Building Your Starter Treatment Menu: What to Offer First

Every new aesthetic practitioner faces the same question: what treatments do I actually offer on day one?

The temptation is to train in everything. Botox, filler, threads, fat dissolving, PRP, skin peels, the lot. You see established clinics with menus of 30+ treatments and assume you need the same.

You don't. The practitioners who build sustainable practices almost always start with three treatments or fewer, master them, and expand from there.

This guide covers the three-treatment starter formula that works for most UK practitioners, what it actually costs to get started, and how to know when you're ready to add more.

The three-treatment starter formula

The combination that gives you the best balance of demand, profitability, and trainability is:

1. Botox (anti-wrinkle injections)
2. Lip filler
3. Skin boosters

Here's why this combination works.

Botox is the volume driver. It's the most requested aesthetic treatment in the UK, has the highest profit margins, and clients need it every 3-4 months. That repeat cycle is what builds your diary. A three-area treatment takes 15-20 minutes, so you can see multiple clients per hour once you're up to speed.

Lip filler is the discovery treatment. Younger clients searching for aesthetics often start here. It's what gets shared on social media, and it's how many clients find you for the first time. Once they trust you with their lips, they'll ask about Botox, skin quality, and everything else. Patients frequently confuse the two treatments, so understanding when to recommend Botox versus filler is a consultation skill you'll use daily.

Skin boosters are the easy sell. Lower risk than filler, appealing to clients who want "something but not too much," and typically sold as a course of three sessions. That means one consultation leads to three bookings and a client who's in your chair regularly for two months. Products like Profhilo (£90-110 cost per treatment) and Seventy Hyal (£35-45 per treatment) are both straightforward to administer, and the complication rate is far lower than filler work.

Between the three, you cover preventative treatments (Botox), enhancement (lip filler), and skin quality (boosters). That's enough to serve clients aged 25 to 65 without overcomplicating your operations.

There's also a practical training benefit. Most training academies bundle Botox and filler into a single foundation course, so you're getting two of the three treatments from one investment. Add a skin booster course on top and you're fully equipped within a few weeks of training.

Investment breakdown

Training and setup costs catch a lot of new practitioners off guard because the headline course prices don't tell the full story. Here's what it really costs to get your first three treatments up and running.

Training costs

| Course | Typical cost | |---|---| | Botox and fillers combined (foundation) | £849 + VAT | | Skin boosters | £399 + VAT | | Complications management | £299 + VAT | | Total foundation training | £1,547 + VAT |

Optional but recommended:

| Qualification | Cost | |---|---| | Level 7 in injectable aesthetics | £2,500-4,000 | | V300 independent prescribing (nurses) | £1,200-1,800 |

Initial stock and equipment

| Item | Cost | |---|---| | Botox starter (10 vials, needles, syringes, storage fridge) | £700 | | Filler starter (10 syringes, cannulas, hyaluronidase emergency kit) | £850 | | General equipment (sharps bin, PPE, photography setup) | £350 | | Total stock and equipment | £1,900 |

Insurance and ongoing costs

| Item | Annual cost | |---|---| | Medical malpractice insurance | £800-1,500 | | Clinic insurance (if renting a room) | £300-600 |

Total realistic investment

| Setup level | Approximate cost | |---|---| | Minimum (basic training + stock) | £3,500 | | Recommended (full training + insurance + stock) | £5,000-7,000 | | Premium (Level 7 + advanced courses + full setup) | £10,000+ |

Most practitioners in the recommended range break even within 6-8 weeks if they're doing five treatments per week. At two treatments per week (conservative for someone building alongside another job), breakeven takes 3-4 months.

To put that in perspective: five Botox treatments per week at £250 each is £1,250 in revenue and roughly £1,000 in gross profit after product costs. Do that for six weeks and you've covered a £5,000 setup. The payback period on aesthetic training is short compared to almost any other clinical specialisation.

Profit margins per treatment

These are the numbers that matter when you're deciding what to offer. Product cost is the variable cost per treatment; it doesn't include rent, insurance, or marketing.

| Treatment | Avg. price | Product cost | Gross profit | Margin | |---|---|---|---|---| | Botox, 3 areas | £250 | £40-45 | £205-210 | 80-85% | | Lip filler, 1ml | £250 | £60-80 | £170-190 | 68-76% | | Skin booster, single | £200 | £40-50 | £150-160 | 75-80% | | Skin booster, course of 3 | £550 | £120-150 | £400-430 | 73-78% |

A few things to note about these margins.

Botox has the best hourly rate. A three-area treatment takes about 15-20 minutes. At £250 per treatment, that's £600-800 per hour in gross profit at full utilisation.

Skin boosters are margin gold when sold as courses. A single skin booster at £200 is decent. Three booked at once for £550 is better, because the client's committed and you've filled your diary for the next two months.

