The Maths Wasn’t Mathing
Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t emerge from the womb knowing how to price perfectly. In fact, little 20 year old Maddi, who maxed out her credit card to pay for her training, had a pretty dreadful money mindset.
I’d grown up in the North East, in a ‘broken home’ where money was scarce, and my clothes and toys were often hand-me-downs from my sister (who FYI, is 10 years older, so lots of 80’s shell suits and My Little Ponies that had seen better days).
There were ever-present money struggles, we were always robbing Peter to pay Paul, and juggling 0% cards and stretching bills until the next payday.
We were reminded how money was the root of all evil, owning anything remotely nice meant you were a flashy arsehole, and how money caused arguments and family rifts.
Add to that, that no one ever actually taught me how to work out my prices. Not on my initial course, not when I went to college, not when I paid small fortunes to learn from the best of the best in Mayfair.
So you better believe 20 year old Maddi’s pricing was pretty awful, and it took a long time to get any better.
I was about 5 years into self-employment before I hit my ‘pricing rock bottom’. The maths wasn’t mathing. I was fully booked with a waiting list, I had a good following on social media, great reviews, my conversion and retention were phenomenal.
But I was skint. I was in debt that seemed to grow. I was working 5 or 6 days a week, with no lunch break. If I could afford a holiday (I couldn’t), I’d be too terrified of losing a week of income to even go.
This business I thought would bring me freedom, flexibility, and financial security, felt more like a prison of my own making.
So I did what most people do, I looked around the industry groups to see if anyone had the answer. ‘How much does everyone else charge?’...
- ‘My brand have sent me an RRP, I just charge that’
- ‘Well my college told me to ring around local competitors and get their price, then just go with the average of those’
- 'Look at others in your area, and be mindful that you can't charge too much in a low-income area'
I might not have had a great money mindset, but I’ve always been super logical, and a bit of a numbers geek (guess who did her maths GCSE a year early, and won the ‘Maths Challenge’ in secondary school, rock and roll, right?)
And it hit me that this wasn’t something only I was struggling with, but it spanned the entire industry of hair, nails and beauty.
So I set about building my pricing calculator, Boss Your Profits, and like me, it came from humble beginnings.
What started as a spreadsheet, borne of a 3 day, lockdown-induced hyperfocus that almost ended with me snapping my laptop in half… To an app that’s empowered over five thousand hair and beauty entrepreneurs to confidently charge what they deserve.
Boss Your Profits has put tens of millions of pounds of additional profit, into the pockets of hardworking people across the global hair and beauty industry.
And it’s not just a calculator.
It’s a community built from my OG’s who lift as they climb, who are so generous with their support to those who are following in their footsteps.
It’s a movement of people who want better for the industry, and evangelise what’s possible, because they’ve experienced it for themselves.
It’s the confidence that they get, when they understand in simple terms, what was never taught in a classroom or salon.
I’m so bloody glad I didn’t snap my laptop in half. And I’m so bloody glad that thousands of you are using it to finally charge what you deserve.
Together, we are tearing up the ‘old-school’ narrative of low-pay and poor conditions, and writing a new story of value, confidence and courage.
Maddi x
P.S. Ready to confidently charge what you deserve? Go to www.bossyoursalon.com/bossyourprofits to join the pricing revolution!
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