Your Business Isn’t A Democracy - It’s A Dictatorship

In this episode of The Skindustry, we’re talking about one of the biggest things therapists struggle with in business - boundaries.

From last-minute cancellations and no-shows, to clients turning up late and expecting you to bend the rules, this episode dives into why clear policies are absolutely essential if you want to protect your time, income and sanity as a business owner.

I’m breaking down why deposits matter, how cancellation and no-show fees should work, and why consistency with your policies is so important. Because the truth is, if you bend the rules once, you’ll be expected to bend them every time.

We also talk about pricing boundaries, enforcing booking policies with confidence, and why running a successful clinic sometimes means remembering that your business isn’t a democracy.

If you’ve ever struggled to enforce your policies, worried about upsetting clients, or found yourself letting things slide when you know you shouldn’t, this episode will give you the confidence to stand firm and run your business the way it deserves to be run.

Follow us on Instagram @theskindustry_ and @foxieskinclinic, and if you’re listening along, take a screenshot and tag us in your stories. I love seeing who’s tuning in each week.

New episodes of The Skindustry drop every week.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Welcome to the Skin Distry Podcast, the podcast where we talk about the real side of building a business in the skin and beauty industry. I'm Paige, the founder of Foxy Skin Clinic. I've been in the industry for over 12 years and a business owner for 10. I've grown my clinic from the ground up into a fully booked results-driven skin business, and on this podcast I'm sharing everything. The highs, the lows, the mistakes, the wins, the lessons I've learned the hard way. So you don't have to. If you're a skin specialist, beauty business owner, or someone who's building something of your own and craving honest conversations about what it actually takes, you're in the right place. Make sure you're following us on Instagram at the skindustry underscore. And you can also follow my clinic page if you want to see what I get up to in work at Foxy Skin Clinic. And if you're listening or watching, tag us in your stories. I love to see you guys tuning in. Let's get into this week's episode. It means the world, like honestly, it means the world to know that you are listening and you're then like sharing it with other people because honestly, when people are tagging the stories, the amount of followers just goes up so much. So that's yeah, huge thank you from me for that. I really, really appreciate it and it really really really helps. Um, so yeah. This week I wanted to talk about boundaries within our business, specifically surrounding our money. So we're gonna talk about cancellation policies, deposits, late and no show fees, pricing and booking boundaries, and why your business is not a democracy. Have you ever had a client cancel five minutes before their appointment and then act like it's not a big deal? Or have you bent your own rules to somebody and regretted it down the line, or even instantly? Maybe you don't actually enforce a booking policy at the moment, or you don't take deposits because you think it'll actually stop clients booking. I'm here to tell you that the reality is a business without boundaries will burn you out faster than anything else, and it really truly is the backbone of everything. If you don't have boundaries within your business, clients won't respect you or your business or your time or your money because they have no reason to. So the reality of running a booking-based business means that your time is your money. So financially, every single slot that you have is money, every single minute of time that you have within your working day is money. Every single appointment that you allocate to a client is money. So if you're not then taking that seriously and locking that in with somebody, the chances are you could lose that money. And once the time is gone, so say you have a client that doesn't show up for an appointment, you don't know that that client's not going to show up for an appointment. You don't know until maybe five, ten minutes into the appointment when they've not shown up that actually they're not coming. And once that time is gone, so's the money. There's no way you can fill that slot then because you're already in the time, the time has begun, and you can't get anybody there like within a minute to then have enough time to carry out a full treatment. So the only thing you could do is move your later clients up earlier in the day, and that's if they can come, because obviously a lot of people book around other commitments like work, childcare, their plans in general. Sometimes you can't move people. So, as an example, if somebody cancels a£120 facial an hour before their appointment, that's not just a cancellation, that's£120 of your wage gone for the day. Which means that's£120 that you can't pay your rent with, that's£120 that you can't buy stock with, that's£120 that doesn't go into your personal wage, that then you can't pay your rent or your mortgage or your bills or put food on the table or pay your kids' nursery fees, you know, at the end of the day, that's what that is. It's not just oh it's just a no-show, like or lost a bit of money. It's it really truly is a big deal. And if you think that could happen daily if you've not got any booking policies or you've not taken deposits or any reason for somebody to show up, that you could be losing that money every day or at least once a week, and really if you think£120 a week every week for the year, I'm not even gonna try and do the maths on that because as I said in the last episode, maths is not my fote, it's not for me. But it's a lot of money, basically. Um a lot of people feel guilty enforcing policies, they feel guilty saying to somebody, Oh, um, I am actually have to gonna take money off you before you turn up for your appointment. And they I think they worry about how people will respond to that as well. So if you had a client message and they asked a book and you said, Oh yeah, that's great, I can do that time, that day, I'll get you booked in, uh, you will have to pay a deposit. And that client turn turns around and goes, Well, I'm not paying a deposit, I'm not paying money before I come for my appointment, that client has no intention of turning up. None. Because if you're going to pay your deposit, if you pay your deposit and you're going to turn