty Therapist Advantages?

+You don’t have to share your income and clients with anyone. When you work for someone, you normally only get your fixed salary and if you are lucky, a percent from the client, and the rest of the profit would go to the owner, to pay off the bills, the cleaner, etc. When you work for yourself, all the profit is yours and only you are responsible on how to invest and spend it.

+ You don’t have to share your income and clients with anyone. When you work for someone, you normally only get your fixed salary and if you are lucky, a percent from the client, and the rest of the profit would go to the owner, to pay off the bills, the cleaner, etc. When you work for yourself, all the profit is yours and only you are responsible on how to invest and spend it.

+ If you are unwell, you only have to warn your clients or those with whom you have working agreements, but you no longer need to go to the hospital with just a seasonal cold as you have no one to report to.

+ You can only work with the clients you like. We understand that in the beauty industry, that is specifically aimed at working with clients, you get all kinds of people. When you work in a salon or a clinic, you cannot say to your manager that you will not take the next clients as she is very rude to you. However, when you work for yourself, you can build your own client base and only work with those, who you like seeing.

+ You can take a holiday whenever you want. It is especially convenient when your husband or wife is, for example, an office worker and you need to adjust.

+ No one will ask you to go to work on a weekend, holiday, or stay late in the evening. Everything is only according to your free will!

+ You still should wear a professional work uniform, even if you are self employed, especially if you’re a beauty therapist, aesthetic therapist or work with the laser. But you can choose if to wear it or what to wear.

+ If you decide to work from home (please note, for some treatments you should have a license and insurance, follow all health & safety rules and have a separate treatment room), there will be no need to get stuck in traffic jams or push around on public transport every day. On top of that, your expenses will reduce by a significant amount.

Disadvantages of Becoming a Self-Employed in the Beauty Industry.

We understand that the list of advantages is big and attractive, and you could already start thinking of becoming a self-employed. However, before considering this path, we feel responsible of mentioning the disadvantages that await you when you become a self-employed in the beauty industry.

• Finding clients. When you work for the company, management has to worry about marketing and advertising, but when you’re self-employed, you have to promote yourself.

• You have to make sure you’ve got the insurance for carrying the beauty procedures. Luckily for you, when you finish the courses with Moda Donna PMU & Beauty Academy, you are getting VTCT, ABT, CPD approved diplomas and certificates alongside with a national insurance.

• You are responsible for your own expenses (However, the good news is that in the UK you are legible for claiming some business expenses back. You have to make sure you report all your incomes and expenses right).

• If you are tend to being disorganised or procrastinate a lot, there will be no-one to push you and you might start postponing things as no-one is watching you. Sometimes, self-employed realises that it is much easier when the schedule is clearly written.

• You have to take care of taxes, pensions and allowances (or hire an accountant).

• If you have loans, mortgages, take care of children, and your earnings are unstable, you might feel a lot of pressure. It is easier to be self-employed when you do not hold a responsibility for something or someone else, or you have to be a very demandable technician in order to keep the high income at all times.

• You won’t have corporate events organised for you. Some people like to socialise, so if you are an extravert, it might feel a bit boring when you work on your own.

Whatever path you choose you will benefit of its advantages and we are sure, you will fall in love with the beauty industry as we did over 10 years ago.

Moda Donna PMU & Beauty Academy can help you with your first step – getting the knowledge and receiving a nationally recognised certificate to start your career. We do different types of courses: Permanent makeup, Facial Skincare, Electrotherapy, Laser & IPL, Aesthetics, Beauty Tutoring and much more!

To find out more about the course details contact us on:

📱 +44 7404 783116

📧  cs@modadonnabeauty.com

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With Love,

Moda Donna PMU & Beauty Academy ❤️