Filler margins are lower but the lifetime value is higher. Lip filler clients tend to be younger, more active on social media, and more likely to refer friends. One good lip filler result shared on Instagram can bring in five new enquiries.

One more thing on margins: these numbers assume you're buying from reputable UK distributors at standard pricing. You'll see cheaper product on grey market channels, but the insurance implications if something goes wrong with an unverified product are severe. Stick with authorised suppliers and factor the real cost into your pricing.

For a deeper look at getting your pricing right, see the pricing strategy guide.

When to add your next treatment

One of the biggest mistakes new practitioners make is expanding their treatment menu too early. It feels productive, but it splits your focus, adds training costs, and can actually slow your growth.

You're ready to add a fourth treatment when:

• You're consistently booked 2-3 weeks out for your existing treatments. If you still have gaps in your diary, you don't need more treatments, you need more clients for the ones you have.
• You've done at least 100 cases across your existing menu. At that point your technique is solid, your consultations are efficient, and you can handle the common complications without panic.
• Clients are asking for it. If you keep turning away clients who want tear trough filler or masseter Botox, that's a signal. If nobody's asking, save the training money.
• You have the capital to invest in training and stock without cutting into your operating cash. Taking on a new treatment while you're struggling to buy Botox stock for existing clients is backwards.

When you do expand, the natural progression is:

1. Advanced Botox areas (masseters, bunny lines, gummy smile) because you already have the product and the training extension is a single course
2. Facial filler (cheeks, chin, jawline) because it builds on your lip filler anatomy knowledge
3. Polynucleotides and bio-stimulators because demand is growing fast and the complication profile is forgiving

Thread lifts, non-surgical rhinoplasty, and dissolving treatments should wait until you have hundreds of cases under your belt. The complication risk is higher and the consequences of getting it wrong are more serious.

A useful rule of thumb: each new treatment you add should be financially justified by client demand you're already turning away. If you're not turning people away, your money is better spent on marketing for your existing menu than on training for a new one.

Common mistakes when building a treatment menu

Having spoken to hundreds of practitioners through building Aestheticc, these are the patterns that trip people up.

Launching with 15 treatments. Usually this happens when someone does a multi-day course that covers everything from Botox to threads in a single weekend. Just because you've been trained doesn't mean you're ready to offer it all commercially. Pick three, get good, then expand.

Underpricing to get clients. Charging £99 for three-area Botox might fill your diary initially, but it attracts bargain hunters who won't pay £250 when you raise prices later. Price fairly from day one. Your pricing strategy should reflect the quality of your training and the safety you provide, not the cheapest deal in your postcode.

Ignoring consumable costs. That filler treatment isn't just a syringe of product. It's a needle, a cannula, topical anaesthetic, gauze, an aftercare pack, and the cost of the hyaluronidase sitting in your fridge for emergencies. Many practitioners quote "80% margins" without accounting for the £15-20 in consumables per treatment.

Not factoring in no-shows and cancellations. Plan for 10-15% of bookings not showing up, especially in the early months before you've built loyalty. A clinic management system with automated reminders and deposits can cut that rate in half. At £250 per treatment, a 15% no-show rate on a 20-client week costs you £750 in lost revenue.

Copying someone else's menu instead of building your own. What works for a five-year-old clinic with three practitioners and a loyal client base won't work for you on day one. Their menu evolved over years. Yours should too.

Skipping complications training. It's the one course that feels unnecessary until you need it. A vascular occlusion from filler is a medical emergency. If you haven't practised your hyaluronidase protocol, you're not ready to inject, full stop. See the training requirements guide for what you actually need before treating clients.

For more on the broader picture of what goes wrong, the why aesthetic clinics fail post covers the business-side mistakes that sink practices in their first year.

Getting started

If you're still in the planning stage, the starting a clinic guide walks through everything from business registration to your first client. The treatment menu is one piece of a bigger puzzle that includes finding a treatment space, getting insured, setting up your booking system, and building a referral pipeline.

Here's a quick checklist for your first month:

1. Complete foundation training in Botox, filler, and complications management
2. Book your skin booster course (can often be done the following weekend)
3. Set up your supplier accounts with at least two distributors for backup stock
4. Get insured before you treat a single client, even friends and family
5. Order starter stock for 10-15 treatments so you're not waiting on deliveries between clients
6. Set your prices using real margin calculations, not guesswork or competitor matching
7. Build your consent forms and aftercare protocols before your first booking

The short version: start with three treatments, master them over your first 100 cases, and let client demand tell you what to add next. Spend your energy on getting brilliant at Botox, lip filler, and skin boosters rather than spreading yourself across a dozen treatments you've only practised once on a training model.

Your treatment menu will grow. Just let it grow at the pace your skill justifies.

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Dr. Shane McKeown is a medical doctor and the founder of Aestheticc, clinic management software built for UK aesthetic practitioners.