Stop Paying Yourself Minimum Wage

Taken from paydata.co.uk; “The aim of the minimum wage and

the national living wage is to give employees a fair pay, giving them more

disposable income to pump back into the economy. The general idea that the more

money a person earns the more satisfied they will be still rings true.”

This fair pay is decided by the government – the MINIMUM amount of money they can pay you per hour. A baseline to ensure that workers receive a fair wage.

But you’re paying yourself. And is what you’re paying yourself sufficient? Do you want something that’s sufficient; the minimum; or do you want a wage that covers all your business needs and your wildest dreams?

The NMW is NOT a benchmark for determining your earnings for several reasons.

The cost of living between say Newcastle and London varies wildly.

Your financial needs and responsibilities will vary; down to whether you’ve got kids, have debts, live alone or with others, or have specific health concerns.

What’s your skill level and experience? If you’ve got more education, skills, or experience, you might warrant a higher salary than someone else. Specialised knowledge and expertise command a higher pay rate.

What specific skills do you have? If you’ve got a specific skill (and I’m not quite talking about Liam Neeson in Taken here…) that’s in high demand, means you need to look at earning a salary that exceeds the minimum wage. If you’re not negotiating your salary in line with your skills, experience, and the specific demands of the job you do – are you getting paid fairly?

Where do you want to be in the next 5 or 10 years? As you gain more experience and acquire new skills, you should be aiming for a salary that reflects your growing expertise. You’re going to need more money more training, more kit needs etc. Going after opportunities for education and professional development can enhance your skills and make you more marketable, potentially leading to higher-paying positions.

We also need to look at inflation – one of the big buzz words of the past few years. Over time, minimum wage doesn’t keep pace with inflation, causing a decline in wages.

You also need to factor in benefits to your job; healthcare, retirement plans, and working conditions. A higher paying job may offer better overall compensation wages wise, but make sure that where you’re working makes you happy too! It’s more than just an hourly pay or monthly wage.

As a self-employed hairdresser, beauty therapist or nail tech, you wouldn't get the above perks that an employed person would get. So if you're only making NMW, in real terms, you're way below it.

We as an industry should be aiming well beyond NMW for our income goal, not just because we need to factor in things like sick pay, holiday pay, pensions, insurances etc, but because we have oftentimes spent thousands of pounds, and thousands of hours, perfecting our craft.

Not only that, but the time you work 1:1 with your client, isn't the ONLY time you're working. Between stocktake and ordering, social media, bookkeeping, cleaning and many other tasks, you are working so much more than just the booked out hours in your diary.

It's time for the pricing revolution, and I'd love for you to join us!

Maddi 💖

P.S. If you want to easily have all of your services prices automatically (and correctly!) calculated for you, join over 5,000 other hair and beauty entrepreneurs and use Boss Your Profits, my industry-leading pricing calculator.