Help with Prices!

[genie123]

Hi,

I am looking to start up as a mobile therapist and currently working in an office at £20k per year (before tax). This does just get me by so I am looking to earn a minimum of this. I wasn't sure if this was possible doing beauty however after looking on some threads I can see that some people were working in offices at a higher salary than me and left to do this, and are doing well. I am however struggling with prices and what treatments to offer. The areas surrounding me are very mixed. You have an average part of the population and a fair few that are very well off. I worked in a hair salon as a receptionist for a while and a lot of the clients were kept by their well paid husbands and just popped in everyday and paid £35 to get their hair blow dried! On the other hand there were obviously just the average clients who came every 6 weeks. I think I could get away with charging a bit more IF i was able to get the more well off clientele, however, would this mean I wouldn't get as many clients as the rest of us "average people" would prefer to go to a high street salon and pay cheaper prices. I also don't know what treatments to offer! I'm sure that nails are popular with everyone, I do BioSculpture and am learning acrylics, and obviously your standard mani and pedis. I would like to do massages as the only product you need is oil and the salons round here charge around £30 per hour for a swedish full body. I may also look into doing another massage course like reflexology as I think this kind of thing would be popular for gifts vouchers. I don't know if it's worth doing waxing, tinting, facials etc?? Will it be worth me buying all these extra products or do you think that nails are the biggest thing? Very confused and would appreciate any reply to any of those questions!
xxx

 

[Pattyx]

Hi Genie

I currently work full time in an office and in the middle of setting up from home. I am going to keep my full time job and do my beauty and nails on the side (evening and weekend) so that I have a steady income coming in to support start up costs etc while i build up my clientelle and then I can maybe think about doing my current job part time and beauty the rest! I would seriously think about it before jumping into anything and regretting it because your not seeing a regular income and dont have enough money to support yourself.
I deffinatley think adding waxing to your treatments is a must! its the bread and butter of all treatments, your clients will come back every 3-4 or even less weeks for waxing, Adding shellac and minx would be a great thing also.
I hope you make the right decision and good luck x

 

[York]

Hi Genie,

I have been in this industry for many years and have seen both sides, i know therapists who are really busy and do have a good income but they are really good at what they do and love the job, others have failed because they see people as money and squeeze clients in dont have as much time with clients then they loose them and word got round that people dont get a good job - few clients little money.

 

[MissConfused]

i think it's a mistake not to offer waxing i really do. like somebody else has said it's a monthly upkeep plus it saves clients time as they don't have to spend like half an hour every other day shaving and people are willing to pay for that luxury.

when i was asking people about what they wanted from a therapist before i trained people said to me that they wanted everything done at the one place, they don't want to be seeing numerous people at numerous places. people who look after their nails aren't usually the type of people who are willing to walk around with fluffy top lips and sluggy eyebrows are they? i'm yet to see anybody who has nice nails but doesn't have other bits groomed... but i have seen women who have groomed bits without nice nails. sooo will you be missing out on extra income by not offering extra services? or will you be missing out on clients fullstop because they don't want to have more than the 1 appointment? x

 

[genie123]

when i was asking people about what they wanted from a therapist before i trained people said to me that they wanted everything done at the one placex

Thanks! this really makes sense! I don't want to waste a qualification! Do you think I'd be right to put a minimum spend though? Or do you think this would put people off? I don't want some one calling me round just for an eyelash tint or a brow shape as I wouldn't make any money from it. What would you say was a reasonable minimum? £15? £20? Or is this a bad idea that would out clients off?