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DaniG
13-07-12, 07:05 PM
I have been working at the same salon for 6 and a half years. It's a small salon with just myself and my boss working there. I work full time doing hair and nails and she just does hair and only two and a half days each week as she's retirement age and only really opened the salon to help out a friend of hers who has since left. When she opened it she offered me the chance to train as a nail technician and go work for her and while there I trained as a hairdresser too.

I've had no intention to leave as I enjoy working with her and she's been a really good friend for longer than we've worked together and also a second mother to me when my family emigrated to Australia, but two years ago she put the salon up for sale. I've known this all along and she's always said that she'll only sell it if I have the option to stay on if I want to. But since she put it up for sale she's had no motivation to build up the business only for someone else to take it over and so I've had to work hard to convince her to bring in new services, such as Shellac, which is keeping me very busy with clients while she's a lot less busy. And that's where we hit a problem...

I always planned to become self employed when she retired and she's known this. I invested some of my money in more Shellac things so I could have access to two lamps in the salon as well as more colors and it was agreed that in return when she retired everything for the Shellac would become mine so I'd have a good start to setting up mobile. But there's now someone who is interested in buying the business (he already has another salon) and is keen to have me stay on working for him so he can offer nails as a service too. He is aware that the Shellac will belong to me and that's not a problem but I'm in a bit of a catch 22 situation. If I choose to leave when my boss retires she'll obviously have to tell him that and the business won't be worth anything, so won't get sold and she won't get to retire. But at the same time I have no reason to stay on after she leaves. Even taking into consideration the travel costs, products, insurance, losing some clients etc. I will still be better off going mobile than I will be staying on.

So it seems I have 3 options..

1) I choose to leave when she does, then we both end up staying till she's had enough and just closes up. Probably risking our friendship in the process but likely being able to continue with the clients I already have.

2) I stay on and the business gets sold, but all the clients I have worked hard to build up become the new owners and then when I do leave I am starting over.

3) Some kind of renting a table arrangement. Though I can't see how this would be of any benefit to either of us and from what I understand he's not too keen on this idea.


Is there anything I'm not taking into consideration regarding what I can and can't do with leaving and the clients I currently have? And does anyone have any thoughts on how I should proceed? Obviously I don't want to make things awkward in any way, but at the same time I need to look after myself as no one else is going to do it.

Sorry it's so long, but thanks for reading!

kimi1101
13-07-12, 07:20 PM
I'm sorry darling but I strongly believe that we look after ourselves only. Seems like she's confused about the boundaries - if it's already agreed you will go mobile and take all shellac and clients then what can you do? Tell her you are not interested in staying on but then she is in a situation where her "business" is worth very little. She was foolish to tell you you can take your clients.

NailsXpress
13-07-12, 07:30 PM
Have you considered buying the business for yourself? I would!

anca14
13-07-12, 07:37 PM
Sorry but if you are not self employed the clients are salon’s clients not yours and as far as I know when you buy a business you buy the products used in the salon as well so I am not sure how you will take the shellac products with you?

DaniG
13-07-12, 07:59 PM
Have you considered buying the business for yourself? I would!

I'm not in a position where I can afford to buy the business without taking out a loan and if I take out a loan then I can't be sure I will make enough to pay all the overheads, loan payments and still take a wage.

I'm sorry darling but I strongly believe that we look after ourselves only. Seems like she's confused about the boundaries - if it's already agreed you will go mobile and take all shellac and clients then what can you do? Tell her you are not interested in staying on but then she is in a situation where her "business" is worth very little. She was foolish to tell you you can take your clients.

Sorry but if you are not self employed the clients are salon’s clients not yours and as far as I know when you buy a business you buy the products used in the salon as well so I am not sure how you will take the shellac products with you?

I know the clients belong to the business and not to me but the potential buyer is a hairdresser and has no nail tech, hence why he's keen to have me stay on. If I don't then he'll have to either find another nail tech or lose the clients. As the majority of our clients are for nails rather than hair it's not really a case of her telling me I can take my clients with me, it's more I'm in a position to leave and for there to be no one to take them on. I know I can't contact them directly to poach business, but the majority of my clients are able to contact me anyway.

As for the products and equipment, he's aware that he's not buying any of that if he buys the business.

EmJZ
13-07-12, 11:48 PM
what about a joint partnership? where he would buy half the business (hair) and you buy the other half (nails). Your loan would be smaller and you would still have your clients and less overhead etc.

PixieBeauty
14-07-12, 07:11 AM
I know the clients belong to the business and not to me but the potential buyer is a hairdresser and has no nail tech, hence why he's keen to have me stay on. If I don't then he'll have to either find another nail tech or lose the clients. As the majority of our clients are for nails rather than hair it's not really a case of her telling me I can take my clients with me, it's more I'm in a position to leave and for there to be no one to take them on. I know I can't contact them directly to poach business, but the majority of my clients are able to contact me anyway.

As for the products and equipment, he's aware that he's not buying any of that if he buys the business.

Look at this from the outside. The clients belong to the business then - how he deals with that is up to him, he can find another nail tech that's not your problem. The products are yours, the clients are his. Explain this to your friend and as agreed walk away when she does. I think this isn't your problem hon but his xx