Are you doomed to make mistakes when you first get licensed? Does that count toward “paying your dues?” If you could trust someone to manage your career, would you follow their advice, or insist on making your own decisions? When those decisions don’t work out, who deserves the blame? The overused excuse “I didn’t know any better and wish someone had warned me” evades any personal responsibility and falls short given our propensity to do what we want, not what’s in our best interests.
The independence promised by the beauty industry translates to the freedom to exercise poor judgment.
Ranging from “oops, my bad” to “I’ve been sued and lost my license,” mistakes can be at best disappointing and embarrassing, and at worst devastating and career-ending. Surviving any negative consequences, how many bad decisions can we make and still call ourselves “professional?” The sad truth: extensive experience does not protect beauty pros from using poor judgment throughout their careers.
“Some of us learn from other people’s mistakes and the rest of us have to be the other people.” – Zig Ziglar
Limiting this list to only five, I chose these mistakes as the most likely to be made and repeated:
1. Working as a misclassified employee.
Learn about federal tax and employment laws and even stricter requirements that may exist in your state. Don’t allow salon owners to exploit your ignorance or apathy.
2. Signing a contract without advice from a legal professional.
Read contracts carefully, review any questions or concerns with a legal professional and resolve anything that could be considered illegal or unfair before signing.
3. Launching your own business without knowing your legal and financial obligations.
Owning a business seems simple when you don’t understand what’s required so do your research before committing legally and financially.
4. Wasting money on education outside your scope.
Unless approved by your state, certificates don’t change your licensed scope of practice. Verify the instructor’s qualifications and any information presented in the class.
5. Devaluing your services and expertise to attract clients.
Calculate prices based on operational, product and labor costs, and limit discounts to retail products only. Work within your scope of practice and protect the health and safety of clients, even if that means refusing service.
“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” – George Bernard Shaw
Regardless of past experiences and confidence in your judgment, you need to recognize what you don’t know and how it could hurt your career. Seeking advice from qualified experts may be inconvenient and expensive, but it’s preferable to failing, regretting your decisions and having to admit you were wrong.
“I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.” – Thomas Carlyle
Where do you find the best advice? Please, please avoid crowd-sourcing on social media. Some of the worst advice ever given exists there, earning undeserved attention in the form of likes, shares, follows and reinforcing comments. Not all opinions are created equal, and most should be ignored.
An earlier version was published by Beauty Cast Network.