3 Things I Wish I Knew About Money As A Stylist

When I first decided I wanted to pursue my career as a stylist, I found it hard to find information about certain processes and aspects of the job. The fashion industry in general has always been secretive but I felt especially with the styling side, no one wanted to share any tips or advice. So that left me to figure things out on my own, major things…like getting paid. Here are 3 things I know now that I wish I knew about money before I started my career:

YOU DON’T GET PAID RIGHT AWAY

Ever heard of Net 30 or Net 60? Then listen up.

Coming from a 9-5 job before I went freelance, I was used to getting paid every 2 weeks and I knew freelance life wouldn’t be that consistent but I had no idea I would have to wait up to 3 months for a check. Yep, 3 months.

The payment terms when you send an invoice are called Net, 30, Net 60, and Net 90. What that means in basic terms is you have to wait that amount of days after submitting your invoice, to get your check.

Thankfully, Net 30 is the most common but still-it’s a WHOLE month. That’s when budgeting comes in handy. It’s a useful skills all around as a stylist because you can keep pull costs down and you don’t won’t have to end up eating ramen noodles when you’re waiting that month or 2 or 3 for your next check, because it can be like that sometimes.

HOW TO SEND AN INVOICE

If you took business classes or even fashion merchandising, then you’re probably familiar with invoices and other financial terms. But I majored in straight up fashion design-I never took one business class in college so I had no idea how to fill out an invoice upon graduating.

A lot of freelance jobs will require you to send an invoice to the client in order to get paid. When I got my first paid gig assisting a stylist, she told me to send over my invoice and I was like oh yeah sure! And quickly got to googling “how to....”

Hopefully though, you will be filling out a lot of invoices soon so get yourself acquainted with this skill.

HOW TO NEGOTIATE

When you get approached to style for shoots/clients, sometimes they will ask you for your rate and other times they will approach you with their budget.

When I was new to the game I thought I had to take whatever amount they offered me, but I soon learned that when you establish yourself, you can command a certain amount depending on your reputation, brands you can pull, and a handful of other factors. I learned the best negotiation tactics from my corporate job interview experiences.

When you go on a job interview and they ask you what’s your ideal salary it’s always best to go a little higher because most likely they’ll try to talk you down and if you said something a little higher then you’ll end up with a rate you would be happy with anyways. Use that same method for negotiating freelance jobs.

What is the #1 thing you wish you knew before going freelance?