diff --git a/src/common/utils/slug.util.ts b/src/common/utils/slug.util.ts
index 305eaba..ab7621e 100644
--- a/src/common/utils/slug.util.ts
+++ b/src/common/utils/slug.util.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+const SLUG_PATTERN = /^[a-z0-9]+(?:-[a-z0-9]+)*$/;
+
 export function slugifyTitle(value: string): string {
   return value
     .trim()
@@ -8,13 +10,19 @@ export function slugifyTitle(value: string): string {
     .replace(/^-|-$/g, '');
 }
 
-export async function uniqueBusinessSlug(
+export function normalizeSlugInput(value?: string | null): string | undefined {
+  const trimmed = value?.trim();
+  return trimmed ? trimmed : undefined;
+}
+
+export async function uniqueSlugFromTitle(
   title: string,
   exists: (slug: string) => Promise<boolean>,
+  fallbackBase = 'item',
 ): Promise<string> {
   let base = slugifyTitle(title);
   if (!base) {
-    base = 'business';
+    base = fallbackBase;
   }
   let slug = base;
   let suffix = 0;
@@ -24,3 +32,27 @@ export async function uniqueBusinessSlug(
   }
   return slug;
 }
+
+export async function resolveUniqueSlug(
+  title: string,
+  exists: (slug: string) => Promise<boolean>,
+  provided?: string | null,
+  fallbackBase = 'item',
+): Promise<string> {
+  const normalized = normalizeSlugInput(provided);
+  if (normalized) {
+    if (!SLUG_PATTERN.test(normalized)) {
+      throw new Error('Invalid slug format');
+    }
+    return normalized;
+  }
+  return uniqueSlugFromTitle(title, exists, fallbackBase);
+}
+
+/** @deprecated Use uniqueSlugFromTitle */
+export async function uniqueBusinessSlug(
+  title: string,
+  exists: (slug: string) => Promise<boolean>,
+): Promise<string> {
+  return uniqueSlugFromTitle(title, exists, 'business');
+}
diff --git a/src/modules/business-categories/business-categories.service.ts b/src/modules/business-categories/business-categories.service.ts
index 57c2de4..6dd6ea2 100644
--- a/src/modules/business-categories/business-categories.service.ts
+++ b/src/modules/business-categories/business-categories.service.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
 import { InjectRepository } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
 import { DataSource, Repository } from 'typeorm';
 import { deleteCategoryCascade } from '../../common/utils/business-cascade.util';
+import { resolveUniqueSlug, normalizeSlugInput } from '../../common/utils/slug.util';
 import { BusinessImagesService } from '../businesses/business-images.service';
 import { BusinessCategoryEntity } from '../../entities/business-category.entity';
 import { BusinessEntity } from '../../entities/business.entity';
@@ -38,14 +39,25 @@ export class BusinessCategoriesService {
   async create(
     payload: CreateBusinessCategoryDto,
   ): Promise<BusinessCategoryEntity> {
-    const exists = await this.repo.findOne({ where: { slug: payload.slug } });
-    if (exists) {
-      throw new ConflictException('Slug already exists');
+    const explicitSlug = normalizeSlugInput(payload.slug);
+    if (explicitSlug) {
+      const taken = await this.repo.findOne({ where: { slug: explicitSlug } });
+      if (taken) {
+        throw new ConflictException('Slug already exists');
+      }
     }
 
+    const slug = await resolveUniqueSlug(
+      payload.title,
+      async (candidate) =>
+        Boolean(await this.repo.findOne({ where: { slug: candidate } })),
+      payload.slug,
+      'category',
+    );
+
     const entity = this.repo.create({
       title: payload.title,
-      slug: payload.slug,
+      slug,
       isActive: payload.isActive ?? true,
     });
     return this.repo.save(entity);
diff --git a/src/modules/business-categories/dto/create-business-category.dto.ts b/src/modules/business-categories/dto/create-business-category.dto.ts
index abe7057..d025ce4 100644
--- a/src/modules/business-categories/dto/create-business-category.dto.ts
+++ b/src/modules/business-categories/dto/create-business-category.dto.ts
@@ -7,13 +7,14 @@ export class CreateBusinessCategoryDto {
   @MaxLength(150)
   title!: string;
 