up, that's fine, you're not gonna lose any money. The only time a client will have a problem with paying a deposit is if they're not gonna turn up, or if they even have a an inkling that they're not coming to that appointment, or they'll cancel last minute, or they'll just be flaky and you know have to reschedule it last minute. Nobody that is actually gonna be serious about coming for an appointment is gonna have a problem with paying a deposit. And so many other businesses take deposits as well. You couldn't walk into DFS and buy a sofa without putting money down, a deposit down, for them to know that you're gonna actually come back and collect that sofa, or when they deliver it, you're gonna actually pay the remainder of the money. That deposit secures that item of furniture for you so that they're gonna hold up their end of the bargain and make the sofa, deliver the sofa, make sure the sofa's in the right condition when it is delivered to you. And it also makes sure that you're committing to having the sofa and that when it turns up, you're gonna take it kind of thing. I think I'm gonna assume that with things like that, you do have to actually pay before the delivery day, like the remainder amount, but still, even if it was pay on delivery kind of thing, that deposit means you're committed to that item that you're purchasing. And it's the exact same for appointments. Paying a deposit means you're committing to that time slot, you're committing to show up, and you're committing to having the treatment done. So it is a commitment on both sides because it also means for you that you're committing to also showing up for the client, also carrying out the treatment for the client and giving them the service that they've requested. It honestly baffles me that people would have a problem with paying a deposit. Like, I don't think those people realize that we know what they're doing. Like, wild crazy. But yeah, no other industry absorbs the loss of people not showing up or turning up or whatever. For anything else, if you booked something or paid for a service and then didn't show up, you would be charged for it. If you booked a flight, you were going on holiday, you booked a flight, you didn't turn up for your flight. Do you think you're gonna get that money back? No. Do you think the airport will go, oh yeah, you can have your money back, that's fine. You didn't show up. We held that your flight, your seat on the flight open for you, and you didn't turn up, so we actually, you know, you didn't fly with us. But yeah, of course you can have your money back. That's so fine. Of course you don't have to pay. No. Ryanair is gonna take your money and keep it. I, a couple of years ago, had a flight booked. Um, this was in COVID times. I had a flight booked, and we it was when we had to test before obviously flying, and I knew I knew I felt off. So even before I had to test, so I think it was four days, I think it was four days before I flew, I did a test, and both me and my partner at the time were positive for COVID, so we were like, right, well, that means we can't go on holiday. So I called the like company that book the hotel for it, and then they were like, Oh, you'll have to ring the hotel and the like flight people airline would be the right word, the airline separately because it's you'll have to deal with it. So I was like, right, okay. Hotel let me move it to a later date. The flights, so at this point, we weren't allowed to fly. It wasn't that I didn't want to go, it wasn't that I was trying to get out of it, nothing. I wanted to go on this holiday, but we weren't allowed to go on this holiday. We were categorically told if you've tested positive for COVID, you cannot fly with us. So I was like, right, well, we'll just move the flights. Oh no, you'll have to re-book and pay for new flights. And I was like, but you've you're you're not letting me. I would fly, you are not letting me fly. And I had to lose the money on the flights. So when clients don't turn up for an appointment or turn up for an appointment late, and I have a story about this, it literally happened to me yesterday, and expect to not have to pay for their appointment. This is the proof that like we service industries are the only industries that are actually expected to absorb the loss of people not turning up to appointments. So you go to your dentist and you miss an appointment, they charge you a fee, they charge you a missed appointment fee. Hotels, you decide to not go and stay in a hotel that you've booked the night before or the day off, you're not getting that money back. You booked an Airbnb and paid for it all, and it's a week before you're going, you have to cancel it, you're not getting that money back, you're gonna lose it. And that's the same way as hair salons or beauty salons or skin therapists should be taking deposits and you know, having a set booking fee and having your policies and your cancellation terms and everything in there and having it like tight so that when these things do happen, you are covered. And I'm not saying that you have to charge every single person that cancels within your policy or doesn't show up or whatever. I, while I am very strict on mine, I am also quite lenient with it. If somebody, if something has happened with a regular client and they cannot come to their appointment and they never cancel last minute or don't show up, I know that that is something that cannot be helped. And nine times out of ten, I will waive it and just say, let's reschedule. It's so fine. Like, it's fine. I'm understanding. If it's a new client that's never been before and they know show or turn up half an hour late or cancel an hour before their first appointment, I've got no basis to trust that this isn't what you're going to do every single time. So you will be paying that fee, kind of thing. So I think a lot of people look at deposits as a punishment, as a I don't trust these clients, so these clients must pay me money to prove that they're actually going to come, but it's not, as I said before, it's a commitment. Deposits protect your time, they filter out the flaky clients that have no intention of actually turning up to the appointment that they've booked, and they create professional relationships. It builds a like mutual respect between client and therapist, because you're then telling that person, I'm so fine to do this service for you. I require X amount up front to secure that space. That client then responds with, of course, that's totally fine. Here is my money. I will see you at date and time, or obviously, if you