Writing for people who run service businesses
Product updates, practical guides and what we are learning from salons, garages, clinics and trades across the UK.
47 articles
What a card payment actually costs you
Card fees are quoted as a percentage plus a fixed pence amount. The pence part is what hurts on small tickets. Here is the arithmetic on a £40 cut.
Payments,
Pricing your services without guessing
Most small businesses price by looking at what the shop down the road charges. Here is a better method that takes about an hour.
Running a business,GDPR for a two-person business
You do not need a data protection officer or a 40 page policy. You do need to know what you hold, why and how to delete it when asked.
Compliance,Why marketplace commission compounds. A subscription does not
A one-time fee on a new client sounds small. Its real cost depends on something most comparisons ignore: how fast you are growing.
Running a business,How far ahead should clients be able to book?
Most booking pages allow twelve months because that was the default. The window you choose quietly decides your no show rate and how painful your next price rise is.
Bookings,What to do when a client turns up late
Decide this on a quiet Tuesday morning rather than in the moment. Three options, a cut-off worth writing down and the repeat offender who needs a different fix entirely.
Bookings,Where double bookings actually come from
A double booking is almost never a mistake somebody made. It is a gap between two systems that both think they own the diary.
Bookings,The hidden cost of a ten minute gap
Small gaps between appointments look harmless. Six of them a day is most of a working hour. It is the hour you never charged anybody for.
Bookings,Should you still take walk-ins?
Appointment only is cleaner, quieter and easier to staff. It also turns away the customer standing in front of you with cash in their hand. A middle path usually wins.
Bookings,Cashflow and profit are not the same number
Profitable businesses run out of money all the time. Here is why the two numbers drift apart in a service business and which one to watch on a Monday morning.
Payments,Gift cards, the cashflow win and the catch
Gift cards bring money in months before the work happens, which is exactly why they need treating carefully. What to set, what to record and what not to spend.
Payments,Chargebacks and disputes for service businesses
A chargeback takes the money back out of your account and charges you a fee for the privilege. Most of them are winnable and almost all of them are preventable.
Payments,Should you still take cash?
Cash has no processing fee, which is the argument everybody makes. It also has a banking cost, a counting cost and a record keeping cost that nobody puts a number on.
Payments,