Client trainingVisited 0 of 32 modulesPricing and unit economics
What the clinic actually earns on a unit of neurotoxin, a syringe of filler, a laser session and a facial, once product, the provider's share and the card fee come out. After this module you can price a service from its cost up, tell which services carry the clinic, and know when to raise a price and how.
Start from the unit, not the menu
Most price lists were set by looking at the clinic down the street. That tells you what the market tolerates, not what you earn. The arithmetic is per unit of whatever you sell: a unit of neurotoxin, a syringe, a session, a facial.
| Harbor Aesthetics, one unit of neurotoxin | Amount |
|---|---|
| Price to the patient | $14.00 |
| Product cost per unit (vial cost divided by usable units, including waste) | (6.40) |
| Injector commission at 20% of service revenue | (2.80) |
| Card processing at 2.9% | (0.41) |
| Consumables (syringe, saline, gauze), per unit | (0.15) |
| Contribution per unit, before rent and overhead | $4.24 (30%) |
The same table for every service
| Service | Price | Product | Provider | Card and consumables | Contribution | Margin | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neurotoxin, 40 units | $560 | $256 | $112 | $22 | $170 | 30% | 30 min |
| Filler, 1 syringe | $750 | $290 | $150 | $25 | $285 | 38% | 45 min |
| Laser hair removal, small area | $150 | $8 | $30 | $6 | $106 | 71% | 20 min |
| Signature facial | $165 | $22 | $50 | $7 | $86 | 52% | 60 min |
| Retail serum | $120 | $60 | $6 | $4 | $50 | 42% | 2 min |
Two columns matter more than the price: contribution per hour of provider time, and whether the patient comes back. The facial earns $86 an hour and feeds retail and memberships. The filler syringe earns $380 an hour and the patient returns in nine months. Neurotoxin earns $340 an hour and the patient returns in three. That is why an injectables led clinic is worth more (Advanced 5): the chair is worth more per hour and the patient comes back sooner.
The rules that keep pricing honest
- Know product cost per unit to the cent, including waste. A 100 unit vial that yields 95 usable units costs 5 percent more per unit than the invoice says. Operations 3 is where the waste number comes from.
- Commission on service revenue after product, or on a lower rate before it. Paying 25 percent on gross neurotoxin revenue means the injector earns more on a price increase than the clinic does. Finance 8 covers the plan designs.
- Reprice within a month of any supplier change. Small and often beats large and rare. A $1 a unit increase once a year is noticed; 50 cents twice a year is not.
- Never discount the unit; bundle the visit. A "first visit special" at $10 a unit teaches the patient the price is $10. A membership that banks units at the full price and adds a facial teaches the patient to come monthly (Operations 6).
- Price the menu against the market, then check it against the table above. If the market price does not cover product plus provider plus 30 percent, the answer is a cheaper product program (Finance 6), a different commission base, or not offering the service.
Raising prices without losing patients
Patients notice a price increase far less than owners fear, provided three things are true: the increase is announced two to four weeks ahead with a reason ("our product costs went up in August"), existing members keep their rate for a period (which is also a reason to join before the date), and the desk has one sentence to say about it. Most clinics that raise neurotoxin by $1 a unit see no measurable change in visits. Track units per patient and rebook for the two months after; if neither moves, the increase held.
Service mix: what to grow and what to keep
The scorecard's service line table (Finance 5) shows each line's share and growth against the market. Grow the lines with high contribution per hour and a short return cycle. Keep the lines that feed them (facials feed retail and memberships). Question the lines that are low contribution, long visits, and shrinking faster than the market. Adding a service is a Finance 12 decision: the device or training has to earn back on the contribution per hour it adds, not on the revenue.
Try it yourself
A unit sells for $14, product is $6.40, commission is 20% of price, card fees 2.9%. Contribution per unit is about
$7.60$4.40$11.20The supplier raises the vial by $40. If price does not move, the clinic's contribution per unit
Is unchangedFalls by about 45 cents, roughly 10% of what the clinic keepsRises, because the product is betterWhich service is worth the most per hour of provider time in the table?
The facialThe filler syringeRetailA "$10 a unit first visit special" mostly teaches the patient
To trust youThat the price is $10To join the membershipThe best way to raise prices is
Quietly, all at once, once every few yearsSmall and announced, with members protected for a periodOnly for new patients