Friends, Favours and Fair Pay: A Beauty Pro’s Guide to Pricing People You Know

There is a particular kind of silence after you qualify as a beauty therapist. It happens when a friend says, ‘So… mates rates, yeah?’ and you realise your lovely new certificate has just turned you into a walking favour. You want to say yes. You also want to pay for your products, your insurance and, eventually, your rent. The trick is not to choose between the friendship and the business. It is to put a policy in place before the question lands.

Decide the discount before anyone asks

You do not need a full business plan to set a friends-and-family rate, but you do need a decision. Work it out while you are calm, not while someone is sitting in your kitchen with a glass of wine and a hopeful expression.

A useful starting point is to decide what your standard price is, then decide what you are genuinely happy to take off it. A small, consistent percentage is easier to defend than a vague ‘I’ll sort you out’. It also stops you from inventing a different price for every person you know.

Be honest about your reason for discounting. If it is to build experience, say so. If it is to thank someone for support, say so. If it is because you feel guilty, that is not a business reason — and it will breed resentment faster than a badly mixed tint.

Work out what a favour actually costs

A treatment is never just the visible hour. There is product, consumables, laundry, travel if you are mobile, card fees, insurance, replacement tools and the time you spend replying to messages and cleaning up afterwards. Even a ‘quick’ set of nails has a cost before your skill is factored in.

As an illustration, imagine your standard price is £35. The products and disposables might be £5, travel £5, and the appointment takes an hour and a half including set-up and clean-down. If you charge a friend £15, you are not just giving a discount — you may be paying for the privilege of working. That is not generous. That is a hobby with extra steps.

Your friends-and-family rate should still cover your costs and leave something for your time. A discount is a gesture, not a donation.

Build a policy that fits your business

A simple three-tier approach works for most new beauty pros. Close family and a tiny inner circle might get the deepest discount, but cap it — one treatment a month, or weekdays only. Friends get a fixed percentage off standard prices. Everyone else pays full price, even if you vaguely know them from school.

Keep the rules short enough to remember and specific enough to apply. For example: 20% off weekday appointments, excluding bridal and event work, one booking per month, standard deposit applies to everyone. That last point matters. If friends skip the deposit and then cancel, you have given them a discount and absorbed the risk.

Scripts for the moments that make you squirm

When someone asks for a price, answer with the actual price and the next step. You are not being rude by being clear.

‘Hiya, I’d love to do that. My friends-and-family rate is 20% off my usual £35, so it would be £28. I have Thursday at 10 or Saturday at 2 — want either?’

If someone asks for a freebie, keep it warm but firm.

‘I can’t do free, sadly — products and insurance still cost me even on friends. I can do my friends rate, which is 20% off, if that helps.’

In person, say it once and then move the conversation on.

‘I’m really glad you asked. I’ve had to make a proper policy so I don’t get in a muddle. Friends get 20% off weekdays, and the deposit is the same for everyone. Shall I book you in?’

If they push back, do not start negotiating against yourself.

‘I know that’s not the answer you wanted, but I have to keep it fair for everyone. The friends rate is the best I can do.’

The warm no to last-minute favours

Last-minute requests are where good policies go to die. A friend texts at 4pm asking for a 6pm appointment because they have an event. You have already worked a full day. You say yes anyway. You rush, you resent it, and you set the expectation that your diary is flexible whenever they need it.

A warm no sounds like this:

‘I can’t fit that in today, but I can do Wednesday at 5. The friends rate still applies if it’s a weekday.’

You are offering an alternative, not an apology. If you genuinely want to help, offer a different slot or a simpler treatment. Do not offer a bigger discount to soften the no.

Keep the treatment room professional

Friendship can make you skip the boring bits. Do not skip them. Do the consultation, take the patch test details, fill in the record card, explain aftercare and keep to your start and finish times. If your friend is late, apply the same lateness policy you would apply to anyone. If they cancel, retain the deposit as your policy states.

This is not cold. It is actually kinder. Clear boundaries mean you are not quietly keeping score. You can enjoy the chat without wondering why you are the only person in the friendship doing unpaid admin.

A copy-and-paste policy template

Use this as a starting point and adjust it to your prices and treatments.

• Standard prices: [insert your full price list].
• Friends-and-family rate: 20% off treatments booked Tuesday to Thursday, excluding bridal and event work.
• Limit: one friends-and-family booking per person per month.
• Deposit: standard 25% deposit applies to all bookings, including friends and family.
• Cancellations: 48 hours’ notice required; late cancellations lose the deposit.
• Last-minute bookings: subject to availability, with no extra discount.
• Payment: bank transfer or card on the day. No ‘I’ll get you next time’.
• Review: I review this policy every six months or when my costs change.

When a freebie is actually a portfolio shoot

There is a difference between doing a free treatment because you feel awkward and doing a planned portfolio shoot to build your lookbook. If you are not charging, make it a proper shoot: agree the look, get consent for photos, set a time limit and do not let it become a monthly arrangement. A freebie should have a purpose. Otherwise it is just a discount with better marketing.

Protect the friendship and the business

A real friend will respect your prices, even if they have a little grumble first. If someone consistently expects free work, turns up late or treats your business like a hobby, that is useful information. You can still care about them and still say no.

Your skills are worth paying for — even by people who knew you before you could do a decent gel set. A fair policy is not a wall between you and your friends. It is the thing that stops money and resentment from quietly ruining the friendship in the first place.