Setting up from home

[SarahMS]

Hi everyone

I currently a nurse but realised a long time ago this wasn't for me. However I did not know what was! I discovered my love for beauty kind of by accident. As such I am halfway through nail training. Once complete I would like to complete waxing training, offering body and intimate waxing for women.

My question is what is the best way to build up a business whilst still working full time. Not sure my employer will let me reduce my hours. I would also like to work from home. Only option would be to convert a bedroom. People would have to come through my house but I'm in a bungalow so not a big thing for me.

Any tip on advertising would be useful. Also, I'm struggling to think of a name!

Thanks in advance

 

[HelloLovely]

Hi Sarah !

Im also just starting out but have been lucky enough to know a lady that runs a hairdressers so she is hopefully letting me have a small space in there once a week to try and build a clientele . As far as I have seen Facebook is invaluable for bringing in clients - there's lots of opportunity on there to pay a little bit and have it go out to a wider area of people .
On the upside to being at home it means that you can work your own hours a bit more , then you should be able to work it around your current job untill your in a position to go into it full time xx

 

[JemmaBeauty]

The main thing is to get your name and your work out there, so remember to take lots of photos of all your work.
A good start would be social media and a website. Also do some local advertising i.e. leaflet drop, getting your details in the local newsletter, corner shop or village hall if you have them. Give your friends business cards so that they can pass them around and get talking to your neighbours too. If there are other local businesses near to your home it can be handy to chat with them ...especially if they work from home too! The lady that grooms my dogs works from home just around the corner from me and I've gotten quite a bit of business from her clients.

It's handy if you can provide open hours to people, especially if you'll only be offering limited appointment times.
You may need to inform the council, mortgage and insurance company. You'll also need to speak to HMRC as you'll have two jobs. Obviously you'll have to keep track of your accounts so may want to set up a simple spreadsheet.

You want to make clients think and feel that they aren't in your spare bedroom, so make the space look professional and presentable. I did a lot of Googling of quirky salons and small salon spaces to get ideas on how to work with the space that I have. Pinterest is also good for ideas!