4 Most Common Reasons Suite Renters May not be successful long term

Paige Leah
Aug 27
4 min read

Updated: Sep 9

Let's be honest, Suite Rental sounds amazing in many ways. Freedom to come and go as you please, to dress however you wish, use the products that you love the most, and freedom to cancel clients and take the day off if that is what you want to do.

Freedom is the number one reason to rent a Suite. However, there can also be downsides to that. Think about childhood, my mother always told me, "with more freedom comes more responsibility". And she was absolutely right.

With the Freedom of Suite Rental, you are taking on the responsibility of being the owner. You are responsible for scheduling clients, ordering products and making sure you have all the supplies you need for the day because you wont be able to just run out and get what you need, cleaning the Suite on a regular basis so it is maintained well for your guests, restocking retail for your guests, Marketing yourself to bring in new clients, rescheduling clients when you are sick or something comes up that you have to take a day off, and possibly the most difficult responsiblity of them all is managing the money.

Suite life is no walk in the park, but it is 1,000% worth the responsibility. So, let's talk about the most common reasons Suite Renters are not successful in the long term.

Lacking Structure. You might be thinking, "You just said one of the best parts of Suite Rental is Freedom"! Yes, I did say that. However, Freedom and structure are two different things. Structure is like having a morning routine; it takes the guesswork out of the day and creates a more consistent experience for your clients as well. Structure around set working hours, how and when you will order your products, when and how you will responde to clients, and structure around money. Which brings me to the next reason.
Lacking Money Management skills. As I mentioned above, this part is one of the most difficult pieces for so many. When you first open your Suite, you have this money coming in, but maybe you aren’t sure how you should be allocating it. You get the money, you spend the money on the cost of operations, then you take what is left over. Only to realize that there is barely any money left over. Buying things at the supply store that look cute and exciting because it is new and you want to try it. Signing up for education classes that cost upwards of $500, which you actually did not budget for. Acquiring business credit cards and just spending until they are completely maxed. Your business is bringing in great money, but you are spending it without a clear plan. This might sound over the top, but it is not! I personally have fallen victim to this on more than one occasion. And to be frank, it is extremely difficult to get out of the whole unless you have a great mentor or coach to guide you through it.
Lacking Marketing Knowledge. Picture this, you move into a Suite with a full book of clients. Time goes by, and you notice you haven't had any new clients in quite a while, and some of the clients that have been with you for years are deciding to move out of the area, or some of them have passed away. Now you have less clients and begin to notice you aren't making as much money and have a lot of gaps in your schedule. In a Suite, you are solely responsible for promoting yourself to bring in new clients. If you don't have a strong plan for how you are going to do that, then you will not make it long-term in a Suite. The Suite rental will gradually become too expensive, and you will have to go back to booth rental or being an employee.
Lack of Growth. Growth will look different for everyone. It is common that we get to a place in our careers where things are going great. We have all our finances managed properly, we have a set working schedule that we love, we enjoy the types of services and clients we have, and life feels so smooth. We stop doing price increases and just continue on in our comfort zone because things feel so easy! This can be the kiss of death to a career. The world does not stop evolving. The beauty industry does not stop evolving. If we don't continue to keep up and evolve with it, we will be left behind. Again, this can look different for everyone. Maybe growth for you is actually scaling back your schedule but continuing to make more money. Maybe it is working fewer days so that you can be an educator or travel the world and explore your other passions. Think outside the box and don't be confined to the comfort and ease of routine.