For many healthcare professionals, the appeal of owning their own medical aesthetics business is strong: flexibility, independence, and the chance to be their own boss. But as one Save Face accredited practitioner discovered, good injecting skills are only part of the equation. In this candid blog, Yuliya Culley shares her journey from the NHS to becoming a successful business owner, highlighting the challenges, lessons learned, and how Save Face accreditation provided invaluable support and peace of mind along the way.
As with many healthcare professionals, my working background was in the National Health Service in Britain and abroad. Why was I longing for change? There were many reasons, including the opportunity to have flexibility for my family, independent growth both professionally and personally, being my own boss, and many other reasons. Perhaps it sounds familiar to many people.
However, if it were such an easy task, everyone would do it. Reality is different, and owning your own business is hard work. Running a business related to healthcare is even harder. The truth is that good assessment and injecting skills do not make a complete recipe for a successful business owner.
Prior to starting my own company, I spent five years working for a big cosmetic surgical group to learn the ins and outs of the medical aesthetics business, with the help of many departments there that were taking care of business operating standards. I just wasn’t confident enough to start the journey as an entrepreneur yet.
As medical professionals, we all understand the importance of comprehensive assessment, informed consent, managing patients’ expectations, and potential side effects. Nonetheless, when you enter the medical aesthetics world as a business owner, it is a completely different kettle of fish. You become responsible for your business’s safe operation and have to rely on yourself to get it right.
The truth is, it is impossible to think of every legal aspect of running a medical business, especially in a rapidly developing and growing industry such as medical aesthetics. The goal is to make it a safe and legally bulletproof business. The reality is that we can feel isolated in our small practices, trying to raise standards and stand out. It can be challenging to do so when there are a myriad of places with injectors on-site, offering medical aesthetics services.
Nonetheless, there is no room for mistakes or for hoping that everything is going to be alright. It is not acceptable to skip small steps, to not have certain policies in place, or to take a chance. That is not how a medical business can operate—otherwise, it cannot be sustainable or successful. We are all familiar with the saying, “I want to sleep at night,” meaning making sure you have done your best to bulletproof your practice and reduce the risk of any litigation.
Especially when your business starts to grow, it must be sustainable and provide a healthy environment for solo medical practitioners and teams alike. This is where support is needed.
I have been with Save Face for eight years now. The accreditation process helped me understand the required steps to improve my practice and business operations. Importantly, access to resources that allowed me to adapt my business policies accordingly was incredibly valuable.
Another important aspect was the opportunity to ask for help when you receive a complaint from a patient. Where do you go from there without clear steps? Of course, this is what indemnity insurance is for. However, we are human, and we need more support than that—to help us reflect on what we’ve done wrong, how we can improve, and how to avoid the same issue in the future. Save Face’s support has been invaluable in that respect.
Another benefit was being able to assure patients that they were coming to a safe, accredited place. It has been a long journey, but it is rewarding to see that public awareness is growing. Save Face has been running multiple projects with TV, various publications, and practitioners for a while.
After many years, this is the time to explore what the modest fruits of this labour are., No one can accurately advise what exactly the future regulatory landscape will look like, but having peace of mind in knowing what I have in place today is the highest recognised standard; it becomes easier to adapt to any future developments. In my case, this was particularly helpful during the Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration process, where I was required to explain where we would receive support outside of the small practice and to present evidence of independent audits. Yes, I was asked that—and I utilised the resources and audits provided by Save Face.
It’s now eight years since I joined Save Face, initially as a solo practitioner and now as a small team of four. Only recently, we moved to a new location with an attractive storefront, where we proudly display our Platinum Status sticker. I’m proud to say that people do notice it—and even stop to scan our QR code for further contact.
Recently, one of my patients remarked how we are honest about our abilities and limitations, without any sign of arrogance. In fairness, I don’t think there is any room for arrogance. Nor is there room for guessing, or for not giving 200%.
Do your best. Ask for help. Make your business sustainable and secure its growth.
As a medical aesthetics business owner, I still have so much to learn—and so much to achieve.