A taboo question

[loulou71]

Like many others have reached a point in my life where I actually would like to do a job that I'd enjoy rather than be sat in from of a computer all day. Trained in hair removal years ago and am thinking of pursuing the Beauty Therapy route once again.

I'd ideally want to work for myself (either mobile and/or home treatment room) and my question is, what do people realistically earn working for themselves doing this? I know there are loads of variables to this (full/part-time,services offered, geographic location) but I'm just trying to get an idea.

I'm not expecting for everyone to immediately post their earnings but if anyone can give me some ball park figures and an idea on what they do and where they are i'd really appreciate it. Feel free to pm me if you'd rather not post but if anyone's willing to share rough figures then that would be great. Just want to know how realistic I'm being when looking at this.

Thanks in advance

 

[PixieBeauty]

Great topic. I work as a careers adviser and kids ask me all the time how much does this job and that job pay? As a lot of adults are wary of discussing figures.

I currently earn £11/hr in my careers work (salaried but that's the breakdown) and so my target is to be making £10/hr profit doing nails before I can give up my part time careers work. I think this is achievable, if I get my times down!!

Would love to hear others' answers too xx

 

[tanfastic]

I earn roughly £15.00 per hour after "deductions" but I don't ever get to work 8 hours a day, I average maybe 3 hours per day Monday to Friday ( some days I have free and some weeks are sparse but then others are really hectic) so definitely not enough to survive on as a full time job. For me it's early days yet as I have only recently added nails to my spray tanning business( which started out as a little pocket money hobby) and I am hopeful that next year I will be able to support myself doing only the mobile treatments. I currently have a couple of other freelance jobs which pay the bills.
So to answer your question, in my opinion it would be very difficult to hit the ground running if you know what I mean. It will take time to build your income and because of that it might be prudent to keep your day job and offer treatments after hours until you have built up a decent client base and earning enough from beauty treatments.

 

[Sam81]

I'm now in year three and just about starting to get fully booked 90% of the time, I only work part time hours though (which I've been gradually increasing) and I'm only now beginning to take a reasonable wage. The first couple of years were spent building up clients and putting my money back in for products and training. It takes a long time to build up business and you have to be prepared to be poor for a while in my opinion!

 

[elliebee]

I work out my own pricing for treatments and base it on an hourly rate

 

[celtica]

I have been working from home since February and have just started doing some mobile. I was working full time before and now do about 24hrs a week sometimes every day for a couple of hours, good weeks and sparse weeks. I earn on average 75% more than working for somebody else and still have room to take on more work. Best thing I ever did. I find having more strings to my bow means that if one client comes to me for three different services its like having two new clients. And like elliebee I base my pricing on what I am prepared to earn per hour.

 

[EmJZ]

So to answer your question, in my opinion it would be very difficult to hit the ground running if you know what I mean. It will take time to build your income and because of that it might be prudent to keep your day job and offer treatments after hours until you have built up a decent client base and earning enough from beauty treatments.

totally agree!

it takes time to build up a steady income when doing it all on your own from home/mobile. I have just recently gone mobile and hit my 6month mark. Now occasionally I go into the black but it doesn't last long since I have to purchase more products etc. On average they say it can take up to 2years to get a steady clientele and up to 5years to make a profit big enough to call a salary.

My advise would be to maybe work part-time in a salon to get a steady paycheck and part-time on your own to start bulding up you clients.

Good Luck1

 

[eternalscot]

People won't like answering this ones will be worried about mr tax man. I can assure you there is money in this profession by the age of 27 I owned my £180k house outright and no man about. Of course I was always very honest and everything is accounted for, too honest for my own good sometimes!

 

[Pinkbunny28]

I read somewhere (I forget where) year 1 of any business makes a loss, year 2 break even and year 3 in profit. It's been roughly that for me so far but I'm still in year 1 and in profit (sort of - I keep buying presents for ME! Lol) x

 

[loulou71]

Thank you all for your responses. I really only wanted to know if making a reasonable living is actually possible and it seems that it can be. I know all this depends on you and just how much you commit and put into the business to develop and grow. I've got lots to do!!!

 

[MrsW]

What a great topic, I was just wondering about these things to.
I worked in admin till December when I got laid off the week b4 Christmas, I'm struggling to find another job & my kids both start full time school in September so I'm thinking of going back to college to do beauty, NVQ l2 & l3, but will still have to do extra courses for spray tan, nail extensions etc. With the hope of working for myself either mobile or I have a spare bedroom I could convert.
You just think that there must be so many people out there doing it, how on earth do they get any clients & make enough money to live on

 

[anca14]

Yes you can make a reasonable living if you are good at what you offer.
x

 

[Steph86]

As the others have said, I am employed by day and mobile, I started training in Aug, running my business in Nov- December was a FAB month and I've got a growing client base, which is fab. I've managed to cut my hours (day job) by 8 but as I spend a lot of money on new products I am yet to break even, but I am half way there and when I have quiet weeks I actually enjoy the time off!

Personally as this is my 1st "spring/summer" I could cut my hours more, but I want to see how this pans out come sept/oct... One day I will take the plunge of just being self employed, but not just yet....

Lastnite in 4 hours I earnt £130 (not profit just overall) which would be fab if I had 8 hours a day 5 days a week but its not...Yet anyway!

I'd keep ur day job and train and work that bit longer til u find ur feet, and ur clients

Good luck xx

 

[Beautygirl1977]

I worked full time in a office before and I make at least twice as much now. I paid off my capital within months of opening. I am fully booked every week. Be prepared to work hard!

 

[TMH]

I earn twice as much as I did when I worked in a salon. If you're willing to put the hours in then you can earn a really good living by going mobile

Of course there's over heads to consider but I just put away 30 to 40% away each week to cover bills etc. I'd never work for anyone else again

 

[J33XSS]

Interested to know how those that commented on this thread are doing now? x

 

[Pinkbunny28]

This was so long ago lol but I've just passed the year 3 mark and I'm doing brilliantly really proud of myself x

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