Advice on my new business venture please! eg name and brochures

[diane86]

Hi Geeks!!

I'm new to this so apologies if I do anything wrong!! After quite a bit of deliberation and 6 yrs of working in a salon I have decided to open up my own business by renting a room somewhere I'm thinking of 'Top To Toe Beauty' just wanted some feedback on what you thought I need something quirky but explanatory of me doing Beauty Therapy!!

Also any advice on brochures am looking at Vista print but a friend said it's quite expensive?? I'm not quite sure to design my own either??

Any help would be great as I've found it's quite scary starting up a business!!

Thanks! x

 

[renebaby]

hi there, i did this same venture about 7yrs ago and its been great however after the first 3 yrs i felt a little lost and was able to get some help. in northern ireland we have an organisation called invest ni who take you through the whole process of starting up a business and get you thinking about your market then they give you money to help you on your way maybe your area has something similar, i got a professional to do my logo for me but it was expensive but really looked the part, its worth considering. before this i got business cards made up with vista print and they weren't great but they did do me great flyers. sori for going on a bit hope this helps and good luck with your new venture

 

[nailtekireland]

Best of luck with your new venture!!!!! Also enjoy the site, you'll never be without support here!!!

 

[Glamour Puss7]

Hello diane86, it's all exciting for you at the moment then...? I use Printing,com for my stuff they are very good and you get what you pay for. Best wishes to you x

 

[bubblegum :)]

good luck with your plans like the name top to toe beauty x

 

[EMMA AT ELITE]

Hello,

Welcome to Salon Geek, no need to feel scared starting you new venture, now you are on here, you will find lots of help & advice.

The name top-to-toe beauty sounds good, however if you are renting a room in another salon, nail shop, sunbed shop or hairdressers they will have their name.
I rent a room in a sunbed shop & just use the name of the shop just, I had a website made a few months ago called "beauty-by-emma" so I tend to use that now for advertising etc but always add "at .............." as that where I am located.

I would really recommend you do get a website made, my one has been so vauleable I wish I did it years ago. If you contact Ruth Mills on here she did my website & many other geeks sites, she works alongside Carl Verve "Extensionise" on here who does logos & graphic design, both are very affordable.

Have you found your room to rent?

Regarding vistaprint, I use them for business cards, gift vouchers, pens, postcards & have always been happy. If you sign up to their website you will recieve (very regular) emails with special offers on, wait for them before you place your first order. I get my leaflets printed at a local printers so cant comment on vistaprint for that.

Hope that helps
Love Emma x:hug:x

 

[diane86]

Hello everybody,

Wow my first experience of Salon geek has been very exciting thank you all so much for your help and advice! I have a room already sorted which are two in fact (one treatment one waiting room) at the rear of a hair salon (a client at my current job actually!) she is semi retired and doesn't advertise it as a business so the name can be my own. I also have all the window space provided to make a display and a space for a sign above the salon so thank you for that bit of advice Emma at Elite apologies I haven't looked at your website yet but is it just information you have on there or booking forms aswell?

Thank you glamour puss7 looked at printing.com website and looks quite affordable esp the recycled paper ones! Amazingly I had never noticed there is a store im my local town!! :o

Thanks renebaby for the invest ni I've looked into it here in the uk a little last night doesn't seem like they have that service here but will keep looking!! I am however thinking of getting a credit card with the 1st yr interest free to cover me for the initial orders and equipment buying. what do you all think?

Also thinking of just having a cheap pay as you go phone for now??

Thanks again! xx

 

[EMMA AT ELITE]

My website doesnt have a booking appointment system on it, however you can add that as there is a system Ruth Mills has worked on to make an appointment on line. I do have a "contact me" page which clients can email me appointments if they want.

Thats great that you have two rooms, could you add a stand up sunbed into the waiting room, to give you more income? Or maybe rent a nail desk to a nail tech?

Love Emma x

 

[skymark]

Welcome to Salon Geek and congrats on your new adventure.

As far as your name goes...a lot of people dont agree but I think that only a business name that you have created, believe in and just 'feels right' is always the one to go for. People could give you a hundred suggestions but I dont think any would 'click' because they are from someone elses vision.
Its kind of like naming your first baby.

As far as print etc goes, if you look at the top of the forum there is a search box that you can type any word into and it will bring up threads that contain that word, so if you put in 'printing' 'logo' 'vistaprint' etc then a whole host of stuff will come up and you can read previous discussions on the subject.

Theres a lot of past threads about printing companies (and think there is a current one running?) so there will be lots of info there, just sit and read with a pen and paper for jotting down all the names and links of recommendations.

Obviously when starting out funds are really very tight and so some things that you may want will have to wait a little bit. I would give a try designing your leaflets etc as most of the websites like vistaprint or 123print have templates or blank templates that are easy enough to use. I know it is not a huge amount of money to have them designed for you, but maybe til the cash comes in be best to keep the cost down. You will still be getting the professional quality print it will just take you the hours at the computer. If you're not so good on the computer literacy it would be worth seeing what having leaflets designed would cost (I think emma gave you some links above)

A credit card is always a tricky one. Should you decide to go for it just make sure that you have the discipline to see it in your mind as a business loan and make sure it gets paid off asap.

Also sounds simple but try not to buy too much stuff to start with. Just buy enough product for what you need for now enough to get a bit of cash coming in, theres no need for large amounts of stock etc.

Only things I can think of for advise:

> One thing that is always a cost in this industry is towels and so I would advise you to shop around when looking for them as we always need loads.
> Get listed on google maps and all the free websites, they don't cost anything
> Start plugging yourself on facebook and all those other sites your friends visit (dont feel bad they're all doing the same)

 

[diane86]

Excellent!! Thank you everyone for the brilliant advice!!

 

[monili]

This site www.taglinesgalore.com is fab for headlines! Type in a word to use and they find you taglines, headings which would give you a good idea of buiness names!
Oh, I find the Ink Shop good and cheap for stationery but you need to buy relatively large quantities. The site is /www.taglinesgalore.com and you can order only.

Good luck in your venture!