Is foot flow important?

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redlottie13

JUST BE NICE
Joined
Jun 2, 2015
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Location
Bournmouth
Hi all can you tell me where your salons are based?

Is High Street always better?...... even when nowadays there's one salon every 3 shops!

What about not having an open shop front?

Word of mouth is my biggest client finder but am I failing before I even start by having a salon in a tucked away area? X
 
I am based at home although currently in the process of setting up so no clients yet.
Speaking from my own personal view, I would prefer to go somewhere outside of town centres, especially on a weekend or an evening! I would pay more to go somewhere tucked away, somewhere where it's not so busy etc so I can relax and unwind. I love having that bit of peace!
I have been to home salons, high street nail bars and salons and away from town centre salons and I would always choose to go to a home salon where I can feel I am the priority at that moment in time and never feel rushed.
That's just my preference although I'm sure some high street/bigger salons give that experience but I've only found it in home salons :) x
 
Any advise from salon owners extremely welcome... I don't want to make the wrong decision! X
 
I am based at home although currently in the process of setting up so no clients yet.
Speaking from my own personal view, I would prefer to go somewhere outside of town centres, especially on a weekend or an evening! I would pay more to go somewhere tucked away, somewhere where it's not so busy etc so I can relax and unwind. I love having that bit of peace!
I have been to home salons, high street nail bars and salons and away from town centre salons and I would always choose to go to a home salon where I can feel I am the priority at that moment in time and never feel rushed.
That's just my preference although I'm sure some high street/bigger salons give that experience but I've only found it in home salons :) x


See you feel the same as me! I couldn't think of anything worse than a tackling a busy high street on a Saturday but I think that's because I get panic attacks!

I'm just worried the lack of foot flow will hinder me getting new clients x
 
There isn't hardly any foot flow past my salon, I'm tucked away in the back of the tinyiest village ever you have to come right into a dead end to find me but I do ok, whatever clients you already have will come anyway no matter where you are, then you can have new clients who are the residents of the village you set up in, I'm 3 years in and still get the oh I diddnt know you were here, their even shocked to know I've been going 3 years! Good parking is a real asset to your location tho :)
 
As much as I'd like to agree with you all,sadly, I have another angle.
I bought a salon in a secondary/thirdary parade just over 4 years ago, and bought my own, well established clientele with me.
I am now in the process of selling up!

I still do ALL of my very loyal clients.
They love where I am, as they can park right outside, it's a lovely for them, just like when I worked from my 'Home salon', with all the comforts and convenience that brings. :)

HOWEVER......I still give them longer than is commercially viable, and I still give them a very generous loyalty discount!:oops:

In the 4 1/2 years I have been there, I have had the IMPOSSIBLE task of finding staff!
Hair, Nails, Lash & brow stylists want BUSY from the off.
They EXPECT a queue around the block from day one.
If it doesn't happen, they're gone. :mad:
Which leaves me, full on, juggling all the balls in the air.

I too saw soooo many advantages of being off the beaten track, private, tucked away, easy parking, with services carried out in a gentile, non hurried manner.

The truth is, when I drive home at night after another quiet day, I pass the high street, and see my competition busy busy busy.:p
 
Oh redstar so sorry to hear that your selling up. I agree, finding the right staff is nigh on impossible which means the hours I have to put in are leaving me exhausted and no life outside of work cos im too tired to go out! I am in a local parade of shops in between 2 biggish towns and near a train station so luckily quite a lot of footfall and we do get walk ins everyday which is a big help but the area is also saturated with salons so really competitive. I think if you already have a loyal clientele then maybe footfall not so important but if like me starting from scratch and need to build everything up then you do need that passing trade. Quite often on a quiet day, I put the board out with a standby special offer for a blowdry or a cut and blowdry and it nearly always bring someone in who sees it and decides to take advantage.
 
Hi all can you tell me where your salons are based?

Is High Street always better?...... even when nowadays there's one salon every 3 shops!

What about not having an open shop front?

