Self employment your thoughts please (long post, please read)

Oh dear - what’s in her contract - that’s the issue. Get her to check that first but no wonder the owner wants her there for walk-ins with what she’s creaming off. A friend of mine who’s a complementary therapist rents a room for three sessions a week and just pays a flat rate which includes the shared use of a receptionist to answer the phone and welcome clients.

can she work from home? My neice was involved in a similar situation ,turned out they wanted her to do THEIR reception work and not get paid for it.Leaving them free to come and go as they pleased.I'd tell her to look at working from her spare room or try to get a collective of people in the same boat to rent a small unit between them .Would likely be more profitable

Could it be likened to having a shop/kiosk in a shopping centre - in which case her "shop" would need to be open during core hours.

But of course, this should have been discussed beforehand...

It will all depend on what was in the agreement she signed

How many walk-ins has the owner had to turn away?
What is in her contract if she has one?
Can she take over other duties at the salon, eg reception - on a paid basis, not just because she is there hoping for walk-ins?

Can she re-negotiate and rent for two or three days a week and advertise her business so that clients will know when she is there?

she has to give 10% of each treatment paid in cash or 12% on card/cheque.
Is that a normal arrangement?
10% of cash payments (is the salon VAT registered? or below the threshold?)

I would assume that by paying the rent, its then up to her how she chooses to work. Only she will know what agreement was made though.

The costs seem excessive to me. She's renting a room and paying commission on her bookings . I would have expected it to be one or the other, but what do I know?
As others have said, she should check her contract and, if necessary/possible try to renegotiate it. Or has she considered running a mobile business? What would she need to cart around apart from a good quality portable therapy couch? Possibly things like aromatherapy oils, gowns, hairbands/covers etc. All eminently transportable.

Thankyou all for the comments, very helpful.
I think it's almost as she is paying for the previledge of going to work.
Last week she had 5 clients and if she had to pay for parking and after school club would have been out of pocket.
When I see her tomorrow, I'll show her this post and we will look closely at the paperwork.
She's invested so much ( training, insurance, flyers etc) into this, I really don't want it to fail she wants to be self supporting. She worried about being mobile, as well as seeing people in her rented property as has already had inappropriate requests, believes she will be safer in a shop with other workers.

Yes, I can understand those concerns about being mobile BabyLayla. Pity, because it would be a solution.

One of the problems is that if she's not there for walkins she will find it hard to build up a client base.
If you drop in and nobody's available you don't go back.
It's hard but every business needs that initial commitment and usually runs at a loss for the first year.
Sorry but she won't make this work unless she puts more time in.

shhe wont make it work if she's being fleeced by the salon owners either ,so maybe she should renegotiate her terms

It's a bit had to know if she is being fleeced without knowing the area. The beauty salon will have overheads that are included in her rent such as heating, lighting, water, council tax and mantenance. They may also be paying rent. None of these things come cheap. A friend with a very modest little shop in an ordinary area pays £17,000 in council tax alone.
If her £200 jut covered her share of these costs they would have been relying on their percentage to make a profit from her retal.
The salon is running a business after all.

Sorry about the typos. I need to go to bed!