Paying Therapists & Estheticians

[ideal22us]

I am opening a mobile spa in New York and I have a couple of questions if anyone can help me... right now I am not an esthetician myself but I will be going to school in July... I have read on other boards that paying contractors a 50% commission is the way to go but I am not so sure about that...Can anyone help me figure out the best way for me to pay estheticians and massage therapists? I plan on supplying the equipment and having them purchase products from me at wholesale so everyone uses the same things...Also when I called the NYS Licensing Board about opening a mobile spa in NY they said I did not need to have a license because it is not a brick and mortar shop... Is this true or did they not understand what I was saying?Thank you

 

[BEAUTY QUEEN]

Paying Therapists & Estheticians

Do yourself a favor, and avoid paying on a "split".Find a fair wage to pay for each service, and pay your people that rate, for EACH service they perform. If you discount, that is YOUR problem, not theirs. If you find a clients willing to pay $150 for a massage, the therapist should not earn more because of your success in marketing.Find out what local spas pay (they probably are too lazy to pay a fair wage and do a commission, so you will have to do the math and figure out the average). Pay about 15-20% more since they have to travel and buy product.As for licensing, that sounds right. If you are not a fixed location, you may not need an massage/nails/facials establishment permit. You do, however, have to register as a business (basic business license) with the state and city and pay those fees, file a tax return, have business insurance, get a FEIN to file your 1099s, etc. etc.

 

[johnsvolt]

Paying Therapists & Estheticians

Do yourself a favor, and avoid paying on a "split".

Find a fair wage to pay for each service, and pay your people that rate, for EACH service they perform.

I wish all places did that. When I was working at the school, I made sure to tell them that many of my clients came in for deep tissue service. I told them that I will NOT pay them 40% of my deep tissue fee, I will only pay them 40% of the regular swedish massage fee. They made a huff about it, but if the commission that I am paying them goes to rent, marketing, etc, then my personal clients that go to the school do not require their marketing, and they will not make MORE money off of MY hard work (the extra strain per massage and marketing they didn't put forth), I will only pay them for the room usage, which 40% of their Swedish charge more than covers that. Paying the therapist a flat fee sounds very fair.

Freshface, to be fair, if the therapist/technician is supposed to buy their own products, why not let them choose which products to use? If someone required me to use a specific lotion, I would expect them to pay for that particular product, or make me an employee.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Paying Therapists & Estheticians

Seforum.xxxg,Unfortunately, schools ingrain the split mentality and the salon industry does nothing to change it. It is lazy - just like $1/minute chair massage. Weird thing is, it is harder to calculate when it comes to pay day -- somewhere I am searching for that Aesop's fable about a little planning now...I can understand wanting to keep things consistent. It is what separates our service from someone with a massage table. We just signed a deal with FRESH and will be branding our treatments using their products exclusively, so if you call us for a Sugar Shea Butter hot stone massage, you better get one. The only way to do it is to have the therapists purchase the product - that way they are free to use it on their own clients, but it is on their dime - or you give it to them, pay them slightly less and monitor their use (and we all know how MTs love having someone look over their shoulder)

 

[Gee]

Paying Therapists & Estheticians

I can understand wanting to keep things consistent. It is what separates our service from someone with a massage table. We just signed a deal with FRESH and will be branding our treatments using their products exclusively, so if you call us for a Sugar Shea Butter hot stone massage, you better get one. The only way to do it is to have the therapists purchase the product - that way they are free to use it on their own clients, but it is on their dime - or you give it to them, pay them slightly less and monitor their use (and we all know how MTs love having someone look over their shoulder)

I keep forgetting that there are therapists out there who will use the owners' supplies on their own clients without paying for the supplies. D@mn unethical therapists... they ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Paying Therapists & Estheticians

Sadly...estheticians, hair stylists and nail tech's too.Back at AVEDA, there was a strict formula for how many treatments a bottle of every product was supposed to last. Your product costs were supposed to be less than 1% of service revenue, and the only way to be sure was to check and measure. 1% may not sound like a lot, but consider the AVERAGE Day Spa does $1M a year -- that can add up.In salons/spas, people would fill up their own containers to take home to use!

 

[ronghui lu]

Paying Therapists & Estheticians

I work at a AVEDA Spa/Salon, but they dont measure or anything. there isnt "take product home" crowd here- but they love to use all of the testers (makeup, hair, ect.). with paying the therapists/estheticians, i think having them collect the money and then paying you a flat rate/hour (like $25 per hour massage, my old work did this and the owner made over $20,000 for the year just from me! and i made everything else. just make sure that your prices arnt too low, i wouldnt start less than $65 for in-home services) Just a thought.

 

[reme_1]

Paying Therapists & Estheticians

In NYC city, your prices should start at $120 per hour for in-home services.

 

[Evelyn]

Paying Therapists & Estheticians

In NYC city, your prices should start at $120 per hour for in-home services.

i agree

 

[Claire Bear!]

from BigDog, in another thread:"I have noticed that a lot of business/spa owners come here to ask about how much to pay a therapist and then get mad when we tell them to pay them well.  I learned a very valuble leason in the military.  TAKE CARE OF THOSE WHO TAKE CARE OF YOU.  I pay my therapist very well and they take care of me, my business, and our clients.  The first 5 months of this venture I made no money.  I even had to use my savings to pay payroll once or twice.  But now my therapist keep telling me "I want to make you a very rich man, because then you will make me a very rich man/woman."   To those that have employees, TAKE CARE OF THEM.  It will pay off in the long run."most excellent advice  ;D