if you have an online booking system, there doesn't need to be any of that back and forth, which is why I love mine because you either book an appointment or you don't. There's no arguing, you either pay, you deposit, or you don't. I actually don't take deposits at the minute. I do card capture, which just works better for me currently. I used to take deposits, I took deposits for years. Um, but yeah, that was a tangent. I didn't need to go on. But yeah, deposits are not a punishment, they're a commitment. They basically set out your stall from day one of your client relationship that I'm a service provider, I'm providing you a service, and I expect the respect of you respecting my time, my energy, my money, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah kind of thing. And luxury clients don't chase confirmations, they require a commitment. So a client that has money and let's look at it from like a luxury perspective. So we're going to Hermes for a Birkin. I am a multi-millionaire. Do you think I am chasing Hermes for a confirmation? Or am I waiting for Hermes to contact me and say, This is what we need, send it over and you've got your bag. Of course. Done. My people will send it right now. Like, nobody that has like that mindset requires you to chase them. If you're having to chase somebody to pay a deposit, or even worse, pay the remainder of their like appointment. So they've already had the appointment, they've left without paying. Which girls, if you are doing that, stop it. Stop letting clients leave without paying, and then having to chase them up afterwards and chasing people for like weeks and weeks. No, no, that's horrendous. That would not happen anywhere else. Again, you're telling that client to not respect you, to not respect your time, to not respect the fact that you deserve to be paid as soon as that service has been given. People should pay before they leave, regardless of the situation. And if somebody is turning up expecting that to not happen, they do not respect your time. I I don't think have ever had a client turn up and expect me to let them pay after the fact. Like, oh, I'll pay you uh in a couple of days when I get paid. No, you won't. You'll pay me right now. Would you go walk into Morrison's and buy your shopping and then say, well, I'll pay you in three days when I get paid? No, because they'd say, that's fine, you're leaving that here then. You're not having that shopping, give it back. Nowhere else would let you do that. I mean, unless you obviously have like clona or clear pay or whatever, then you get the money regardless. Then they sort out when they're paying. Um yeah, just stop doing that. Please. I hear so many, so many people say, Oh god, like I've been chasing this client for a week to try and get paid. I see people posting on stories. Guys, please, can we make sure that payments are being sent as soon as you leave your appointment? I'm having to chase people. Why are you letting them leave without your money? Like, no. From me to you, respectfully, right now, stop it. If you are doing that from today, that needs to change. Clients pay at your clinic before they leave, whether that be with cash, whether that be with bank transfer, whether you get a card machine, whatever, however they're paying you, they do it before they leave. No exceptions. None. None at all. I mean, obviously, your friends, whatever. One of my friends sometimes has to pay later. I don't care, I know where she lives, you know. I'll turn up to her house if she doesn't pay me. Which she always would, like, I would, she would never not pay me. So I get like if you've got, you know, your close friends are coming in, whatever, but yeah, we're not we're not gonna do that anymore. Um late arrivals and no shows. I think this is something with every therapist struggles with, because it is of unavoidable. You're always gonna get people that turn up late, and you're always gonna get people that don't show up. Um, but it does minimize it massively if you're taking deposits or capturing card details, because that person then knows if they do that, if it's a deposit, they're gonna lose the money that they've paid. So that money is gone to them. If it's a card capture, I take 100% for a no-show. Or if somebody's too late to do the appointment, if they turn up over, I can't remember, I think it's 10 or 15 minutes late for an appointment. That in my policy is a no-show, it's a last-minute cancellation slash no show, so they get charged 100% of the appointment cost. That is a big reason why I do card capture because I would rather have the full amount of money than a£20 deposit. Do you know what I mean? But you also then run into the issue of sometimes people are very sneaky and naughty with it and will either give you a card that doesn't have any money on or will move all of the money out of their account so they can't get charged. I am also I was gonna say a horrible person. I'm not. I'm I'm also a sneaky person, and I will keep charging that card until I get that money. If it takes a week, I will keep doing it, I will do it every single day until that person thinks right, I'm safe now, I'll put my money back in my account. You're never safe from me. I will always get you. So but yeah, one of the biggest frustrations in the industry isn't just cancellations, it's clients who expect 15 or 20 minutes late and still expect the full appointment. And I had this happen to me literally yesterday, and the client shouted at me and slammed the door on her way out because I told her I didn't have enough time to treat her, and by the time she turned up, I had actually already charged her card because she turned up after the entire appointment slot had gone, and then also more minutes late. So it's it was a regular client of mine, she's come for years, and she doesn't book her next appointment, she just books like as and when it was it was actually only a brow wax, so it was a 10-minute slot. My client that was due in after her had actually turned up early, so she turned up about five minutes before this client's appointment was due to start, so 15 minutes before her appointment. So I said to her, take a seat. I do have somebody else in before you, so I'm just waiting on her turning up now. And I stood and chatted to her, and I'd left my phone in the other room, and then I heard my phone vibrate, so I came back in the room, picked it up, and as I picked it up, it stopped ringing, and it was this client. So I immediately messaged her and said, Hi, I'm so sorry, I've just missed that. My phone was in the other room, and at this