Word of mouth is my biggest client finder but am I failing before I even start by having a salon in a tucked away area? X



I don't have any foot flow. I work from converted garage in a quiet village. I get a lot of clients who choose to come to me over going to the local town (10 minutes drive away) as I have a driveway and free parking. They also like that there is no waiting around and that it's private and quiet.
Obviously I had to do a lot of leafleting and promotional work to get my name out there. I have a website (which has lots of photos of my room and products), I'm on Google and I'm on social media too.
Now that I've been open a while, I've noticed that some clients travel over 30 minutes to see me - those are mainly through word of mouth and recommendations. The more reviews that I get on my pages, the more clients I get from further a field. x
 
I don't have much foot flow. I'm on a second floor tucked in the back of the building. I chose this location four years ago as I didn't want a ground floor place where foot flow would be crazy and I would have walk ins. I am doing very well, I keep gaining new clients every week. I do still get the occasional client shocked I've been here this long.

I would HIGHLY suggest a good website with good seo. My website is mainly where people find me. Otherwise word of mouth. The website will do some of the work for you for getting new clients.

I should say I started up with minimal clients. Everything has been website, leaflet drops for two years and word of mouth.

It's work, I do have to be honest. It took almost three years to establish a good enough clientele to live. I went through tough times of wanting to close shop, problems with my OH as he was paying pretty much everything. I am finally making a good wage that increases every month. I bought a luxury car last year, going to a bigger house next year and planning to start a family in two years. I am not saying this to brag, I am saying it as encouragement to keep going even in the tough times. Everything is worth it!! I wouldn't change my location for the world.
 
I don't have much foot flow. I'm on a second floor tucked in the back of the building. I chose this location four years ago as I didn't want a ground floor place where foot flow would be crazy and I would have walk ins. I am doing very well, I keep gaining new clients every week. I do still get the occasional client shocked I've been here this long.

I would HIGHLY suggest a good website with good seo. My website is mainly where people find me. Otherwise word of mouth. The website will do some of the work for you for getting new clients.

I should say I started up with minimal clients. Everything has been website, leaflet drops for two years and word of mouth.

It's work, I do have to be honest. It took almost three years to establish a good enough clientele to live. I went through tough times of wanting to close shop, problems with my OH as he was paying pretty much everything. I am finally making a good wage that increases every month. I bought a luxury car last year, going to a bigger house next year and planning to start a family in two years. I am not saying this to brag, I am saying it as encouragement to keep going even in the tough times. Everything is worth it!! I wouldn't change my location for the world.

I'm also in a salon that's off the main street on the first floor. So can't rely on walk in trade. Started off from scratch last may but at the time I had another job so money not a problem. Left that job in august and really feeling the pressure now:eek:o_O:( and like you my oh is covering everything at min. Including our family holiday just now. I hate it!! Feeling stressed at night in bed. How did you get through it?
 
I don't have much foot flow. I'm on a second floor tucked in the back of the building. I chose this location four years ago as I didn't want a ground floor place where foot flow would be crazy and I would have walk ins. I am doing very well, I keep gaining new clients every week. I do still get the occasional client shocked I've been here this long.

I would HIGHLY suggest a good website with good seo. My website is mainly where people find me. Otherwise word of mouth. The website will do some of the work for you for getting new clients.

I should say I started up with minimal clients. Everything has been website, leaflet drops for two years and word of mouth.

It's work, I do have to be honest. It took almost three years to establish a good enough clientele to live. I went through tough times of wanting to close shop, problems with my OH as he was paying pretty much everything. I am finally making a good wage that increases every month. I bought a luxury car last year, going to a bigger house next year and planning to start a family in two years. I am not saying this to brag, I am saying it as encouragement to keep going even in the tough times. Everything is worth it!! I wouldn't change my location for the world.


You are not bragging you are proud of your achievements! Thankyou for your input, my partner is also paying for everything at the moment and it's causing stress and pressure on our relationship....... But I know we can do it as we are a team!!

I'm going go for it! Ahhhhhhhh
 
I recently opened a salon on the fourth floor of an office block being redeveloped, nobody walks past except for the people going to their offices, we opened on the 1st of August and I must admit the first 2 months were slow but we are now fully booked several days of the week, for us it has all been through having a really good Instagram account and offering an 'opening discount' we use timely for booking and have tracked retention with the majority of clients rebooking!