-  @ApiProperty({ example: 'car-wash' })
+  @ApiPropertyOptional({ example: 'car-wash' })
+  @IsOptional()
   @IsString()
   @MaxLength(120)
   @Matches(/^[a-z0-9]+(?:-[a-z0-9]+)*$/, {
     message: 'slug must be lowercase words separated by hyphens',
   })
-  slug!: string;
+  slug?: string;
 
   @ApiPropertyOptional({ example: true })
   @IsOptional()
diff --git a/src/modules/business-registration-requests/business-registration-requests.service.ts b/src/modules/business-registration-requests/business-registration-requests.service.ts
index cfa0ee5..e532088 100644
--- a/src/modules/business-registration-requests/business-registration-requests.service.ts
+++ b/src/modules/business-registration-requests/business-registration-requests.service.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import {
 import { ConfigService } from '@nestjs/config';
 import { InjectRepository } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
 import { Repository } from 'typeorm';
-import { uniqueBusinessSlug } from '../../common/utils/slug.util';
+import { resolveUniqueSlug, normalizeSlugInput } from '../../common/utils/slug.util';
 import {
   BusinessRegistrationRequestEntity,
   BusinessRegistrationStatus,
@@ -72,12 +72,26 @@ export class BusinessRegistrationRequestsService {
 
     await this.ensureCategoryExists(dto.categoryId);
 
-    const slug = await uniqueBusinessSlug(dto.title, async (candidate) => {
+    const slugExists = async (candidate: string) => {
       const inBusiness = await this.businessRepo.findOne({ where: { slug: candidate } });
       if (inBusiness) return true;
       const inRequest = await this.repo.findOne({ where: { slug: candidate } });
       return Boolean(inRequest);
-    });
+    };
+
+    const explicitSlug = normalizeSlugInput(dto.slug);
+    if (explicitSlug) {
+      if (await slugExists(explicitSlug)) {
+        throw new ConflictException('Slug already exists');
+      }
+    }
+
+    const slug = await resolveUniqueSlug(
+      dto.title,
+      slugExists,
+      dto.slug,
+      'business',
+    );
 
     const entity = this.repo.create({
       applicantId,
diff --git a/src/modules/business-registration-requests/dto/create-business-registration.dto.ts b/src/modules/business-registration-requests/dto/create-business-registration.dto.ts
index 03c24c1..4bc7fca 100644
--- a/src/modules/business-registration-requests/dto/create-business-registration.dto.ts
+++ b/src/modules/business-registration-requests/dto/create-business-registration.dto.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   IsOptional,
   IsString,
   IsUUID,
+  Matches,
   MaxLength,
 } from 'class-validator';
 
@@ -18,6 +19,15 @@ export class CreateBusinessRegistrationDto {
   @IsUUID()
   categoryId!: string;
 
+  @ApiPropertyOptional({ example: 'mohammad-carwash' })
+  @IsOptional()
+  @IsString()
+  @MaxLength(120)
+  @Matches(/^[a-z0-9]+(?:-[a-z0-9]+)*$/, {
+    message: 'slug must be lowercase words separated by hyphens',
+  })
+  slug?: string;
+
   @ApiPropertyOptional()
   @IsOptional()
   @IsString()
diff --git a/src/modules/businesses/businesses.service.ts b/src/modules/businesses/businesses.service.ts
index d233d11..a2fc8c1 100644
--- a/src/modules/businesses/businesses.service.ts
+++ b/src/modules/businesses/businesses.service.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import {
 import { InjectRepository } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
 import { DataSource, Repository } from 'typeorm';
 import { deleteBusinessCascade } from '../../common/utils/business-cascade.util';
+import { resolveUniqueSlug, normalizeSlugInput } from '../../common/utils/slug.util';
 import { BusinessImagesService } from './business-images.service';
 import { BusinessCategoryEntity } from '../../entities/business-category.entity';
 import { BusinessEntity } from '../../entities/business.entity';
@@ -79,16 +80,27 @@ export class BusinessesService {
   }
 
   async create(payload: CreateBusinessDto): Promise<BusinessEntity> {
-    const slugTaken = await this.repo.findOne({ where: { slug: payload.slug } });
-    if (slugTaken) {
-      throw new ConflictException('Slug already exists');
+    const explicitSlug = normalizeSlugInput(payload.slug);
+    if (explicitSlug) {
+      const taken = await this.repo.findOne({ where: { slug: explicitSlug } });
+      if (taken) {
+        throw new ConflictException('Slug already exists');
+      }
     }
 
