ep. 029 • Why You Should Stop Charging Per Piece

Chelsea: How do I charge for my services? This is one of the biggest hangups for henna artists who hope to make the move into monetizing their services. Today, I'm sharing why I teach my students to charge by time, not by piece. Ready? Let's go.

Welcome to the Hennapreneur podcast – the exclusive podcast of its kind dedicated to giving you an honest look at the realities of making a living as a henna professional.

I'm your host, Chelsea Stevenson, a tea-loving, shoe-collecting mother of three in constant search for the most popping pair of earrings and the perfect shade of red lipstick.

I'm also a professional henna artist and business strategist who went from barely being able to piece together a fluid design to being the owner of the most celebrated henna boutique in my city.

I'm on a mission to help henna professionals, to harness their skills and grow vibrant, profitable businesses that they absolutely love.

If you want to make more money with your art, you are definitely in the right place. Let's get to it!

Hey, hennapreneurs! Today, I am wanting to chat with you a little bit about one of the most common questions, honestly, that I get about working with henna as a business, as acting as a hennapreneur. And oftentimes this question comes from those, you know, community members who either are just moving into monetizing their services, or it will come from the artists who have been working for a while with henna, but they're finding that they are not getting consistent income and they're wondering why. And so we get into the question of: how can I charge for my services, or how might I better charge for my services? And I love this question so much because what it says to me is that these are hennapreneurs who are serious about what they're doing and they want to make sure that they're being compensated appropriately and I love that, right? You guys already know, I have a strong value for making sure that you are being compensated appropriately for your services. And so, let's just, like, chat it all up. Let's talk about it today, okay?

So, inside of my program–. So you—. If you haven't heard prior, I have a program that's called Hennapreneur PRO and inside of that program, I teach my students a number of things. But one of the things inside of a portion of that program is all about setting your rates and making sure that you're setting your rates in a way that's going to be efficient and that's going to yield you the most returns, right? I want you to have the highest amount of profit margin possible, and I want you to have the most revenue possible for the services that you're offering.  Like, you deserve that, right? And so, one of the things that I talk about a lot, both inside of my program and even outside, you know, when I receive questions like these, is the importance of structuring the pricing around your services in such a way that's going to give you the most bang for your buck, right?

And so, there are three reasons that I want to share with you today for why I am not a proponent of charging by piece and why I strongly feel that you should be charging by time when you're working in a one-on-one capacity. So I do want to go ahead and preface this episode by saying, you know, I am talking about those individual appointments. I'm talking about appointments where you're working one-on-one with a client, or even if you're working with them in a group, anytime you're working in a private setting, right? When you're working at public events, when you're working at festivals and we're when you're working in the capacity where many people might be visiting with you and you're, you know, in that sort of setting charging by piece is totally appropriate, okay?

Don't get me wrong. It's not that there's never a time or place where charging per piece matters, but also, the majority of your income, because I do not teach, I do not believe in, you know, structuring your business around events like that: public events where you're, you know, being paid per guest or per, you know, per visitor. I don't believe in structuring your business around that. I don't think that it's smart, period. So... But for the majority of your appointments, the majority of your work where you're working one-on-one with an individual or with a group in a private setting, I strongly encourage you to charge by time.

And there are three reasons why I, you know, believe that is the best route to go.

So, the first is that when you choose a charge by time, rather than charging by piece, it allows you the opportunity to play.

And so, what do I mean by that? Well, when you're charging per piece, right? The first thing that you do is you sit down with that client. She shows you the piece, or you draft a piece, perhaps, and you are discussing between the two of you how much that piece is going to cost. And there are a number of things that are you know, going into that equation, how detailed it is, how large the design is, how, you know, is it going to have this tight netting or is it going to have a more open netting? What is this fill that you're using over here? What is that over there? Are you, you know, having a whole bunch of extra elements that are included or is it just this major motif?

Like, there is a lot that goes into charging per piece and when you choose to charge per piece, and you have those sorts of discussions, what you do is you create this rigid environment, right? Where: 'okay, I have agreed to deliver X, Y, Z, inside of this design in exchange for x-dollar amount.' And so it takes away from your opportunity to play, and to explore, and to really use your creative genius.

Whereas, when you choose to charge by time, that really does allow you the opportunity to explore beyond those parameters, right? There is no rigid outline, there's no confine—right?—to what you can do inside of that time. And I love this. I really do. That's not to say that you're not having conversations with your clients about what they want inside of their design. Absolutely not, right? You still... Even when you charge by the time, you're still gonna have conversations with them about what they're looking for.