point, we were seven minutes into her ten-minute appointment. So I said, I'm really sorry, I'm not gonna have time to do you now. Um, there's only three minutes of your appointment left, and my next client's already here. And she read it straight away. So I was like, She's seen it, she understands, that's fine. So my I called my next client through, got started with her, and then I think it was like three minutes after this other client's appointment had finished, she turns up. So you're now 13 minutes late for your 10-minute appointment. She walks in, I greet her, I'm like, oh hiya, I'm really sorry, I'm not gonna have time to do your appointment today. Um, obviously, because your your appointment's over now, like it was a 10-minute slot, and you're 13 minutes late. And what she did back, I was honestly, I was gobsmacked. She looked at me and she went, but I rang you though. And I was like, Yeah, I know, I'm sorry I missed your call. I did text you back immediately to say, like, I'm sorry I missed your call. I am I'm not gonna be able to do your appointment. So I assumed you saw it, I saw that you saw it straight away. So I just assumed that you understood that to be the case. And she went, right, turned around, walked out, and when I say slammed the door, my door is soft closing, so it doesn't slam on its own. You physically have to slam it, and I mean you have to really try and slam it to get it to actually slam. The building shook, she slammed it that hard. And the client that I had in at the time was just she was gobsmacked. She was like, Well, that was awkward. And I was like, Yeah, it was. I'm really sorry about that. She's like, No, it's not your fault, she was the one that was late. And I just am like, I don't understand what you expected from me. Like, did you expect that if I answered your call, the outcome would be any different? Like, if I had answered the phone to her and she was ringing seven. Minutes into her 10-minute appointment, it would have made no difference. I still would have said, I can't do your appointment today. And it still would have cost you the full amount of the money. So you coming in and shouting at me and slamming my door, not only now have you been charged the full price of the appointment and not had the service done, you will never be having a service done with me again. Because I am not here to be spoken to like that. I don't know who you think you are speaking to me like that. And I just did not expect it from her either, to be honest. Did not expect it at all. I wrote out a message to send to her um to basically just address what had happened, explain my side of the story for whatever reason, and just say like I don't appreciate the way you spoke to me or slammed the door. Like I offer everybody like kindness and respect, and I expect that back as a bare minimum. Um and I was gonna give her the opportunity to apologise, and then I would probably have accepted her as a client again, provided that that never happened again. But I've sat on it, I've spoken to like people about it, and one of my friends made a good point and said if she hasn't already apologised, she's probably not going to. You sending that message is only gonna make it worse, which I get, I totally get, but I also really struggle not saying my piece. I really struggle feeling like I've been disrespected, and I then don't get the opportunity to say that wasn't okay, like that was not cool, I'm not accepting that and like set my boundary out then, because then I feel like it gives the person to then act accordingly. If you know they want to apologize, that's fine, I will accept the apology. If they then double down on their behaviour and kick off, you're getting blocked. Bye bye. Like go find somebody else to do your eyebrows because I don't care. That behaviour is not worth£15 to me. I'm not here to be spoken to like that for£15.£500 for one appointment, maybe. Maybe I'd be open to being snapped at, but not for£15. Not even slightly. So I think I've made peace with what I'm gonna do. I probably haven't. I tell myself I've made peace. Make peace with nothing. That is one of my red flags. I cannot forget anything. Like, if somebody pisses me off or disrespects me, or I feel is like trying to undermine me or like mug me off, no, no, no, I will lose my head. Like, I will lose it. I've always had very, very, very, very short temper. I've worked on it a lot in my adult years, and I am a lot better at now, but I still have to like sit, like that's annoyed me literally since it happened yesterday. I think it was like 11 o'clock yesterday, and it is what time is it now? 4 pm the following day, and I'm it's still annoying me. But I I think I am just gonna not message her. I just she's had I'll give her till 11am tomorrow, and then she's had 48 hours to message me and apologise. And if she doesn't, I'm just gonna block her off um fresher so she can't make another appointment. And then if she does ever reach out, I'll explain the situation and say I didn't appreciate how I was spoken to, there was never any apology, so I don't feel like I'm the person for you because I don't I'm not being spoken to like that and just then expected to do your brows again as if nothing has happened. No thanks. So yeah. And I think people don't understand that like them turning up late, then either means you have to move every other client back in the day, which isn't fair because the other clients have booked their appointments based on when they can do, when they want to do, maybe around work, maybe around childcare, maybe around plans. Why should they have to move their appointment because somebody else couldn't plan their day, couldn't be on time. I get sometimes things happen, traffic, etc. etc. But there is also like plan your route, you know. If you know you're going somewhere at lunchtime that day, have a look at on Apple Maps or Google Maps or whatever you use in the morning and just see if there's any traffic. Because that's what I do. I travel like over an hour sometimes for appointments, like for my nails and my lashes. Sometimes I have to drive over an hour to go and get them done. Um, because I have them done near where my partner lives, and that's an hour away from me. So if I'm not already there, I would have to drive all the way there. So if I'm going for my nail appointment and I've got to be there at 10am, for example, that hour-long journey could take me two hours because of the morning traffic. So I would then wake up earlier than I need to, check on maps what time I need to set off, and then act accordingly. I wouldn't just