How deposits protect your time and your mental health as a sole trader

I want to talk about deposits because I see a lot of people in beauty business groups acting like it's somehow rude to ask for one. It's not. It's a completely standard part of running a professional service business and if you're not taking them you're absorbing all the financial risk of someone else's bad behaviour.

I introduced a £50 deposit about two years ago through Square Appointments. Before that I was losing money every single month to last-minute cancellations and no-shows. In my worst month I lost over £50 in wasted appointment slots — that's time I could have given to clients who actually wanted to be there.

Here's exactly how I set it up: 40% deposit, non-refundable if cancelled with less than 48 hours notice. I put this in plain English on my booking page and in my confirmation message. No legal jargon, no passive-aggressive tone. Just clear, professional, grown-up policy.

Three people cancelled their bookings when I announced it. Those three people were also the ones who'd no-showed me previously. Genuinely not a loss. Everyone else either already expected it or said it made them feel more confident that I was a serious professional.