When I visit with clients at my henna boutique, one of the things that I will ask, especially if they're new to me—. If there's someone who I have already built a rapport with and built a relationship with, I likely won't ask them these questions in the same way, but certainly, when I have a new visitor, I like to get an idea of what it is that they would like to have done. Do they have a vision? Is there, you know, are there elements that they like?

And I will, I, you know, I'm happy to show them inside of my portfolios, "Okay," you know, "Do you like something like this? Or do you like, something like that? Do you prefer something like this or something like that?" And that way, I can get an idea of their aesthetic, the aesthetic that they are looking for for their piece, but it doesn't, it doesn't hold me to: okay, well, I, you know, I charged her x-dollar amount, because we're using this specific netting versus, you know, choosing to go with this other direction and now the design isn't as intricate as we discussed, and so now she wants an adjustment in her price.

We're not doing that, right? That's like, no. Just, no.

So I do, you know, I encourage you to have conversations with your clients around what it is that they're looking for, but by charging by time, it allows for you to still have that opportunity to play within the parameters of that time and not the parameters of the design itself.

So, let's talk about that parameter, that piece of that time piece, because that really is what's important. So this is my second reason for you when you charge with buy time, right? When you book your appointments by time. This creates a very clear boundary. It creates a container within which you and your clients know that you're going to be working.

So, there are two things that happen here that are important. The first, is that this sets a very clear expectation to your clients. If they are booked from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM, then they are booked from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Like, you're available to them for that 30-minute timeframe. That is what it is. Which is beautiful, because then they also can make arrangements for themselves, right?

Like, this is one of the things that oftentimes people will get frustrated with when they're looking to book a henna artist, they're like, "Oh, how long does it take for me to sit for henna?" Right?

"Oh, I don't..."

How many times have you guys heard this?

"How long is it going to take for me to sit for henna?"

"I don't want to sit for Henna because it's going to take too long."

"I don't want to sit for henna because it's going to take—. You know, I don't have time."

And so they might be cautious or, and especially in the case of, you know, someone who is booking for an event or they're booking- they have other things that they are doing that day, which I want to strongly encourage you to make the assumption that your client is incredibly busy at all times of the day. And so you build your systems in such a way that are, that's going to make it easy for her to be able to access your services and know what to expect, right?

And so, you want to be able to give them an expectation of how long it's going to take for you to be able to render the service and how long they can anticipate being there, right? And so, if it's a 15-minute appointment and then they just have dry time. Let them know, you know, "It's gonna—. We'll be together for 15 minutes and then you've got this additional dry time. Account for about 30 minutes of total service time," for example, right?

This is just something for you to be considering as you're thinking how you're going to present this to your clients. But, the bottom line here is that it does, it creates for you a very clear boundary and it sets an expectation for your clients on what they need to account for time-wise, when they come to visit you.

The other piece, and this is where this relates directly to you. This creates a clear boundary in protecting your time as well.

So, what happens when you have someone who arrives late, right? You've charged them by piece. The piece is x-dollar amount, but they arrive, you know, 15 minutes late to an appointment that you'd accounted 30 minutes for.

Okay, now you've got 15 minutes to complete the design that you charged them for based on the assumption that you'd have 30 minutes of time to work on them. Do you see the problem?

You're not going to be able to create the design in time, which means that you're going to go over. God forbid you have another appointment waiting. God forbid you have other plans, right? Because you didn't charge her for the time you. Charged her for the piece. And if she's already paid? Ooh, now we're in some hot water, right?

So, by creating this boundary with your clients, you're also protecting your own time. If someone chooses to arrive late. Well, the—. You know, part of their time is up. That is what it is.

I've had, you know, clients who will come in and, first of all, at the henna boutique, if you arrive over 10 minutes late, your appointment is canceled, period. Like, if you arrive over 10 minutes late, I will send you an email immediately saying, "Your app—." Like, "Sorry we missed you. See you next time," basically.

Time is money, right? And I need to protect that time. I'm not willing to go over, because that means that I'm going to inconvenience the person who ca— who is scheduled next.

And you know what? That person has the right to clear expectations, right? She also has a busy life. And so if she's scheduled for 6:30, and your appointment was scheduled for 6 and you arrive at 6:15, and I've got now 15 minutes to finish you and for you to dry and for me to clean my space and so forth. You know, right now we're doing all the extra things with COVID, right? And so all of this...