think, well, it's an hour drive, I'll set off, and then be late and expect my nail tech to then just get me in anyway. That's not how it works. But I think it is when people have never worked on like in a service-based job or like a diary-based job where you're running from like timeline, how it actually works and how it really does affect you, like completely disrupts your entire day. It could be the difference between you having your single break of the day or not. It could be the difference between you actually having anything to eat that day or not. It could be the difference between a different client having been able to have their treatment done or not. And if you basic if you like facilitate this client that's late and that that knocks you back for the rest of the day, and there's a different client who you're running late for that then she can't stay, she has somewhere to be and can't have her treatment done, and the reason that you're late is because somebody else was late and now you've expected everybody else to just wait. That would really piss me off as a client. I probably wouldn't go back there again because I would think, well, my time's clearly not important then. So yeah, I just think it's unfair to the clients that have arrived on time or do arrive on time for the rest of the day. Oh, did you hear that? My throat did all squeak. Um, that have arrived on time to then be made late. Like, I don't think that's fair. And I think you can have in your policy that if it's possible that you can shorten the treatment, but that means they still pay the full amount. If a client is late and only receives a, you know, three quarters or half of the treatment due to them being late, they still pay the full amount. And there is no arguing on that. They have booked a certain amount of time out, it's up to them what time they turn up, and it's on them what time they turn up. That is their one job when they have an appointment, is to turn up on time. And if they can't do that, then fine. You either don't have the appointment or it's a shorter one, but you are still paying for the full amount. And if they arrive too late to do anything, it's a no-show. You have not turned up to this appointment with enough time for me to carry out this appointment, therefore, it's a no-show. So, no show fees. Again, people get really angry about this. I get a lot of I've had over the years anyway, a lot of people kick off when I've charged them for not showing up for an appointment. Especially if they've just forgotten. And I think, well, buy a diary. Or you don't even need to buy one, you literally have one on your phone. You can set it in your calendar, you can even tell it to remind you. So it comes up an hour, half an hour, 15 minutes before your appointment and goes, hello, you've got an appointment, don't forget. I send out reminder email, well, I don't, fresher does. Reminder emails, reminder texts. So there's no reason that you should have forgotten this appointment. I have done everything in my power to make sure you remember this. You're an adult, it's your job to remember. But yeah, another tangent. You have held that time exclusively for that person. That is their time. If they choose to not turn up, that's fine. But they have to pay for it. Because you're not going to fill that slot in that time. It's too short notice. They've turned up. You won't know that somebody's not turned up for 10 minutes into their appointment. So then by the time you know they're not turning up, it's too late to get anybody else in because that slot is getting shorter and shorter the longer it goes on. So you can't fill the slot, therefore, you've lost out on the money completely, and then it's directly affecting your income. So a no Sophie isn't about being harsh and just taking people's money because you want to. It's about valuing your time and respecting your time. And any decent respectful client, if they accidentally don't turn up for an appointment or they have to cancel last minute or whatever, whatever means they can't come to their appointment and it's last minute, they will offer to pay. And I have got so many clients that do that, and I love them for it. And honestly, nine times out of ten, if a client, if it's a regular client that I love and respect, and they love and respect me, and they haven't turned up for their appointment, or well they've forgotten, or just something's happened and they've got turned up, and they go, I'm so sorry. Obviously, I'll pay you. What do you owe? What do I owe you? I'll let them off because I think I like that. I like that you're respectful, I like that you're respecting my time. I'll just we'll reschedule. Sometimes I will make them pay, depending on what the appointment is. If it is like a big chunk of money that I'm gonna lose out on, unless I can get them in somewhere else that day or the next day, I will have to charge them because I just think that's I shouldn't have to lose that because you've not been organised or whatever. But a lot of the time, if they offer to pay me, I think, yeah, that's nice. I like you. I I can be more lenient with you, like that's fine because I know that you respect me and you respect my time. So moving on to the next section is which is actually quite funny considering I've just said that I will do this, but stop bending your own rules. So it introduces the domino effect basically. If you bend your rules for somebody, if you bend them once for somebody, you'll be expected to bend them forever. So here's a scenario. So you waive a can a cancellation fee for client A. Client A is friends with another client of yours. Let's call them client B. Now client B knows that you've waived the cancellation fee for client A because they've had a little chat about it. Client B expects the same treatment, so they then waive a they cancel and you say, Oh, you're gonna have to pay for that. And they go, Well, you didn't you didn't make client A pay. So your policies now mean nothing. So even if you have the policies, even if you post them all over your Instagram and you tell every single client about them, it's on your booking system. If you're not gonna uphold them, they don't really mean anything because nobody, again, it's respect. Clients won't respect it. If they can go, oh, I need to counsel, and you go, okay, well, you need to pay this, and they kick off and you go, Oh, okay, well, don't then that's fine. Um, when do you want me to rebook you? They know that they will never have to do that because you will never ever stand your ground and you will never say, Well, actually, no, if