No-shows, burnout and upskilling top beauty freelancers’ challenges

Client cancellations and work burnout were raised as some of the biggest challenges facing freelance beauty therapists in our recent PB focus group.

The meeting brought together freelance professionals from across the industry, from nail technicians to makeup artists to lash techs, to discuss the biggest market issues and opportunities.

The freelancers often experienced no-shows from clients, and many mobile therapists had taken bookings for two or more treatments, but when they turned up to their client’s home, they found that they no longer wanted one of the treatments, meaning a loss of profit.

The group also voiced concerns about their lack of work-life balance, with several feeling that they could not say no to work, particularly around busy periods such as Christmas, where one attendee worked an 85 hour week.

Despite this, the group had found opportunities, either by retailing additional product types in an effort to improve profits, or extending their services to events in other industries as a bolt-on feature.

Additionally, many have trained in new services to upskill, so they could raise their prices accordingly.