Nails as a second job?

[DBJ]

Do any of you do nails alongside another job? A day job so to speak, and is it worth it taxes etc wise? I've been looking into it for a while but would want to spend time practicing on friends and family and building confidence and customers but I still need to pay the bills in the mean time so wanted to carry on working (maybe part time). Any info would be great! Xx

 

[NailtechJoe]

Unfortunately to make ends meet I have to do three jobs. I am a researcher in computer science and a graduate teaching assistant with two degrees and an MPhil degree by research. Depends on your confidence and skill set if you want to go full time on nails.

 

[DBJ]

And does it work taxes wise? My boyfriend says it won't be worth it because I'll have to pay more taxes??? But I've been looking for a way to reduce the amount of time I spend working for someone else and this could be it.

 

[NailtechJoe]

If you want to pay income tax and NI, go for it. What annoys me and I am vociferous about is knowing that the Government bailed out "too big to fail" private banks in 2008 with taxpayers money, we haven't seen any improvements in our living standards and we have been denied basic services and you can see that in council tax squeezes.

I think that answers your question.

 

[linzi]

And does it work taxes wise? My boyfriend says it won't be worth it because I'll have to pay more taxes??? But I've been looking for a way to reduce the amount of time I spend working for someone else and this could be it.

You'll only pay tax on any profit that you make so at the beginning, when you are only covering - or perhaps not even breaking even - product costs, then you will pay no additional tax. Even when you are earning a profit, you will only pay the same percentage of tax that you would in your job - unless you are pushed into the higher tax bracket, of course.

I don't do nails as a second job, but I would certainly suggest it is the best way to secure your earnings while you build up your client base.

I would stress that you need to be charging a decent amount in order to be able to make a proper living - none of this hands and toes for £15 nonsense that we see so often.

 

[DBJ]

You'll only pay tax on any profit that you make so at the beginning, when you are only covering - or perhaps not even breaking even - product costs, then you will pay no additional tax. Even when you are earning a profit, you will only pay the same percentage of tax that you would in your job - unless you are pushed into the higher tax bracket, of course.

I don't do nails as a second job, but I would certainly suggest it is the best way to secure your earnings while you build up your client base.

I would stress that you need to be charging a decent amount in order to be able to make a proper living - none of this hands and toes for £15 nonsense that we see so often.

This is what I thought! Thanks for the clarification.

 

[NailtechJoe]

I don't do nails as a second job, but I would certainly suggest it is the best way to secure your earnings while you build up your client base.

I agree here. Generating your base clientele will take a lot of time and you might see breaking even in a year or two based on the material and training you have spent. Don't focus on clients who look out for cheap offers and rather stick to clients who are willing to pay for a quality experience.

I would stress that you need to be charging a decent amount in order to be able to make a proper living - none of this hands and toes for £15 nonsense that we see so often.

Unfortunately this is dependent on the area you live in and I see this very often in my area. The quality of these places that charge rock bottom prices is abysmal (the closest comparison I can think of is of a sausage factory) and clients think twice of ever going to any nail tech - even qualified ones.

 

[linzi]

Unfortunately this is dependent on the area you live in and I see this very often in my area. The quality of these places that charge rock bottom prices is abysmal (the closest comparison I can think of is of a sausage factory) and clients think twice of ever going to any nail tech - even qualified ones.

Well yes and no.

I have plenty of salons around me charging very low prices. I then have mobile techs and even an unqualified girl offering 'affordable shellac for just £7'. They have clients who shop on price alone, and returning clients because there are people willing to put up with the quality as long as they can say they have their nails done. Then there are others who, as you say, may be put off by the damage and/or lack of quality. They may either never have their nails done again, or may seek out a better salon.

Then there's me in my little home salon. One of my closest competitors charges £30 for fingers and toes; I charge £28.00 for CND Shellac on fingers and the same again for toes. Clients don't just shop on price; quality of work and perceived value for money, choice of colour, atmosphere and not feeling like they are on a conveyor belt are also important deciding factors for my clients. I firmly believe that there are clients for all pricepoints - certainly, there may be less at the higher end of the scale but at the end of the week 25 clients at £28 earns much more than 40 clients at £15 (especially when you take away the other 15 x product costs!).

Charging £15 for two sets doesn't make anywhere near minimum wage, so there is absolutely no economical sense in doing this. And it can put off the very type of clients that every nail tech should be aspiring to get on her books - the loyal ones.

 

[NailtechJoe]

Well yes and no.

I have plenty of salons around me charging very low prices. I then have mobile techs and even an unqualified girl offering 'affordable shellac for just £7'. They have clients who shop on price alone, and returning clients because there are people willing to put up with the quality as long as they can say they have their nails done. Then there are others who, as you say, may be put off by the damage and/or lack of quality. They may either never have their nails done again, or may seek out a better salon.

