Working Part-time at companies during office hours

[Rose143]

Hi,

I work during the day in some office parks and it works very well. I found a company who supplied Gyms to large companies and arranged to rent a room from them one day a week, I pay them 20% of what I take in and I supply everything. They emailed my price list to all the people who work in the buildings and let them know what days/hours i would be there and they book directly through the gym staff, in turn they phone me the night before Im due in and let me know what appointments I have in.

I was concerned initally about the time that it takes to carry out a full set and wondered if this would work out but since i started there i have been amazed at the amount of time that people can get away from their desks for!! I do beauty aswell as nails and always have people sneeking away from their desks for a quick eyebrow wax!! Anyway, lots of office workers have flexi time so they either come in a bit earlier for work and see me then or fit me in during their day. You obivously need to have your own insurance to cover what you do and the company has their own insurance which covers the room etc.

Anyway, I would recommend that you contact the facility managers in the companies you are looking at, companies on the outskirts of town are usually delighted at the offer of therapists coming to their park to work because their employees are so isolated where they are. In the park i work in they have a different therapist come in everyday to offer physio, accupuncture & hair dressing.

So I would say go for it, but be patient - it takes a while to get to see the person who actually makes the decisions!! I think i sent out about 30 letters to different companies and got about 3 replies back - but it's worth it, I have a captive audience of 500 at one site alone! Speak to your existing customers about your plans, you never know what contacts they can offer you, its one of those 'it's not what you know it's who you know situations' !

Hope this helps you,

Lou.

Hi Lou,

This is brilliant news and advice you must have gained hundreds of new clients doing this. Deffinatley something worth looking into, you're a genius hun!

Thank you, that helps me immensley!! :hug: :hug:

xxxxx

 

[Rose143]

Well listen, don't quote me on the lease thing because that could just have been my bosses' way of wriggling out of the idea - all I know is that they were going on about liabilty, health and safety, whether the commissionaires (their fancy name for the management company!) would object etc. Don't forget lawyers are always a little more wary of liablity issues and being held responsible! They may like suing, but they hate being on the receiving end!

As for who to approach, in our case it is our office manager who deals with these arrangements. In turn, if she is satisfied, she will then approach the MD etc to get official permission. Guess it just depends on the size of the company involved.

I think the way this all got started was because the Virgin Vie reps put the emphasis on the fact that a percentage of sales was going to charity. I do think that helps a lot because certainly prior to that my firm was never particularly keen. Now that they have seen how much the staff love it and how morale improves they do it far more than they ever did before.

I think its certainly likely there are loads more companies out there of like mind, and its just a case of selling the idea to the office manager; how it will benefit them - anything that keeps their staff happy and willing to work is good news for the employer!

I think you should go for it for definite - if you can get your foot in the door, the possibilities are endless!

Good luck with it and don't forget to let us know when your first one is - might just have to pop in and check it out :wink2: !!

Hollyballoo,

You've really helped me thank you, I understand what you're saying about lawyers, they do seem to be extra goodie goodies when dealing with this sort of arrangment.

I will keep all your advice in mind and give it a go ..... of course you should pop in .... I'll do your nails for you hun :hug: would be my pleasure!!!!

xxxx

 

[Rose143]

Peeps,

I am really gonna be dim here .... what's a call centre or a ghetto???? :o and why do they sound like not so nice places to go to????

 

[ValencianNails]

call centres... might be the regional office where all of a particular companies customers calls get put through to or they could be telesales centre, the ghetto seems to apply more to the telesales side of it. they are also places where a higher moral is normally needed hence the high turnover of staff.
telesales, meaning selling double glazing, medical insurance etc etc over the phone, you need skin like a rhino to face the rejection day after day, it is sometimes the best job on earth when things are good and you are selling loads, on the other hand it can also be very demoralising when you're not selling, not to mention the attitude of the prospects who have the misfortune of having to take the call.
hth x

 

[ADiva1]

Hi Peeps,

My boyfriend came up with this idea because I am mobile. Basically approaching a company and asking to use a spare desk to do nails during office hours every 2 weeks ... also offering a company discount maybe??? I stay for the whole day and the employees arrange with their employers for an hour or two from their day's work for their treatments.

Do any of you do this?

Do you think this would be a good thing to look into, I want honesty now peeps, if you don't think it's gonna work tell me straight!!!

Would it be a good idea to offer them a percentage of my earnings?

Thank you for any advice and comments you may have!!! :hug:

xxxx

Sounds good to me. I have heard of someone who does this - don't know her personally. She goes back to the company she used to work for and does her colleages nails in the meeting room. There was a mutual agreement with her and her Manager that she worked with.
There is scope, go for it!