After 2 clients and 16oz of light roast americano, I still couldn't stop yawning or stretching.

I turned up my space heater and still felt chilly.

And then my hip flexors started aching as if I'd been to a double barre class.

I knew there was no way I'd be able to "power through" the rest of my 10 hour day.

I don't know a nail professional in the world who has time to be sick.

If you're like me, you're fully booked at least 2 weeks out. And a lot of them are standing appointments.

You probably count on that money and don't like the idea of letting people down, so of course you want to make up those appointment as soon as possible.

After 16 years, here are some ways I help plan for unexpected sick days, mental health days and other minor emergencies.

1. Reserve 2-3 days per week for standing appointments.

I used to have 90% of clients on a standing appointment. That helped me plan my income, but it left no wiggle room for when we needed to move things around.

Now, I only take standings on Tuesdays and Thursdays and leave Fridays for pre-booking. It allows more flexibility for clients who need to move things around and for when I have my own appointments to work around.

2. Reserve at least half a day per week for professional development and emergency appointments.

Wednesdays are for working on my business: finances, education, marketing, etc. In an pinch, I can reschedule clients without them having to wait 2 weeks for my next opening.

Pro tip: define and stick to your boundaries when booking your CEO Day. If you start using it for all client reschedules, then it just becomes another working day.

Pro tip 2: If giving up half a day's revenue feels like too much, it may be time to adjust your prices. Use the Perfect Pricing Calculator to see how much taking 5 client-free business-building hours would affect your prices.

3. Create a savings account for days off

One of the worst parts of taking sick days is not getting paid. Payment processing service Square makes automatically saving for things like taxes and paid time off super simple: set your goal and how much of your daily sales you want to contribute. Once you hit your goal, the automatic savings stops. When you withdraw from your savings folder, it starts again.

I do one week's pay at 10%. Try it and Get $1000 in free processing with Square with my link. Bonus: you can earn interest on savings.

4. Grow your referral network

Sometimes, it's just not possible to fit every client in after an illness or vacation. Make friends with competent nail pros near you so you have a trusted network to send clients to in a pinch. You'll also be able to return the favor.

There are 3 nail pros I send clients to inside my building, plus 2 in the neighborhood.

Not sure where to start? Search the CND.com Salon Locator for pros near you and set up a coffee date.

What do you do to help plan for sick time? Do you have a different resource that serves a similar function to one listed above? Hit reply and let me know!

Stay healthy!

oxv,
Mary 💅

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