How To: Calculate Your True Booth Profitability

You pay $1,200/month in booth rent. But is it actually worth it?

Most booth renters know their revenue. Fewer know their actual profit. Even fewer have compared booth rental to working on commission.

Here's how to calculate your true profitability—and finally answer the question: "Should I stay booth rent or go commission?"

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Step 1: Track Your Booth Rent as a Recurring Expense

First, make sure your fixed costs are logged consistently.

Set Up Recurring Booth Rent

1. Go to Finances → Add Expense
2. Enter your booth rent amount (e.g., $1,200)
3. Category: Create or select "Booth Rent"
4. Toggle Recurring → Set to Monthly
5. Save

Now your booth rent is automatically tracked every month without you having to remember.

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Step 2: Track Your Supply Costs

Booth renters buy their own supplies. This is a real cost that eats into your profit.

Log Each Supply Purchase

Every time you buy:

• Color products
• Styling products
• Tools and equipment
• Disposables (foils, gloves, capes)

Log it:

1. Go to Finances → Add Expense
2. Enter the amount
3. Category: "Supplies" (or more specific: "Color Products", "Tools")
4. Optional: Tag with location if you work multiple booths
5. Save

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Step 3: View Your Profit Dashboard

Now for the payoff—seeing your actual numbers.

Check Your Metrics Cards

Go to Finances and look at the metric cards at the top:

Metric	What It Shows
Total Income	All revenue for the selected period
Total Expenses	Booth rent + supplies + other costs
Net Profit	Income - Expenses = What you actually keep
Savings Rate	Profit as a % of income

Example

• Total Income: $4,800
• Total Expenses: $1,600 ($1,200 rent + $400 supplies)
• Net Profit: $3,200
• Savings Rate: 66.7%

This means you're keeping about 2/3 of what you bring in. Not bad!

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Step 4: The Booth vs. Commission Comparison

Here's where it gets interesting. Let's compare your booth situation to working on commission.

Your Booth Numbers

• Monthly Revenue: $4,800
• Booth Rent: $1,200
• Supplies: $400
• Take-Home: $3,200

Same Revenue on Commission

If you worked at a salon taking 40% commission:

• Monthly Revenue: $4,800
• Salon Takes: $2,880 (60%)
• Your Take-Home: $1,920

But wait—on commission, the salon usually provides supplies. So let's add that back:

• Commission Take-Home: $1,920
• Supplies Saved: $400
• Adjusted Commission: $2,320

The Verdict

• Booth: $3,200/month
• Commission: $2,320/month
• Booth is better by $880/month

That's over $10,000/year extra in your pocket by staying booth rent.

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Step 5: Track Trends Over Time

The Overview tab shows Monthly Trends—a bar chart of income vs. expenses over time.

This helps you spot:

• Seasonal dips (slow January? Budget for it)
• Expense creep (supplies costing more than they used to?)
• Growth (are you making more this year than last?)

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When Commission Might Be Better

Booth rent isn't always the winner. Commission might make sense if:

• You're just starting out and need a built-in clientele
• Your revenue is below $3,000/month (the rent eats too much)
• You value having supplies provided and equipment maintained
• You don't want the business management overhead

The data will tell you. Track for 3 months and compare.

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Quick Profitability Checklist

• Set up booth rent as a recurring monthly expense
• Log all supply purchases with the Supplies category
• Check your Net Profit metric weekly
• Compare booth vs. commission math quarterly
• Adjust your pricing if profit margins are too thin

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The Bottom Line

Most booth renters are profitable—they just don't know by how much. And without that knowledge, you can't:

• Confidently raise your prices
• Know if a second location is worth it
• Plan for slow seasons
• Decide if booth or commission is right for you

Start tracking today. In 30 days, you'll have clarity you've never had before.