Tired of Spa Owners Taking Advantage of Estheticians

It's All About Money!

Okay, I understands businesses are in business to make money without a doubt they have many operating and overhead expenses that we estheticians can't even comprehend. They take out major loans and risk their credit and mortgage their houses to open these spas. I get it! I know it is a lot, but estheticians are part of their success. Without estheticians (or other spa employees) what would be the success rate of their spas then?
Without estheticians there is no spa, thus there is no business to pay the operating costs and overhead. When it comes to esthetician pay there are some seriously cheap owners out there that don't want to share in the success. I am not suggesting owners give their hard earned money away, not at all, I am suggesting that they pay estheticians fair and equitable pay. I wish there were some type of organization that protected estheticians from unfair pay and seedy business owners.
Case and point: I had a job all lined up once at a spa with a terrific owner who was going to pay me 50/50. I would bring some of my own products and he would bring some. I would pay for my own uniform and he would pay for advertising and basic supply costs. We decided we would have a contract that was mutually beneficial and lay out all of terms, except when I got the contract many of the points that we agreed on verbally had been changed to his favor!!!

One of the biggest changes was to the compensation plan. He and I agreed that I would get 50/50 split (just like I had earned at previous places) but he changed the contract to say 50/50 of the profit. 50/50 of the profit is very different from 50/50 of the treatment cost and he tried to slipped that right into the contract. Of course, I nixed that right away because 50% of the profit wasn't much after he put in his overhead costs and such, he was smart he could screw me right out of money by simply putting in the contract a 50/50 profit knowing that most people wouldn't have caught that in the contract.

The second thing he did was put in our contract that I would give him 60 days notice to end the agreement but he only had to give me 10 days notice! That is absurd. I had to give him plenty of notice to find a new esthetician, but he didn't have to give me the same professional courtesy?

Needless to say, I told him that the contract wasn't agreeable or even favorable by industry standards. I am not a pansy that he can just walk all over. He knew exactly what he was doing, we had previously discussed terms verbally and he purposely constructed this contract to be more favorable to him with the intent of getting me to sign on the dotted line. As you can imagine, you can probably guess where I told him to take his contract!

In this business you've got to protect yourself first and foremost, it doesn't matter how friendly or how professional a business owner or manager seems, trust no one.
You didn't pay all that money to go to esthetics school to come out in the real world and people take advantage of you. And trust me, if you give them an inch they will take it. You have to conduct yourself like a professional and demand what you deserve (within reason--within industry standards for your location).  I have always been picky about what I accept, and the owner's character is of high importance to me because I want to work for a place I am happy at, a place where I like the owner and I know they've got my back because we are mutually making money for each other.
Don't accept anything (unless you have to right now)--make sure it is the right deal for you.

Author of
Jump Start Your Esthetics Career: A Guide to Newly Licensed Estheticians

 Spa Divas: A Place to Hang My License

Spa Party Business: A Plan to Success

Available on www.amazon.com