I seriously think being out of the centre these days is a plus
 
I'm also in a salon that's off the main street on the first floor. So can't rely on walk in trade. Started off from scratch last may but at the time I had another job so money not a problem. Left that job in august and really feeling the pressure now:eek:o_O:( and like you my oh is covering everything at min. Including our family holiday just now. I hate it!! Feeling stressed at night in bed. How did you get through it?
I still stress at night in bed haha I don't think that ever goes away.

I had a lot of support from my OH, he really stuck by me and encouraged me to keep going. Gaining new clients gave me hope that it would work out. It's very hard in the beginning, I remember paying all my bills but zero wage for me. You have to give it time, I think that's the biggest thing. You have a small clientele with you and that's great. Are you doing any form of advertising? I really swear by leaflets drops. My first two almost paid for themselves but I got quite a few regulars from them. Also Facebook was pretty good. It gets your name out there. It takes time to build a solid clientele. You need patience, but we have none. I wanted everything now, like right now and that didn't help lol

Just keep at it, keep going. It's will work out and the stress will lessen :)
 
I still stress at night in bed haha I don't think that ever goes away.

I had a lot of support from my OH, he really stuck by me and encouraged me to keep going. Gaining new clients gave me hope that it would work out. It's very hard in the beginning, I remember paying all my bills but zero wage for me. You have to give it time, I think that's the biggest thing. You have a small clientele with you and that's great. Are you doing any form of advertising? I really swear by leaflets drops. My first two almost paid for themselves but I got quite a few regulars from them. Also Facebook was pretty good. It gets your name out there. It takes time to build a solid clientele. You need patience, but we have none. I wanted everything now, like right now and that didn't help lol

Just keep at it, keep going. It's will work out and the stress will lessen :)

Haven't done leaflet drop since I started up. Don't know whether to do anymore or not tbh. I have my fb page that I do use and a website.
I'm same as you in that I want it all now lol. But mostly not to be relying on oh for stuff. So far I'm paying my own bills and biz stuff but that's it. Just need to bunker down and keep pushing!
 
Okay here is my story.

I worked from home for 10 years (no footfall). I helped care for my ageing stepfather and mum. As my babies got older, I looked at renting a room. I rented a room in a golf club (no footfall) and gave my business a name and grew my business a bit. I was now paying rent so I took it a bit more seriously.

I was there for about 2 years. My eldest baby - now 18 - decided that she'd like to do beauty. She did and started covering a day here and there at the golf club. Still no footfall.

We then looked at working together. I looked at a barn - as I've said before, my initial reaction was that it wouldn't work. I looked again and decided to go for it. If I thought I had no footfall before, now I really had none. Cows and more cows [emoji202]. I paid several thousand for converting it.

We rented the small end and had various people in the larger end. None for very long. We aspired to move up to the larger end but the rent was much higher than where we were. After 18 months in the small end I met with the landlord. He agreed that it wasn't much good empty and he was fed up of people looking and not renting. He agreed to a low start rent. We expanded into the whole building. I converted the large end two years ago. My daughter was now full time and I have another lady 2 days a week.

I now rent out the small end, but am planning to move back into it along with having three treatment rooms in the large end. Our turnover has trebled in two years. I went limited to protect myself and had to go vat registered about 2 years ago.


No footfall means you have to let people know where you are and what you do. Free parking is a godsend. Clients love it. You have to advertise WELL and send out beautiful leaflets with perfect grammar. You have to treat each client like they're the queen even if you know they're the roughest of the rough. You have to appeal to everybody, but mostly those with a bit of money. Monthly offers are a good idea but don't discount left right and centre. Leaflet drop, get a great website with fab SEO so you get found. Change content regularly. Do Facebook well. Look at your own page - clients will. If every other word is moaning and swearing look at the image you're portraying. Will clients want to come to you. Don't make any one form of advertising the only form. I would say about 80% of our clients aren't really 'on' Facebook. They found us through google where we rank well, leaflets or our advert.

It can be done. You need an a board and you need to give vouchers to all the local charities to get talked about. You also need to keep your mouth shut when a client from 3 doors away says "I had no idea you were here" when you've been there three years. You also have to smile when they think they're the only one that comes to you [emoji23]

Just to add. My husband has supported me in all of this and from next week I'm employing him x
 
Last edited:
Okay here is my story.