Then there's me in my little home salon. One of my closest competitors charges £30 for fingers and toes; I charge £28.00 for CND Shellac on fingers and the same again for toes. Clients don't just shop on price; quality of work and perceived value for money, choice of colour, atmosphere and not feeling like they are on a conveyor belt are also important deciding factors for my clients. I firmly believe that there are clients for all pricepoints - certainly, there may be less at the higher end of the scale but at the end of the week 25 clients at £28 earns much more than 40 clients at £15 (especially when you take away the other 15 x product costs!).

Charging £15 for two sets doesn't make anywhere near minimum wage, so there is absolutely no economical sense in doing this. And it can put off the very type of clients that every nail tech should be aspiring to get on her books - the loyal ones.

Just to clarify, in terms of area, it is dependent on location. Where I live which is just a residential area in the outskirts of a city and kind of rural, there is only one salon, a few student nail techs and closer to the city, a few more nail techs (not sure if they are qualified or not) offering gel polish for £9 and then there is me. I do active research in this area (it's called invisible computing), but offering services of a higher quality that is being offered - what started as a hobby ended up becoming professional with guild accredited training and insurance. Getting trained as a male nail technician was another hurdle for me which I reserve for another thread!
The problem that I have is that in the city which is where most of the budget nail salons reside, there is no way I can compete with them and I've had many calls from prospective clients trying to haggle with me over the phone to try and see if I can reduce the prices further when I have discussed this issue with other nail harmony nail techs and said they are reasonable. It's like you say, they only look at prices and as long as they have their nails done, they don't care. An example being a client wanting me to go to her house to do gel polish and soak off for £18 because this is what a salon near her charges and she wanted me to match the salon. I quoted her £22 for Gelish (I clearly advertise Gelish and not a knock off like many do around here) and £5 for the soak off which she said it was too much. I told her in the end that you get what you pay for in this industry; either you take it or you leave it.

In my experience, when I put up offers were I knock off 30% or do a combined fingers and toes for £30, I usually get a lower quality type of client; i.e. one offs.

 

[linzi]

Just to clarify, in terms of area, it is dependent on location. Where I live which is just a residential area in the outskirts of a city and kind of rural, there is only one salon, a few student nail techs and closer to the city, a few more nail techs (not sure if they are qualified or not) offering gel polish for £9 and then there is me. I do active research in this area (it's called invisible computing), but offering services of a higher quality that is being offered - what started as a hobby ended up becoming professional with guild accredited training and insurance. Getting trained as a male nail technician was another hurdle for me which I reserve for another thread!
The problem that I have is that in the city which is where most of the budget nail salons reside, there is no way I can compete with them and I've had many calls from prospective clients trying to haggle with me over the phone to try and see if I can reduce the prices further when I have discussed this issue with other nail harmony nail techs and said they are reasonable. It's like you say, they only look at prices and as long as they have their nails done, they don't care. An example being a client wanting me to go to her house to do gel polish and soak off for £18 because this is what a salon near her charges and she wanted me to match the salon. I quoted her £22 for Gelish (I clearly advertise Gelish and not a knock off like many do around here) and £5 for the soak off which she said it was too much. I told her in the end that you get what you pay for in this industry; either you take it or you leave it.

In my experience, when I put up offers were I knock off 30% or do a combined fingers and toes for £30, I usually get a lower quality type of client; i.e. one offs.

I agree that the final price may come down to location, but my own pricing strategy was based on the fact that price is not the be all and end all for every client. In fact, there are clients who are put off by prices that seem too cheap (I know, because I am one!).

You don't want to compete with the cheapest salons because it sends the wrong image to the type of clients you want - that you're a discount budget salon yourself who will cut corners and use the incorrect products. And if you're a pound or two more expensive, that will put the clients that DO choose services based on price off - because they can go to a multitude of other discounters. If you raise your prices to a suitable level, the best clients will find you - as long as (as I believe it is) your service is spot on and you offer a great value for money (that should not be misread as 'cheap') service. I offer my clients a private, relaxing atmosphere (phones are on silent, and I don't answer when I have a client), they have a nice cup of tea or coffee (in a lovely china cup and saucer) with individually wrapped biscuits (borders) or a bottle of water with a lemon slice in the glass, I complete a thorough consultation (which, unsurprisingly, most salons don't), I even had a client say that she'd had more service from me during the prep part of the service than she'd had from other salons throughout the whole treatment! We have a chat and I never, ever rush my clients out the door. I also make practically a ceremony out of showing my clients how clean my station is by cleaning my (already clean) tools in front of then again.

Don't haggle with the clients who don't want to spend the full price; don't apologise for your prices.

I had a prospective client ask me how much my nail enhancements were. She said she'd get back to me (and I knew she wouldn't pay what I was asking). The next day, she came back and said someone else had offered to do them cheaper. I think she was expecting me to say oh, ok, let me drop my price. Rather, I thanked her for her message and said that I was here if she needed any further work in future.


And I just wanted to say sorry to DBJ, as we have taken over your thread! Sorry!