you're not gonna respect me in my time, I don't want you as a client. So sorry. And the more consistent you are as well, the more respect you build, and having the set policies can actually remove the emotion from the decision because you can also almost like take the blame off you a little bit. You're not going out of your way to punish this person specifically. You can just say it's in the policies that you agreed to when you booked. Unfortunately, this is just the way I run my business. Well, not unfortunately, don't say unfortunately, because that makes it sound like it's a bad thing. This is just the way that I run my business. You agreed to the policies upon booking, pay me my money back. But yeah, it's not personal, it's just policy, and that at the end of the day, that's all it is. And I think sometimes people can take it really personally and think that you're singling them out and making them pay when they haven't had anything done, but ultimately that's your fault. Like, I don't mean you, I mean the client. That sounded really aggressive then. That's your fault. Now it's the client's fault. If you've turned up late, if you've not shown up, cancelling last minute. I get that sometimes things do happen. And I think in that situation, if you feel like you know their reasoning was unavoidable and you're happy to say, do you know what? That's fine. This time I'll wave it, but in future, I would it will have to be charged. That way, people know that should anything happen again, regardless of whether it was within their control or not, they will be paying for it. Because I know that I've had to do that in the past, things have come up that are completely unavoidable. I've had to pay for an appointment, and I would never expect not to, because that's somebody's wage at the end of the day. But I understand that because I'm in this industry, I get it. Whereas again, like I think if clients have never done a job like this before or have never been self-employed, they don't get it. Because regardless of whether people turn up to their job or not, they're getting paid. You know, if you're if you work at a cafe and you go to work for your shift and not a single person walks in that cafe that day, you're still getting paid. Doesn't matter how much work you do or don't have to do, you are getting your wage. And I kind of, if somebody does get quite argumentative with me, I will give them that sort of example and say, you know, if you turned up for work and did your full-day shift, and your boss turned around and said, Well, actually, we had no work on between two and four. So I'm not gonna pay you for those hours. You'd be angry, wouldn't you? Because you were there, you did the work, you were ready to work, there just wasn't anything there, and that's not your fault. You were there, you'd done your part, so you shouldn't have that money taken away from you, right? And then that's when they start to understand. I think what we need to understand is that clients do not run your business. You run your business. This your business isn't a democracy, it's a dictatorship. And I know that can sound a bit like, well, a dictatorship is never a good thing, but in this circumstance it is. We're not voting on who does and doesn't get to pay, and clients get to pick what they do and what they don't do. You choose that. This is your business, these are your rules, this is your policy. And anybody that wants to work with you has to abide and respect by that, respect by has to abide by that and respect it. Like it's not up for debate, you know, whether somebody gets to pay a deposit or not. You tell them they're paying a deposit, or your booking system tells them that they're paying a deposit. And if they say no, that's fine. You don't get an appointment. If you don't want to pay a deposit, if you don't want to commit your time, your money, and you don't want to commit to that appointment time, that's fine. You will not be having an appointment with me, unfortunately. Clients don't decide your prices, your policies, your working hours, or your cancellation terms. You do. If every decision in your business is negotiated, your business can't function, it doesn't work like that. You need to have clear set direction so then everybody knows where they're at, everybody knows what they're doing, everybody knows what's going on. You and clients, everybody knows how it works. Because again, if your policies are very like haphazard and nobody really knows what they are, and you chop and change them all the time, nobody knows what's doing, and then it feels like a scam to people. Whereas if you set your policies and whatnot from day one, and that is what you stick to, whether it be 48-hour cancellation policy, whatever cancellation policy, you know, no show fees, blah blah blah blah. Whatever it is, if you set it and stick to that from day one or whenever from day now and don't falter it, people will understand. And eventually you will only get the clients interested and messaging you and contacting you that are so fine with this sort of thing. I couldn't tell you the last time that I had somebody message and we got all the way to booking an appointment, and I said, Right, I'll give you the booking links, just pop your card details in to secure the appointment. And they went, No, I don't want to do that. Because people understand that coming to me means we are respectful and there is policy and there are rules and you have to abide by them if you want to work with me. I have positioned myself in this way in the industry, in my location, that people know that and understand that, and I now don't get clients that are gonna piss me around. And if one does somehow happen to slip through the net, they don't last long. Because if you no-show me on your first appointment, chances are you're not getting another one, especially if you don't pay it. So if I charge your card and there's no money in there, I will message you and I will send you an invoice. And if that invoice doesn't get paid, you will never ever come here again. Ever. It is a very, very stark difference in this business as being kind and being a pushover. I am kind, I'm respectful, I have time for every single client that walks through my doors, but I'm not a pushover. If somebody disrespects me or my time or my business, that's the line gets sort of drawn there. Like I'm not gonna tolerate that. Like I said with this client before from yesterday. If I don't get an apology, you're not coming back here again. I'm not gonna be spoken to like that, and then just keep doing your service for