I worked from home for 10 years (no footfall). I helped care for my ageing stepfather and mum. As my babies got older, I looked at renting a room. I rented a room in a golf club (no footfall) and gave my business a name and grew my business a bit. I was now paying rent so I took it a bit more seriously.

I was there for about 2 years. My eldest baby - now 18 - decided that she'd like to do beauty. She did and started covering a day here and there at the golf club. Still no footfall.

We then looked at working together. I looked at a barn - as I've said before, my initial reaction was that it wouldn't work. I looked again and decided to go for it. If I thought I had no footfall before, now I really had none. Cows and more cows [emoji202]. I paid several thousand for converting it.

We rented the small end and had various people in the larger end. None for very long. We aspired to move up to the larger end but the rent was much higher than where we were. After 18 months in the small end I met with the landlord. He agreed that it wasn't much good empty and he was fed up of people looking and not renting. He agreed to a low start rent. We expanded into the whole building. I converted the large end two years ago. My daughter was now full time and I have another lady 2 days a week.

I now rent out the small end, but am planning to move back into it along with having three treatment rooms in the large end. Our turnover has trebled in two years. I went limited to protect myself and had to go vat registered about 2 years ago.


No footfall means you have to let people know where you are and what you do. Free parking is a godsend. Clients love it. You have to advertise WELL and send out beautiful leaflets with perfect grammar. You have to treat each client like they're the queen even if you know they're the roughest of the rough. You have to appeal to everybody, but mostly those with a bit of money. Monthly offers are a good idea but don't discount left right and centre. Leaflet drop, get a great website with fab SEO so you get found. Change content regularly. Do Facebook well. Look at your own page - clients will. If every other word is moaning and swearing look at the image you're portraying. Will clients want to come to you. Don't make any one form of advertising the only form. I would say about 80% of our clients aren't really 'on' Facebook. They found us through google where we rank well, leaflets or our advert.

It can be done. You need an a board and you need to give vouchers to all the local charities to get talked about. You also need to keep your mouth shut when a client from 3 doors away says "I had no idea you were here" when you've been there three years. You also have to smile when they think they're the only one that comes to you [emoji23]

Just to add. My husband has supported me in all of this and from next week I'm employing him x
Amazing advice!! Honestly, everytime I read your story I am just amazed. In the hard times, reading about your success made me want to push through. Although I no longer want employees, been there done it and it was too much of a headache where I live, I aspire to be at your level. Truly amazing!
 
Amazing advice!! Honestly, everytime I read your story I am just amazed. In the hard times, reading about your success made me want to push through. Although I no longer want employees, been there done it and it was too much of a headache where I live, I aspire to be at your level. Truly amazing!
Thank you @Jen889

It's been tough and I'm now 52 and would like to do less but the reality is that I can't for now. I'll be totally honest, if Liv wasn't working for me we couldn't have done what we've done. No regular member of staff would work in the way she has worked. When I hear of staffing problems, I thank god I gave birth to mine [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]
 
This is a great story and an inspiration to everyone, your so right!
Okay here is my story.

I worked from home for 10 years (no footfall). I helped care for my ageing stepfather and mum. As my babies got older, I looked at renting a room. I rented a room in a golf club (no footfall) and gave my business a name and grew my business a bit. I was now paying rent so I took it a bit more seriously.

I was there for about 2 years. My eldest baby - now 18 - decided that she'd like to do beauty. She did and started covering a day here and there at the golf club. Still no footfall.

We then looked at working together. I looked at a barn - as I've said before, my initial reaction was that it wouldn't work. I looked again and decided to go for it. If I thought I had no footfall before, now I really had none. Cows and more cows [emoji202]. I paid several thousand for converting it.

We rented the small end and had various people in the larger end. None for very long. We aspired to move up to the larger end but the rent was much higher than where we were. After 18 months in the small end I met with the landlord. He agreed that it wasn't much good empty and he was fed up of people looking and not renting. He agreed to a low start rent. We expanded into the whole building. I converted the large end two years ago. My daughter was now full time and I have another lady 2 days a week.

