Starting out at home

[O Scott Beauty]

Hi, I am looking for some help!
I have been trained in beauty for a year and after being qualified I decided to go part time in a salon and part time at Home. I knew that I was young and wouldn’t know everything as I only just started so thought that working in a salon with an experienced therapy would help me learn more and gain some confident in my work. But I didn’t want to go full time because I would love to work for myself full time one day so I thought it would be good to start working up a client base of my own now. The first couple of months of business were good and build up fairly nicely! But now a year on I feel that my home business is not going anyway and I have a few regular clients but nothing that would good enough to go full time at any stage soon. I still have days with very few clients which upsets and worries me. I am not looking to go full time from home now but I would still like to have more clients and push myself at home to get a good client base.
I was wondering what people have done to push their businesses and want I should be doing to improve!
Thank you x

 

[AshLovesTanning]

How many clients would you have on a slow day?

 

[user 111574]

We all have slow days, even when we have been up and running for years - so don't panic when you get an empty day!
I find it's better to look at takings on a monthly basis as some weeks are better than others so it evens out. Not so depressing!

Each year you've been trading will get better, by which I mean your gaps in the appointment book will get fewer.
I find the quiet weeks are consistently the same ones each year so I plan to get ahead on other stuff or take a holiday when I know this is going to happen.
For example:

• First week of December - a bit dead, everyone holding off to be nearer to Christmas
• First week in January - quiet until the kids are back at school
• First week of September - very quiet as schools are going back, mums don't want to commit to an appointment because their child is starting a new school / having to take the bus (will it turn up?) / transporting 16 year olds to College for their induction week (unpredictable hours and probably no bus pass yet to get home)

So you see, there is a pattern to peoples lives.
June & July are generally the best months as lots of people are going on holiday throughout this period plus you get the clients who only come once a year.

There are lots of threads here on Salon geek about how to advertise to get new customers.Have a read, I'm sure it will give you some ideas on methods you might not have tried yet.
You do need to keep up with your advertising on a weekly basis to keep your name in front of potential clients. 2 days is a long time on Facebook with regard to adverts. People have a very short attention span! Use as many local community FB sites as you can for free. Put something different on them each week. Good images are essential to catch their eye and make them read your advert.
Here are the things I see as essential to getting your business growing:

• Salon website - up to date and attractive
• Salon Facebook page - update with your nail designs or product info at least twice a week
• Leaflet drop to your immediate area (include a discount voucher)
• Boost posts on Facebook to a targeted audience
• Send out a monthly newsletter by email to your existing clients (promotion of the month / new treatments / packages etc)
• Always re-book a client before they leave the salon

There are lots of other ideas, as I say, have a read of the other threads.
Good luck & keep at it!