+    const slug = await resolveUniqueSlug(
+      payload.title,
+      async (candidate) =>
+        Boolean(await this.repo.findOne({ where: { slug: candidate } })),
+      payload.slug,
+      'business',
+    );
+
     await this.ensureCategoryExists(payload.categoryId);
 
     const entity = this.repo.create({
       title: payload.title,
-      slug: payload.slug,
+      slug,
       categoryId: payload.categoryId,
       description: payload.description ?? null,
       contactPhone: payload.contactPhone ?? null,
diff --git a/src/modules/businesses/dto/create-business.dto.ts b/src/modules/businesses/dto/create-business.dto.ts
index 7fd2987..ff4f8c0 100644
--- a/src/modules/businesses/dto/create-business.dto.ts
+++ b/src/modules/businesses/dto/create-business.dto.ts
@@ -16,13 +16,14 @@ export class CreateBusinessDto {
   @MaxLength(150)
   title!: string;
 
-  @ApiProperty({ example: 'shine-carwash' })
+  @ApiPropertyOptional({ example: 'shine-carwash' })
+  @IsOptional()
   @IsString()
   @MaxLength(120)
   @Matches(/^[a-z0-9]+(?:-[a-z0-9]+)*$/, {
     message: 'slug must be lowercase words separated by hyphens',
   })
-  slug!: string;
+  slug?: string;
 
   @ApiProperty({ format: 'uuid' })
   @IsUUID()
diff --git a/src/modules/service-templates/dto/create-service-template.dto.ts b/src/modules/service-templates/dto/create-service-template.dto.ts
index 582a2dc..c244076 100644
--- a/src/modules/service-templates/dto/create-service-template.dto.ts
+++ b/src/modules/service-templates/dto/create-service-template.dto.ts
@@ -17,13 +17,14 @@ export class CreateServiceTemplateDto {
   @MaxLength(150)
   title!: string;
 
-  @ApiProperty({ example: 'basic-wash' })
+  @ApiPropertyOptional({ example: 'basic-wash' })
+  @IsOptional()
   @IsString()
   @MaxLength(120)
   @Matches(/^[a-z0-9]+(?:-[a-z0-9]+)*$/, {
     message: 'slug must be lowercase words separated by hyphens',
   })
-  slug!: string;
+  slug?: string;
 
   @ApiProperty({ format: 'uuid' })
   @IsUUID()
diff --git a/src/modules/service-templates/service-templates.service.ts b/src/modules/service-templates/service-templates.service.ts
index 1612478..3367222 100644
--- a/src/modules/service-templates/service-templates.service.ts
+++ b/src/modules/service-templates/service-templates.service.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { InjectRepository } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
 import { Repository } from 'typeorm';
 import { BusinessCategoryEntity } from '../../entities/business-category.entity';
 import { ServiceTemplateEntity } from '../../entities/service-template.entity';
+import { resolveUniqueSlug, normalizeSlugInput } from '../../common/utils/slug.util';
 import { CreateServiceTemplateDto } from './dto/create-service-template.dto';
 import { UpdateServiceTemplateDto } from './dto/update-service-template.dto';
 
@@ -57,16 +58,27 @@ export class ServiceTemplatesService {
   }
 
   async create(p: CreateServiceTemplateDto): Promise<ServiceTemplateEntity> {
-    const slugTaken = await this.repo.findOne({ where: { slug: p.slug } });
-    if (slugTaken) {
-      throw new ConflictException('Slug already exists');
+    const explicitSlug = normalizeSlugInput(p.slug);
+    if (explicitSlug) {
+      const taken = await this.repo.findOne({ where: { slug: explicitSlug } });
+      if (taken) {
+        throw new ConflictException('Slug already exists');
+      }
     }
 
+    const slug = await resolveUniqueSlug(
+      p.title,
+      async (candidate) =>
+        Boolean(await this.repo.findOne({ where: { slug: candidate } })),
+      p.slug,
+      'service',
+    );
+
     await this.ensureCategoryExists(p.categoryId);
 
     const entity = this.repo.create({
       title: p.title,
-      slug: p.slug,
+      slug,
       categoryId: p.categoryId,
       description: p.description ?? null,
       defaultDurationMinutes: p.defaultDurationMinutes ?? 30,