you as if nothing's happened. You might be able to speak to whoever you have at home like that, but you sure as shit aren't speaking to me like that. Like, nope, just because you're paying me does not mean you get to walk in here and slam doors and raise your voice. Unfortunately not. Um I see a lot of people asking how to like implement their policies without it feeling really, really awkward. And having a booking system is a really good way of doing that. I never really book people in manually anymore. Even if I speak to them on Instagram, like in DMs or whatever, when it gets to actually making the appointment, I'll send them a link to book because I'll even if I, because I'm fresher, you can make specific links for like for specific treatments or whatever. So if I've discussed with them what treatment they're having, I will make them a link for that specific treatment so they can just click the link and book that in. So they find their day, they find their time, they book in, they pay the deposit or put their card details in or whatever, and they sort that side of it out because then I don't have to tell them any of the policy. It's all written really clear on the booking system. If they need a patch test, it tells them they need a patch test. So then if they don't turn up for a patch test and I can't do the treatment and have to charge them for it, that's on them because they ticked a box to say, yep, I will come for my patch test at least 48 hours before. And then it's sent in your reminder emails and stuff as well. So you never really have to actually discuss the booking policy situation unless they know sure or don't turn up or whatever. So I find that to be the easiest way because then if you are chatting to somebody on Instagram, they decide, yeah, I'm gonna book an appointment, you send them the link and they then go silent after it being super, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna book this appointment, I'm gonna do all this stuff, yeah. You send them the link and they say, Oh, I've got to pay a deposit or oh I've got to put my card details in that might be charged if I don't turn up. And then they sudden all of a sudden fall off the face of the earth and you don't hear from them. Hmm, they probably weren't gonna turn up, were they? So I think that really is the best way of avoiding the conversation completely because you don't physically have to have the conversation then. You're not explaining the policies individually to each person, they're just a part of how your business operates, and it's non-negotiable either because they can't opt out of it online, they don't have that option, they either pay it or they don't book in, like it's simple. So I think that if you're feeling a little bit awkward about implementing a policy, then get an online booking system and do it that way. Because you then just don't have to have the conversation with each client and say, This is what we do and this is my booking policy, and blah blah blah. It just is what it is. You either booker, you don't. So you could, if you felt necessary, say to people, like just a reminder or cancellation policy is 48 hours once they've booked, or I don't know, whenever you feel like that's appropriate. I send out my reminder texts. Um, they go out 72 hours, maybe is it, or is it four days? I'll actually have to check that. I can't remember if I set them to go out the day before the cancellation policy sets in. So I have a 72-hour cancellation policy because I've patch tested and things like that. So if somebody cancels within 48 hours, that's great, but I still can't fill the slot because I need to patch test somebody, like for chemical peels and stuff. So I have it as 72, so I need to double check, but I think my text messages go out four days before the appointment, and then they get another email reminder like the day before. Um, so that then when they see the text, they think, oh, I can't I can't do that time anymore. I need to move it. They can still do that without being charged, and I still have time to fill the appointment. Once that 72 hours kicks in, they can't reschedule it or anything on online, and if they cancel it online, it automatically charges their card 50%. So again, removes me having to have that conversation. A lot of the time people will try and move it online and then message me and say, Oh, can I move my appointment, please? And then I have to sort of say, uh you can, but you will owe 50% for this appointment and then the full amount for the next one. And then nine times out of ten, they can magically do their appointment because they're gonna get charged for it. Clients are so fine for you to lose out on the money and you to be impacted by them and their poor planning, but if it's going to impact them, not okay. I will come to that appointment now and I'll move the other thing that was clearly not that important in the first place. So, yeah. I wouldn't remember that when you're thinking and like feeling guilty for charging people, they would not care if it was the other way around. If it was you that was losing the money, they wouldn't feel guilty. And if they do, they will offer to pay. And that's again going back to those clients that always like are respectful and obviously like have respect for your time, they will always offer and say, like, oh, do I owe you anything? Like, I'm really, really sorry. What do I owe you? I'll pay, like, I'll pay the deposit, rah rah rah. And then you know you've got a good one. Don't let that one go. So I think if you want clients to respect your time, you have to show them that you are to be respected and that your time is valuable. I think the therapist who struggle the most with cancellations usually have one thing missing, and that is clear boundaries. I think if you have clear boundaries and you stick to them, the only clients that you're going to push away are the bad ones. Boundaries will not push good clients away. They attract better ones and they attract higher paying clients and they attract clients that respect your time, respect what you do as a job, and they then also will respect what you tell them in your appointments. If you have a client that is, you know, more than willing to pay a big deposit, or some will even offer to pay in full sometimes when you say you need a deposit. You used to get a lot of people say, Oh, I'll just pay it all now. And I'd be like, Oh, sick. Those clients will be the ones that when you have your consultations with them, you recommend products and say this is what you would need for your skin and like for your skin