Can I be honest with you? I mean full-frontal, filter-free, #sorrynotsorry honest?
I’m sick and tired (to death) of hearing henna artists complain about not being able to make money with their craft.And also, because I don’t believe in delivering rants without offering suggestions for improvement, today I’m breaking down three things that you need to stop doing right now.

Looking for a name for your henna business? Not sure where to start? I've got you, babe! In this video, I'm sharing several key points that you must take into account when you name your henna business.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by all of the daily to-dos in your business? I’ve got your back! Today on the vlog, I’m sharing my favorite time management hack for running a henna business (and not sacrificing the rest of your life to do it)!

Hey guys! Today on the vlog, I’m sharing three reasons why every henna artist should say “NO” more in 2019! It’s worth it for your business (and your sanity!), and I’m here to explain exactly why.

Once you’ve decided that you’re ready to take your henna skills from hobby to a legitimate business, writing a business plan becomes strongly recommended. Business plans are extensive living documents that accompany a business from its inception through its lifetime, providing guidance and clarity for the business owner. Today we’ll be covering three key components of an effective business plan that are often overlooked by henna artists.

Picture this: You’re booked for a three-hour henna party from 2:00pm-5:00pm. You arrive at 1:45pm to get set up, and notice that the event hall is empty. The event planner and event service staff are present, but… where are the guests? Two o’clock comes…and goes.

2:05pm. Maybe they are just running behind?

2:10pm. Hmm. Strange, but you’re sure they’ll be there any minute.

2:15pm. Alright, what’s going on?

2:30pm. Guests begin to trickle in, sharing greetings and excitement. They flock to the buffet table for a treat, take selfies, explore the hall, and begin to settle in at tables.

It’s 2:50pm before you begin applying henna to anyone. As five o’clock rolls around, you realize that you’ve not been able to service all of the guests.

Now what?

Over the past few years, and especially between 2017 and 2018, cardless payment options have placed themselves front and center in the small business market. The premise of these services is that individuals are able to transfer money electronically between themselves without ever sharing their credit card information.

By creating an account with one of these payment processing services, clients and customers are able to transfer funds using usernames, phone numbers, or email addresses to their friends, family members, co-workers, and other contacts. Small business owners have made strides to include these options as payment methods for their patrons, and rightfully so. The convenience of transferring money with a few taps on a mobile device is incredibly alluring - perhaps more so in the case of henna artists. Services like these make it possible for clients to pay or tip in a breeze!

After all of your hard work marketing and reaching out to your local market, you’ve been booked for a client or event! You’ve likely heard before about the importance of securing every booking with a monetary exchange of some amount in order to reduce the opportunity for last minute cancellations (or worse, no-shows).

Here’s the thing… Not every monetary exchange is equal.

If you’re requesting a “deposit,” a “booking deposit,” or even a “non-refundable deposit,” you’re placing your business at a disadvantage in the case of disputes over any payments received.

Setting (and raising) rates is something that tends to be stressful for henna artists of all skill sets - seasoned and beginners. The trouble with setting rates is that many times small business owners leave money at the table unknowingly. Whenever you're considering raising your rates, it's paramount that you take inventory of what exactly it is that your clients are willing to pay for. Keep in mind that henna is a commodity that can be found in most communities. Even the artists who serve rural areas run the risk of a "new" artist popping on the scene thanks to the easy availability of henna paste through online shops.

In general, however, there are five key considerations that you should review when setting your rates. These five considerations are motivators that cause people to make purchases on an every day basis - be that with a henna artist, at the grocery store, at the airport, or elsewhere.

One of the most challenging aspects of being a professional henna artist is keeping yourself organized enough to do all the things. The front and center of businesses like ours is knowing how to prepare the best paste and perfecting your technique for beautiful designs, but we tend to overlook the back office. Once you've got clients coming in, it can be hectic to manage the multiple moving pieces that your business requires to function. Today I'll be sharing a handful of my favorite apps to make this business thing a little less overwhelming.

While there are a ton of scheduling systems available online, it was challenging to find systems that were cost effective while also providing the functionality needed to manage a business that is mobile. You see, in my business, I work from multiple locations around my service area on a consistent basis. At the time of this posting, I require a scheduling system that will manage my varying hours on specific days at four different locations respectively.

For many of the schedulers out there, this was just not going to happen. Either the schedulers required multiple accounts (and therefore multiple links - and multiple monthly fees!) for the different locations, or they could handle the separate locations but could not correctly associate the varied hours for each of the locations, or they could not otherwise correctly pair the logistics down to a tee without creating confusion for me, for my clients, or both. For example, there was an instance where a client intended to book services for a specific event held on a specific Friday afternoon, but the system I was trying out allowed her the opportunity to select the location that I normally work from on Friday nights instead of requiring her booking to direct her to the afternoon location where I was working from at the time. It was a headache for both her and for me when we realized that this system error had occurred, and it was my 'last straw' experience that pushed me to finding the best systems out there.

Please understand that if you're an artist who works from one specific location only (a studio or home office, for example), then you have a ton of options available to you - many of which you can access for free. If you're a mobile artist who services multiple locations consistently, then you'll want to give the two services mentioned below a try.

Looking for a name for your henna business? Not sure where to start? I've got you, babe! In this video, I'm sharing several key points that you must take into account when you name your henna business.

Today on the vlog, I’m sharing ten easy ways that YOU can find time to practice your henna skills each and every day!

So you want to be a henna artist, eh? That's really exciting! Working in this field offers plenty of opportunity for personal fulfillment - creatively, emotionally, financially, and otherwise - but it also requires that you take some precautions to protect yourself and your business.

Today, we'll be talking about five things not to do as a henna artist. If you can avoid these common mistakes, you'll save yourself a lot of difficulty in the process.