Starting an Esthetician Business
What You Need to Know to Start an Esthetics Business
When it comes to career branches in the beauty industry, esthetics is one of the most exciting, flexible, and lucrative you can pick.
Esthetics is one of those careers that has a meaningful purpose, much like the rest of cosmetology.
When done right and for the right reasons, it can be the key to unlocking someone’s confidence, helping clients meet their skincare goals, and just elevating the way they feel and think about themselves.
It also helps that esthetics is a branch of cosmetology that doesn’t really have a ceiling–you can continue to improve your skills, add services, and elevate your customers’ experiences based on the new and exciting trends and techniques that surface.
In other words, being an esthetician is a fabulous career choice if you’re considering a branch of cosmetology.
But how do you get started?
This blog is going to dive into some of the must-know factors every wanna-be cosmetologist, esthetician, or beauty pro should know to start their very own esthetics business.
What is an Esthetician, Exactly?
Before you can dive into the deep end of the esthetics pool, it’s helpful to know what exactly an esthetician does. It’s likely that if you’re reading this blog, you’re already a little familiar with the industry–but do you know the difference between an esthetician and a medical esthetician?
An esthetician is a licensed professional who is expertly trained to perform skincare services that fall under the realm of things like custom skincare recommendations, skincare consult, skin toning, lash extensions, massage, and hair removal, microblading, etc. A medical esthetician–or aesthetician–focuses on more on the work involving advanced skin ailments or pain points. In other words, medical estheticians bring skincare to a more medical setting.
For the sake of clarity, this blog will be directly referring to esthetics and not medical esthetics–because the list for starting your own medical esthetics business is–of course–different.
Curious about the pros and cons of these two professions? We’ve got a blog for that. Check it out after you finish reading this one!
What You Need to Start an Esthetician Business
Your License is No. 1
This should be the easy-peasy first answer.
Of course, you need your license to practice your esthetics skills! We won’t walk you through all the details of this license right here, right now, but we will direct you to our comprehensive blog that tells you everything you need to know about your esthetician license.
But, to keep things short and sweet, you definitely need your esthetician license before you take any further steps (for credibility but also for legal reasons).
Treatment-Specific Training is a Must
What services do you want to offer at your esthetician business? Think hard on that, and then get that training. Wanting to offer microblading services is the first step. Actually, getting that training in order to offer that microblading service responsibly is next.
Business Registration & Paperwork
Do everything you need to do in your country, state, country, etc., to sign up for a business license. Above all, you want your business to be compliant and problem-free–and that means operating above board and making sure you have your Is dotted, and your Ts crossed correctly.
Esthetician Liability Insurance
You’re probably thinkin’, “sure; the insurance company is definitely going to press this matter.” And, like, that’s fair–but we’re not coming at this from a “we’re trying to sell you” angle–we’re coming at this from a “you need esthetician liability insurance to be successful” angle.
Hear us out.
Esthetician insurance coverage is one of those things you hope you never need but are 100% hyped about having when you do. Think about it this way. Professional tightrope walkers are experts at their skill–but even when they’re towering hundreds of feet above the ground with no ropes keeping them safe, they still have a safety net far below.
Why? Because even though they know what they’re doing, they also know this–stuff happens. Liability insurance is the same thing idea. We hope you never need it (and hey, you may not), but if you take a wrong step or a gust of wind in the form of a nasty allegation knocks you off balance, you’ll be glad to see that safety net underneath you if you do fall.
We digress. But we do want you to know that we’ve got the best esthetician liability insurance in the game, and we’re happy to help you choose the plan that’s right for you.
A Business Plan
This might feel overwhelming at first, but it’s a necessary step for building your esthetician business. What services will you offer? Whom do you want to serve? What will your quarterly and yearly goals look like? What’s your financial plan? Start asking the big, important questions to really dive into the business plan of it all.
Then, think about the future. How will you branch out and update your offerings? How will you stay relevant and top of mind? Think long and hard about how you can come up with an evergreen business model that continues working for you no matter how the trends change.
Your Brand & Your Why
Do you know why you got into the esthetician business? It might sound silly, but this exercise is massively important for branding and understanding the reason you got into the biz.
Take time to think about why you’re here, what you’re looking for in this career, and what you want to accomplish. Then, apply that to your branding.
So, tell us–are you ready to strike out on your own and get your esthetics career going? We sure hope so. These tips and tricks should get you started, but remember, it’s a marathon–not a sprint. You’ll always have a lot to learn; to us, that’s part of the fun. You got this!
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