How Much Do Aesthetic Practitioners Make?
The demand for aesthetic treatments has grown significantly over the years, and shows no sign of slowing down. In the UK alone, the cosmetic surgery sector is a multi-billion pound industry.
Thanks to this high demand, becoming an aesthetic practitioner is an excellent career path for many. So, how much do aesthetic practitioners make?
According to Glassdoor, the annual salary for aesthetic practitioners in the UK is currently £34,922.
That said, there are two main factors that can affect how much you make as an aesthetic practitioner. Your salary can therefore differ depending on:
- Location
- Experience
1. Location
The first factor that can affect how much you make when you’re an aesthetic practitioner is the location of where you work.
When you work as an aesthetic practitioner, you will likely work for an established clinic or you’ll be self-employed.
Working For A Clinic
Working for a clinic is the easiest way to work as an aesthetic practitioner once you have got your qualifications to do so.
You can gain valuable experience, all while you have a secure job and a guaranteed salary.
A huge plus is that you don’t have to find your own clients, as your job will have a loyal client base that comes with the clinic in question.
In addition to this, you’ll receive the employee benefits that the established clinic provides, such as paid holidays and maternity leave. However, it’s worth mentioning that these benefits differ from clinic to clinic.
If you’re an aesthetic practitioner that has the qualifications to prescribe medication, then you could stand to make a yearly salary of £50,000 and up when working for a clinic.
It’s also worth noting that when working in established clinics in larger cities where the rates are higher, such as London, you have the potential to make more than this. However, this will depend on the clinic itself, as the location will also mean the overheads for your employer are higher.
The average salary for an aesthetic practitioner is currently £34,922.
Self-Employed
Alternatively, you also have the option of working as a self-employed aesthetic practitioner.
One of the largest benefits of being self-employed is that you have the flexibility to decide your own hours, and have the potential to make more money when you’re self-employed. However, this depends on where you’re located and how much you work.
Provided you worked 3 days a week and had the client base to fill your days, you could stand to make a weekly profit of roughly £8,000 working part-time hours as a self-employed aesthetic practitioner.
When you consider this, you’re looking at an impressive salary. In addition to this, when you add the potential to work full-time hours, these potential profit margins can increase and are what draws many people to doing this kind of work.
That said, you’ll have to consider overheads and expenses that you wouldn’t as an employed aesthetic practitioner, such as hiring a room to run your business from or travel costs if you’re a mobile practitioner.
The location of where you work when you’re self-employed can therefore impact how much you make, especially in expensive cities. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that practitioners in cities generally need to charge more as again, their overheads are much higher.
In addition to this, you will need to consider the matter of prescribing if you’re thinking of becoming self-employed. Botulinum Toxin is prescription only. As it can only be administered once a qualified prescriber has undertaken a client consultation and issued a prescription as a result of this, this could pose a problem for self-employed practitioners.
If you’ve been trained and are already qualified, then you don’t need to consider this as you can prescribe Botulinum Toxin without assistance and can buy it through an online pharmacy. If you’re not qualified for this, then you’ll need to either take an aesthetics training course or complete a ‘V300 Advanced Certificate in Independent Prescribing’.
As there are pros and cons to working for a clinic and becoming self-employed as an aesthetic practitioner, which you decide will be down to you and your circumstances.
Be sure to do your research and make sure that you’re fully prepared for the costs of getting the relevant training. That said, out of the two, you can expect to earn more from being a self-employed aesthetic practitioner.
There are various training courses you can take to become more experienced as an aesthetic practitioner.
2. Experience
Another factor you will need to consider is experience. Generally speaking, the more qualified you become, the more money you can earn as an aesthetic practitioner.
As we’ve already mentioned, if you are an aesthetic nurse that has the qualifications to prescribe then you have the potential to earn £50,000 when working for an established clinic.
This comes down to the fact that you’re both experienced and qualified to prescribe clients with prescription only medications, and therefore don’t don’t rely on being assisted in the process.
The potential of how much money you can make as you become more experienced is why many aesthetic practitioners continue to diversify their skills and gain more qualifications throughout their careers.
If you’re interested in becoming more experienced, then be sure to check out a training course.
Many aesthetic practitioners choose to diversify and expand their skillset throughout their careers, which can be financially beneficial.
Hopefully this article has given you an understanding of how much aesthetic practitioners make on a yearly basis.
You Can Clinic is one of the UK's leading providers of aesthetic training courses and pharmaceutical supplies. Over 1000 individuals have progressed through our affordable programmes, which provide comprehensive coverage of all relevant aesthetic procedures. Available from beginner to advanced courses.
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Do you see yourself in the industry? Check out our articles on Botulinum Toxin, Weight Management, Eyebrow and Eyelash and Dermaplaning Training Courses.
Written by Jemima, for You Can Clinic.