routine and your treatments to get the best aftercare, blah blah blah blah. They will go away and they'll buy every single one or they will buy them all from you. They will not query and question the price because they respect you, they respect your time, they respect your knowledge, and they respect what you do as a job and that what you're telling them is the truth. Whereas the clients that are gonna fuss over paying a deposit are also the clients that are gonna fuss at the end of the appointment when you tell them how much it is. And they're also gonna be the clients when you recommend products, they go, Well, how much is that? No, I'm not, I'll I'll just go to the super drug and buy shit skincare that clearly hasn't been working because that's what I've been doing anyway, and my skin is horrendous, and that's why I'm here. But I don't want to pay for anything, I just want you to do it all for free and give me things, you know. This is how when people say to me, like, oh, I I'm I can't do skin, I look I really want to do skin pen, but like my clients just won't pay for it. I know that people, you know, have their budgets and stuff, but if you're wanting to do more advanced treatments and give them more advanced service, you need more advanced clients and the clients that can afford it. And the way of doing that is having good, clear boundaries and basically demanding respect from people because the more people respect you, the more they'll trust you and the more they'll give you. And I don't mean that in like a weird, like, oh, they'll give you loads of stuff and they'll give you loads of money. I mean it in like they'll give you their time and they'll give you their respect and they'll give you their air when you're telling them what they need to do with their skin, they will listen and they'll value the things that you tell them. So I think all in all, this whole thing, it's not even just about the cancellation fees and the no-show fees and all of this and that. It's about respect in a nutshell and like elevating your business beyond it being just like a little job that you do. You want it, it's not a little job, it's your business. This is your income. Whether it's your full-time income or not, I'm assuming if you're doing it, you're wanting it to become your full-time income. And one of the reasons that people worry so much about leaving their job to be self-employed full-time is the money. So if you're not having a set like boundaries in place now, when you're trying to build up to be able to leave your job, you'll never get to that point because clients will always piss you around. So you'll always worry, what if I leave my job and then I've got a fully booked week, but then half of them cancel, I'm gonna lose all that money. If you have boundaries, that won't happen. If you have the policies in place, that won't happen. And if it does, you'll still get paid for it. So bear all this in mind, girls. I know this might have felt like a bit of like a you should do this or you should do that, and that's not what it is. I'm just giving you the experience that I've had over the last 10 years of being self-employed and running a business and all of the no-shows and cancellations and clients kicking off at me and not respecting me and like shouting at me even yesterday, which is why like I have not had a client shout at me for years. Like, I actually couldn't tell you the last time it happened. Yeah, I don't know. It's been a long, long, long time since a client has spoken to me like that. So, yeah, it doesn't happen because I don't give people the space to do it. I am quite a boundary setter when it comes to my business. I I'm not when it comes to my personal life, I'm the complete opposite, I don't know why. But when it comes to my business, I don't take the piss and nobody's taking the piss out of me, kind of thing. Like, my money is my money, and I no one's playing with that. So this is just all my experience. Take what you want from it, leave what you don't want. If you feel like anything obviously doesn't resonate with you, and you feel like, oh, I don't really need that, that's also fine. Like, you don't need to do everything I tell you to do or say that you should do. This isn't like a fact, this is my opinion, and this is what's worked for me over the last 10 years. So take what it what you take from it what you want and leave what you don't, and that's fine. And then if in the future you think, hmm, maybe I should do that, maybe that thing that Paige talked about on the third episode of the podcast, all that time ago, maybe I should implement that now because she said this, that, and the other, I'm still struggling with this, and I think that would solve that, that's also fine, you know? But if you're in a space at the minute where you're really struggling with clients cancelling, not turning up, being late, just overall not really respecting your time, and you don't have a hard, like a hard, uh concise, clear cancellation booking policy, whatever you want to call it, in place, that would be my advice to you would be to get that sorted, set up, hash chat GPT, what to include on it, give it the basics. Obviously, say I want this, this, and this, I want it to protect my income and my time. I also want it to be realistic and fair for people, bam, it'll give you a full write-up of it, and you can just put that in a little Canva document or put it into your fresher or whatever booking system you use, and job's done. As long as it's you don't even need to tell every single client individually, as long as it's they can see it somewhere on your page or on your booking system. Usually on booking systems, it will come up and tell them when they're booking, but as long as they it's visible for people to find, that's fine. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed this one. I feel like this is a bit different to the last two. If you enjoyed it, make sure you follow us at the skindustry underscore, and you can also follow me and my clinic at Foxy Skin Clinic, that's F-O-X-I-E, Skin Clinic on Instagram. Take a screenshot, put it on your stories, tag us. I love seeing who's listening every week, and I always I'm like seeing the same names and faces, which is really, really nice. I love that. I love the girls that support every single week. So thank you for that. And we will have a new episode next week. They're gonna keep getting better and bigger and more honest. And yeah, if if there again is anything you want me to cover, give me a message, let me know. And I'll see you in the next one. Have a good week, girls.