Create a business plan, post on social media, book appointments, manage inventory, attract new clients, pay employees, file taxes….our heads are spinning!
As a beauty professional, your expertise is in treating skin, enhancing someone’s eyelashes or giving someone a killer new hairstyle. Not accounting or advanced marketing.
Starting your own business is a lot of hard work, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. To help you work smarter, not harder, we’ve rounded up a system of apps that can be used together to better manage your beauty business 💪
6 Apps to Help You Manage Your Beauty Business and Book More Clients
A seamless appointment-booking and payment process is vital for client retention. If you’re already taking clients on your own, you probably have a booking software that you use. If you’re in the market for one, we recommend using Square Appointments for several reasons.
First, if you are starting out as a one woman show, there are no monthly fees! You can create a free account and start booking appointments immediately. Another reason we love the app is that you have the option to upgrade and purchase point of sales hardware for your spa or salon. You will impress your clients with a sleek register set up from Square.
One of our favorite things about Square Appointments is that it can connect to a Wave Accounting profile to track all of your incoming transactions. This brings us to our next favorite app for managing your beauty business.
One of the most important and daunting aspects about running a business is managing your own money and taxes. As a self-employed beauty professional or business owner, it’s your job to make sure income taxes are paid and your books are in order in case you’re ever audited by the IRS 🤞🙈
Don’t let this scare you, Wave Accounting is the solution to all your money problems. Think “accounting software for people that aren’t accountants.” Wave connects to Square Appointments, your bank accounts and other apps to track your expenses, so you can manage money like a pro.
We think they said it best: “Wave’s easy-to-use accounting software can connect your bank accounts, sync your expenses, balance your books, and get you ready for tax time. Start taking control of your finances today with the best accounting software for small businesses.” Did we mention its free?
Now that you can book appointments and manage the money you generate, it’s time to think about marketing your business. A website is a powerful marketing tool to use as a beauty professional. We love Wix for creating simple, yet beautiful, websites to showcase your services and unique branding.
Wix has many pre-built templates for salon and spa businesses that you can use as a guide for your own website. The website is very user friendly and even has the option to hire a designer if you get stuck.
Another great thing about Wix is that you can connect your Square Appointments account so clients can book appointments online. This is key!
Google Workspace: Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, etc.
Running your own business is no joke! With so many different apps and tasks to take care of, it can get hectic. Using a well-rounded productivity and collaboration tool will bring you some peace of mind.
We recommend Google Workspace because you can purchase a monthly membership through your Wix account. This means that you will have your website domain (example: www.TheNailLab.com) and an email inbox for that domain (example: hello@TheNailLab.com). Pro tip: A professional email will impress clients.
Google Drive is also a great place to keep all of your business planning. From your actual business plan to social media content calendars, you can track and manage all different aspects of your business here.
Creating beautiful branding for your business is easier said than done, but we believe with Canva you can do it! This online design platform makes graphic design so much easier than using traditional software like Adobe Photoshop or InDesign.
You can use Canva to design business cards, service menus, retail signs, flyers, social media graphics, Instagram story videos, and the list goes on. With consistent branding, you will attract more clients and develop a loyal customer base.
If you are providing services for your clients all day, social media can easily be forgotten. For the true hustlers out there, scheduling your social media will be a life saver. Rather than opening up the Instagram app on your phone anytime you want to post something, a social media scheduling software allows you to plan out your posts in advance and posts them for you!
We recommend spending a few days each month planning next month’s social media. Use a Google Doc to plan what you’re going to post on Instagram or Facebook, create graphics with Canva, then plug in your pictures and captions into Hootsuite with what day and time you want the post to go up.
When you take care of your social media in batches like this, you have more time to work on other areas of your business like connecting with clients online or researching new trends in the industry.
Using technology to work smarter, not harder is what we’re all about 👏👏. The ultimate goal is to book more appointments, help more clients feel their best and grow your business. With these apps you can do just that!
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