Before I trained, one of the salons I used to go to offered a re balance in 30mins. It wasn't actually true.
I would arrive, the telephone girl would get me a coffee and sit me at her table whilst Lisa finished her client, while I sat there the phone girl would, remove varnish and nip away any loose product as well as shorten the nails.
By then Lisa had finished and I would sit at her table, she would de bulk with her efile apply primer to zone 3 new product on, including a new French smile. file down with the efile and pass me back to the phone girl for buff and polish, total time in salon 1hour total time with Lisa 30 minutes, sometimes less and I would swear blind that it only took 30 minutes because the phone girl was only helping while Lisa was running late
Lisa only did pink and white sculpts, no nail art, no choice of colours or jewelery and I have to say that these nail bars offer perm French or natural and nail art but that art is not 3d and is usually a variation on flicks.
Clever marketing has its uses.

Many clients love to natter and I do too but business is business and if I have to reduce my prices (which I have), it is vital that I get more clients through the door. If a client has to choose between a quicker but good service with less chit-chat that costs less or a more leisurely service at a similar standard but at a higher cost, I know which one wins. Clients don't want to pay for chit-chat with me no matter how interesting they might find me.

I am talking to the hand from now on lol!

I have relocated recently and it is a totally different type of market from the one I was used to so I have had to adapt the services I offer. You have to meet the needs of the local clientelle.

The reason that some of these salons do such quick nails is because they have a designated person for each stage of the service.

One tips and blend - next one applies l&p - another finishes and airbrushes french on. Done.
They can have an app every 5 or so minutes.

There is no reason why we couldn't do that - its just we know OUR clients wouldn't really like that and the staff ar probably on poor wages - but I don't know that for sure so I'm guessing.


I have seen some really nice nails from the so-called nss - I don't mind.

We all have our share of the market somewhere. Work on that. Improve skills continuously.

We seem to be distracted by these salons - perhaps there is envy of their business skills - which is pretty damn good. They are making money and they are busy and they are pretty much conquering every country they work in.

Geeg, Carl and Mum are absolutely 100% spot on - we have to keep up.

If they start using popits though, won't they be able to turn out a set of nails in 10 minutes? LOL

Stay positive.

xx

After reading this thread, I have been thinking. I may be wrong and I may change my mind but here is my opinion...

I think we have to choose what marked we want to be in and then cultivate it. If you want to be a fast and cheap tech, then go for that marked and be famous for being good, fast and cheap. If you want to be in the high-end marked, you have to do what you need to get there, offer drinks, chat, take care, do hand-made nails etc... In my opinion it's impossible to both, you have to dare to choose. Did this make sense?

C.

I have trawled through the site land net for as much info as I can on these nail bars , workers and products. I have owned salons for ten years and employ 17 staff with varying degree of skill and experience. Increasingly I was being told about two particular nail salons with vietnamese workers, I was intrigued. The nail bars are not remotley close to any of my salons. I telephoned one of the nail bars and asked how long and how much ? 30 mins @ £25 and I could call in there and then . Fine , cant be that busy I thought ,how wrong I was .
Seven nail bars , all with clients sat at them. I was sat down after waiting two mins , offered a drink, indulged in some basic chit chat - the tech was greeting clients, taking phone calls , left me for a couple of mins while she tipped another client and had me out the door in thirty five mins flat. I was gob smacked , and to top it all my nails are amazing . As for hygiene - sink to wash hands and a warm towel. Nothing on the nail desk would indicate there was an infringement in health and safety. I have never seen acrylic applied at such speed and precision . Credit were its due im afraid and a step up in game plan before one opens too close.
I really wish I had something negative to say about my experience but Id be kidding myself and others. Apparantly 90% of nail techs and salon owners in the states are vietnamese , they are defo doing something right and I for one want in .
Bye for now and would love to know more !
Elleeboo

We can sit here and bitch, our surroundings will evolve and adapt.
People get better, they realize the right from wrong and improve.
But no matter what NAILZOO is da bomb!!!
His vids rock, and his words of wisdom are unquestionable, i still love his "thumb picking a orange, discoloration idea"

We all gotta smarten up!!!

This makes complete sense to me Cec.

If it were me I would go for the high end drinksl, chat, take care, hand made nails option. But then I'm bias

Ditto for me. I rather be known in the area for my ´couture´ nails where people dont mind paying good money for instead of being cheap and fast with a poor quality. Maybe these nss bars are kicking up their game but i think they have to get a whoooole lot better before any of the high end nailsalons in the city here would start to worry. Make a choice

Why not offer both? Cheap and fast doesn't have to mean poor quality if you get smart using PopIts. some of you are still wearing blinkers over your eyes!

ok i need help with these popits...i have a pack and have never open them, where do i look to find out how to use them and refill with them.. thanks

Go to the tutorials on here you should fine all you need there. Hope this helps.

I could not agree more! I'd rather take my time, do a superb job, get to know the client and make them feel special.

Personally, if my nail professional was that fast and I felt like just another nail job on the production line, I'd leave in a big hurry!

Why limit yourself??? Sure some want the couture service .... but not everyone does. Surely it's not such a difficult concept to grasp is it?? It is not all or nothing with PopIts .. they are ANOTHER CHOICE ... for those who do want FAST.

Is it me or is the idea of offering 2 high quality services ... one bespoke and the other beautiful and fast ... difficult to understand? People are answering this thread as if they can't understand the concept of offering both services and what it would mean for their business??

I live in Northern California, where you would be very hard pressed to find a non-Vietnamese tech. As mentioned by someone, the second generation of Vietnamese nail techs are now making their presence known; they speak Vietnamese, perfect English, know how to market. They are opening salons that are beautifully decorated, clean and hygienic, friendly and relatively inexpensive to the customer. And they are fast. Not 20 minutes fast, but an hour, tops. I would wager that this will happen in other countries as well.

Around here, a bespoke nail service would be hard to sell to most people.
Our culture is one of speed, I don't know anyone that isn't retired who would voluntarily book a 2 hour nail appointment.