Deposit REQUIRED!

I'm sure many of you have seen it! Service providers are now requiring clients to pay a deposit when booking services to secure their date and time. From hairstylists to nail technicians...and yes, even your favorite make-up artist; deposits required are becoming the norm. And even as a service provider, I was kind of taken aback when I started seeing this. I, like many of you, couldn't understand it...at first. My initial thoughts were that when I schedule my hair and nail appointments I am planning for money that I am going to have in the future. Like...I get paid on Friday and will have the money to get my hair done then. And though many of the deposits are small, between $20-$40 (at least those are the ones I saw), it still always made me cringe.

That is, until, this month. I had a calendar full of appointments scheduled for the month of August. From Bridal consultations to photoshoots. From girls nights out to events I don't even know about. And I prepped for them. I made sure to purchase additional lashes so that I had styles for everyone. I re-uped on foundations and concealers. I purchased additional brow pencils and lipsticks...all to make sure that I was ready for all of the Beauties that were scheduled to visit me. Every Monday, like clock work, I began to email the week's clients to confirm their appointments...and as the responses started to come in my eyes began to water. Each week this month, I have had at least 3 cancellations. Sometimes the Beauties were kind enough to let me know when I reached out to them to confirm. Other Beauties didn't wait for that and contacted me as soon as their plans had changed. Others waited for their scheduled appointment time to let me know that they wouldn't be coming. And still others, just did not show. Prior to me quitting my job to pursue make-up on a full time basis, these types of cancellations would have been an inconvenience, but nothing that I couldn't manage. Because my livelihood did not rely on each and every Beauty that booked with me. Now, as a full-time entrepreneur, these cancellations are the difference between being able to keep my business afloat and making payroll for the month. They can be catastrophic! And...I get it! Shit happens. Your money starts looking a little funny. The event got cancelled. The baby got sick. Don't get me wrong...I get it!

But can I please give you a little food for thought? When you make an appointment with your service provider, they block out that time for you. Which means no one else can schedule at that time. And for me, because my team and I provide traveling services, we begin to structure our days around the locations of our clients to ensure that we can get to each and every one of our Beauties at the time that works best for them. It becomes a song and dance that can be stressful and rewarding at the same time. We prep for our appointments a week ahead to ensure that we have all of the necessary tools, equipment, and products to achieve the look of your dreams. Our day starts at least 2 hours before our first scheduled appointment, as we have to be the FABGLAMAZONS that you expect us to be, be fully packed up, and be ready to slay your look no matter what time our day starts...and for us that can be as early as 4am.

When you cancel, not only are we not making the revenue that we projected for the week, but someone may have wanted the time slot that we were holding for you. And often times the person has now moved on and booked with another artist because we were unavailable. In addition, especially if you were the first person to book, we have structured our day and appointments around your location, so we may have turned down another booking because it didn't fit in our schedule based on your appointment. Last, but certainly not least, when you don't call and don't show, we feel like our time is not respected...like it is not valuable. Time is the only commodity that we can not get back so we treat it like is has more value than DIAMONDS.

And don't get me wrong, we hear the horror stories of services providers not being as professional as they should. The ones who have you waiting hours for them to begin your services and others who double and triple book. Guess what...they are wrong too! But for the ones, like Accessmatized, who treat you like GOLD and who value your time, provide you with excellent customer service, and make sure you leave their chair fried, dyed, and laid to the side each and every time...I can see why they would now begin to start requiring a deposit. Can you?

It's all LOVE...