HOW TO RUN A FACE PAINTING BUSINESS - DRAFTING A FACE PAINTING CONTRACT

Do you have a contract for your face painting business? That is a question you should ask yourself, and if the answer is no, then this blog post might be of help. If you do have one, you might still want to read to find out if you have one that will actually work for you when issues arise.

Having a contract for your face painting business will not only make you look more professional and help keep you organized, but it will also make people take you more seriously. A contract is also great to prevent issues, since it should cover most situations and what to expect. If problems do arise, then the contract should help you keep your customer accountable and protect your hard work.

At the end of this post you will find a link to a contract sample that you can use to draft your own. Please understand that that is just a sample, and we are not lawyers so we can't give you legal advice or be liable for the use of it. But, the contract was indeed drafter by a lawyer, and we recommend for you to hire a lawyer at least to give a look at your contract and give you some tips. A one time fee might save you a few hundred dollars in the future :)

When drafting your own contract for your face and body art business keep in mind that it should cover all the information your client needs to know, and all of the potential issues that might come up:
- How many guests are coming?
- How long will you paint for?
- Where will you paint at?
- Will there be electricity, good lighting and be protected from the elements?
- Will you be working right next to a loud bounce house, speakers or a smoking barbecue?
- Who will manage the line?
- What happens if your time is done and you still have guests wanting to get painted?
- How will you deal with working extra time?
- How should customer pay you?
- What happens if they cancel or don't confirm location and hours?
- Do you know the location and hours?
- Will you charge travel fees?
- What happens if you cancel?
- Can you swap artists?
- What service did they book you for?
- Is there a booking fee?
- Is there any part of payment that is non refundable?
- When does the customer have to pay?
- How do you save a date for customer? Do they need to pay?
- Who provides for insurance?
- Do you bring a table and chair or should customer provide you with one?

Those are just a few questions that came to my mind, I am sure more could be added to the list. Make sure to take some time to think of those questions and draft a face painting contract that covers them all.

One thing that I want to make emphasis on is the Booking Fee. Many painters choose to call that a deposit, a retainer fee, an advance payment. We like to call it a booking fee because it is our understanding (and you should check on that with a lawyer) that in many states Deposits are refundable. A Deposit refers to an advanced payment for a service that has not been rendered yet. A booking fee, as its names says, is a fee for the job of booking the gig (contacting the customer, drafting a contract, obtaining customer's and event's information, etc). That service was provided, even if the event is cancelled. We are not lawyers, but we think you might have better grounds to keep that money for the work you have done if you call it a booking fee in the event of a cancellation.

Once you have a contract drafted, stick to it! Send it to every customer that wants to book you, have them sign and date it and get it back by mail or scanned. Request the booking fee payments. It might look like extra work, but you will be glad you did. This way you will also make it clear to your customer that you are a serious business, and that you will take care of them if they take care of you.

Here is a link to a sample face painting contract a lawyer drafter for us. We hope it can be of help!

Disclaimer: we are not lawyers and our opinion is based on our personal experience. We recommend for you to always check with a lawyer before making any decision. We are not in any ways giving legal advice and we are not liable for any decisions you make or stop making based on the opinions provided above.