I now rent out the small end, but am planning to move back into it along with having three treatment rooms in the large end. Our turnover has trebled in two years. I went limited to protect myself and had to go vat registered about 2 years ago.


No footfall means you have to let people know where you are and what you do. Free parking is a godsend. Clients love it. You have to advertise WELL and send out beautiful leaflets with perfect grammar. You have to treat each client like they're the queen even if you know they're the roughest of the rough. You have to appeal to everybody, but mostly those with a bit of money. Monthly offers are a good idea but don't discount left right and centre. Leaflet drop, get a great website with fab SEO so you get found. Change content regularly. Do Facebook well. Look at your own page - clients will. If every other word is moaning and swearing look at the image you're portraying. Will clients want to come to you. Don't make any one form of advertising the only form. I would say about 80% of our clients aren't really 'on' Facebook. They found us through google where we rank well, leaflets or our advert.

It can be done. You need an a board and you need to give vouchers to all the local charities to get talked about. You also need to keep your mouth shut when a client from 3 doors away says "I had no idea you were here" when you've been there three years. You also have to smile when they think they're the only one that comes to you [emoji23]

Just to add. My husband has supported me in all of this and from next week I'm employing him x
 
Okay here is my story.

I worked from home for 10 years (no footfall). I helped care for my ageing stepfather and mum. As my babies got older, I looked at renting a room. I rented a room in a golf club (no footfall) and gave my business a name and grew my business a bit. I was now paying rent so I took it a bit more seriously.

I was there for about 2 years. My eldest baby - now 18 - decided that she'd like to do beauty. She did and started covering a day here and there at the golf club. Still no footfall.

We then looked at working together. I looked at a barn - as I've said before, my initial reaction was that it wouldn't work. I looked again and decided to go for it. If I thought I had no footfall before, now I really had none. Cows and more cows [emoji202]. I paid several thousand for converting it.

We rented the small end and had various people in the larger end. None for very long. We aspired to move up to the larger end but the rent was much higher than where we were. After 18 months in the small end I met with the landlord. He agreed that it wasn't much good empty and he was fed up of people looking and not renting. He agreed to a low start rent. We expanded into the whole building. I converted the large end two years ago. My daughter was now full time and I have another lady 2 days a week.

I now rent out the small end, but am planning to move back into it along with having three treatment rooms in the large end. Our turnover has trebled in two years. I went limited to protect myself and had to go vat registered about 2 years ago.


No footfall means you have to let people know where you are and what you do. Free parking is a godsend. Clients love it. You have to advertise WELL and send out beautiful leaflets with perfect grammar. You have to treat each client like they're the queen even if you know they're the roughest of the rough. You have to appeal to everybody, but mostly those with a bit of money. Monthly offers are a good idea but don't discount left right and centre. Leaflet drop, get a great website with fab SEO so you get found. Change content regularly. Do Facebook well. Look at your own page - clients will. If every other word is moaning and swearing look at the image you're portraying. Will clients want to come to you. Don't make any one form of advertising the only form. I would say about 80% of our clients aren't really 'on' Facebook. They found us through google where we rank well, leaflets or our advert.

It can be done. You need an a board and you need to give vouchers to all the local charities to get talked about. You also need to keep your mouth shut when a client from 3 doors away says "I had no idea you were here" when you've been there three years. You also have to smile when they think they're the only one that comes to you [emoji23]

Just to add. My husband has supported me in all of this and from next week I'm employing him x


Totally agree! I love your posts!

Parking for me is essential as I'm so busy and constantly running around like a loon I cannot afford to be searching for parking spaces, then searching for change, then I usually realise I have none and get a ticket! (haha you think I'm joking... I'm not, I got 14 tickets last year!)

Another thing for me is I hate busy places! I suffer anxiety and overly busy and crowded places sometimes really freak me out so I want that homely peaceful salon atmosphere.

I know I'm going to have to put the leg work into the business to make sure people know I'm there but I'm actually excited for the challenge!
 
Good for you. Very best of luck with it all.

Sometimes it simply is a leap of faith. We've had clients come because they think we'll be numptys in the country and then they're amazed that it's a proper salon.

I don't know what you offer treatment wise, but Brazilian waxing has been fab for me as clients will rarely go elsewhere and they like the fact that we're nice and private x
 

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