And then what does that mean for my next guest? I don't have the time to give her the experience that she paid for and she doesn't deserve to be penalized because of, you know, this first client issue.

And so, this is super, super important for you just as you're thinking of yourself, right? Protect your time. Charge by time. I'm not available. You know, when my clients book me, for example, I mean, I try to make it clear that: you're p— you're purchasing the time you're purchasing the access to me. Right?

You're purchasing 30 minutes of service, for example, not, you know, two full hands with this and this. Now, that is the description of what can be achieved within 30 minutes of service. But if you arrive late, that's not going to happen anymore, right? Things changed because you only purchased this much time, period.

And so, this is something that is really helpful. And for me, I found it to be incredibly useful just from a scheduling perspective. And of course, again, in a communications perspective when you're dealing with your clients. And so, having these boundaries is super important.

And then the third reason why—and I kind of hinted at this—is that time is indeed money.

So, you are a smart savvy hennapreneur, right? And so, you're not out here just slinging henna for free, because it's fun. You're doing it because you want to make money. And if you want to make money, you need to be able to plan. Part of having a business is being able to plan. Part of having a business is creating a goals for oneself, right?

You're going to have your revenue goals for the week, for the month, for the quarter, for the year. And as you're doing that, you need to be able to plan. So how are you going to plan for your revenue consistently if you're selling pieces, right? You, you, it—. Like, work that math out for me?

How are you...? This is something—. This is where I get a little bit petty, but when I hear of, you know, henna artists who are working and they're charging per piece, it's like, 'okay, I'd love to sit down with you and do a quarterly planning. Like, I'd love for you to be able to tell me what your goal is, what your targets are for: I need to sell X pieces at $35, at $25, at....'

Like, what does that even look like? If you're making custom quotes for every single client, first of all, you're wasting your own time. First of all.

Second, you really are,  you really are making it difficult for yourself when it comes to planning your own revenue.

And so, when you charge by time, instead, it allows for you to create clear plans as it relates to your income planning.

So, for.... You know, in my own business and even, you know, as I teach my students inside of my program, you need to know how much money you're going to make with each service that you offer. And then, you're going to break that down. Okay, if I'm breaking this down, how many of these services do I have to sell? And how quickly and easily it is made for you to create a plan around your marketing—right?—around your, your, how you're going to actually tackle those goals, when you have one very clear, defined, specific service.

So instead of you trying to reach out to everyone who wants henna, some people at $15, some people at $25, some people at $45 and maybe somebody at $100, why not just have two options? You can book a 30-minute session. You can book an hour session. There's a dollar amount attached to each of those,  and then you're just speaking to that one service. It makes it so much easier, my friends, for you to hone in on your marketing, hone in on your messaging, and let your people, your audience, make a decision.

I've talked to you guys a little bit about, you know, why it is so important. Remember, people who are overwhelmed do not make decisions. If they're overwhelmed, they will not book. So make it easy, sell your services by time, okay?

So, those...  that's my—. Those are my few tips. I'm going to get off my soapbox because, like, I feel really strongly about this. I feel really strongly about this, but I feel that way because I will tell you, I saw an increase of revenue in my business, and an incredible increase of revenue in my business, to be honest, when I chose to make the switch to charging by time.

It was the year that I made the switch from charging per piece to charging by time that I was able to go full-time in my business. So, let that be, like, 'Hello!' That's a pretty clear indication that that's what works. I never went back.

And so, I want to encourage you to think about that, you know, as well, instead of your own business, how you might better streamline the way that you're charging for your services. And if we can't get you away from charging by piece, if you are a guilty party.

So, with that said, I'd love to know right now, are you charging by time or are you someone who is still charging by piece? And if you're still charging by piece, I want to know what's keeping you from making the switch.

So, come and talk to me about it. You can hop over into the Hennapreneur Community. I'd love to have some conversation with you there.

 If you're not already a member of the community, you can jump in. It's Hennapreneur.com/community. We'll give you the link. You can join us inside of the free Facebook group.

I'd love to hear, you know, I'd love to hear what's holding you from making the switch to charging my time. Because if I can, like, convert you, bring you over to the, you know, the good side where the money is, like, I'd love to do that.

All right! I will talk to you guys later. Y'all have a great one!

I've got a serious question for you:  are you ready to stop playing small with your art and to take your business to the next level?

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Perhaps you've got clients here and there, but you know inside that your potential expands far beyond what your business is generating today. You may know that you're a solid artist, but you can't seem to crack the code on the business side of things, and you may find yourself wondering, "What gives?!"

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