Advice on renting table in salon

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Hannah1984

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2005
Messages
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Location
Weston Super Mare
Well, I've come back from my holiday and said to myself Ill put my cards out in my hairdressers as been meaning to for a while. So this morning as I was passing, I went in gave them the cards. It was the salon owner who took them, and she straight away said, we are looking for a nail technician to rent a table. £20 a day rent, covers electric, water everything. (I dont know if this is a good price or not, so please let me know if not!) I would just need to buy my own table and chairs and of course bring my own kit. They would add me to their leaflets etc, and I would be right in the window so that is advertising in itself.

I was so shocked that she just offered it to me. Anyway, I told her that I am going back to college in September 2 and a half days every week and that I have only just qualified in April this year and havent really had much experience yet. She didnt mind and said that it will of course take time to build up clients etc, but they have had quite a few enquirys if they did acrylics there, so there is a opportunity for it. She wasnt phased that I only did acrylics too and really seemed positive about it.

The advice which I need is that the only nails I have been doing since I have qualified is on my friend, who I havent done for a while, as she didnt look after them and they didnt last well which knocked my confidence. So do I take the chance and expect to have a few bad sets and get better as I go along? The other thing I am worried about is the money side of things, I was expecting to reduce my hours at my job when I go to college anyway in September, but not knowing if I would have definate money coming in would scare me quite a bit. Because I only work 4 days at the moment in my job I could start doing just 1 day in there now, just to sort of test the water?

I really want to go for it, but any advice from geeks in similar positions or who have been there, done that, got the t-shirt, would be greatly appreciated!

Oh yes, and I've got the 2 salon owners booked in for nails next Wednesday!!! EEEEEKKKK!!!!
 
What a fantastic opportunity for you, £20 a day seems a fair price.

Yes it will take time for you to build up your clients but we all have to start somewhere. Is the salon in an area with lots of passing trade, if so then the best advertisement is you at your station doing nails!

However, If you are at college 2 1/2 days a week you will need to seriously look at how much further time/loss of income you can take out from your regular job. Maybe start as I have done with Fridays/Saturdays only. I found to start with that it was quite quiet but now people are getting to know I am there things are busying up although I do still have very quiet times.

The other thing you may want to consider is what other nail salons/hairdressers with nail techs there are locally and are they busy?

When do you have to give the owner your decision? If you have the time do some research maybe, go and stand near the shop/s at different time sof the day to determine what sort of passing trade you are likely to get.

Sorry if I have rambled, trying to do this at work without bosses catching me (LOL).

Do let us all know what you decide on though and most of all good luck:green:
 
The salon does have lots of passing trade, it is on a main road into the centre of town and they have had enquirys so there must be a gap there. There are no actual nail salons or very many salons with nail technicians in, only the chinese ones! eek. I am doing a starting offer anyway, £15 for a full set up to 31st August, with my card I left there.

I am doing the owners nails and another person who works there nails, next Wednesday, so I presume she will want a decision by then. She didnt say and I stupidly didnt ask as my head was all over the place.
 
Something else to consider is when you/they are building a client base you will still be paying your rent - in the early days you may be paying out as much as you get in..... Is the rent £20 per day or £100 per week? I know of a hairdressers where the owners says £20 per day but wants you there 5 days per week..... so it's actually £100 per week in rent.

Is the nail desk/room visible in the salon? Will the owner/staff 'sell' you?Cab you choose your hours? Do you have evening access if you want it? Who books the appts? Who designates how long your service times are? Do you have your own identity or are you in the salons's brand?

These are all questions you need to think about, but listen to your gut instinct. I had an opportunity last year and I was so desperate to make it work I jumped at it when it didn't feel right (and it wasn't).....

Don't forget the salon owner wants her rent - if you're paying it she's happy. Her interest may not be in having a nail tech per se but having £100 per week in rent coming in..... Money doesn't always bring out the best in people.

Anyway I hope this has helped or at least given you something to think about. Good luck whichever way you decide to go!
 
Not suprised your head is everywhere if she just hit you with it, what a shock. Sounds like a fab opportunity though. See if they will just let you do Saturday's to start with if you feel that you cannot afford to give up another day at work.

It might be worth checking with the owner aswell that they aren't planning to bring in another nail tech the other days of the week as if you are only doing one day a week to start with this could impact on your clients.

Where I am there is a holistic therapist but we do not cross over on treatments. There is also a lady who has been at the salon for about 10 years who does the odd manicure, but we seem to make it work somehow, probably because her main job is hairdressing and she fits in the odd mani when she can. However, I know a lot of salon owners/geeks do have multiple chairs/rooms to rent and hopefully one of them can help you further with how it all works.
 
Vetty, thank you for you questions, certainly gave me things to think about which I hadnt thought of yet.

The desk would be right by the window, well the whole salon front is windows, so I would be right by the window, in view of everyone walking past!

It is £20 per day, she knows I will be doing college 2 and half days a week, and she said herself, why not start off doing 1 day a week? So I dont think she is expecting me to do a whole week, well it would be physically impossible! lol I have my hair done there by the hairdresser, she is self employed, well everyone who works there is self employed. The advertising for the different parts of the salon are either in their own leaflets, on the windows or in a main salon leaflet. So lots of opportunitys to advertise. She said she would add me to the salon leaflet when they did the new ones, and would advertise it in the window (as well as me being sat there) So yes, I would have my own identity.

I can choose my own hours, obviously I will want to be there for a full day so I can get the most from it. They do a late night on a Thursday, but this is also a late night for me at college.

Whoever is on the reception desk would book in the apointments, I would tell her how long to book for each one and the days I would be in.

Joe90, thanks for you comments as well. I only work 4 days at the moment in my other job, but it is every other saturday, I could talk to my boss and see if I could drop a saturday, but dont think she would let me somehow! If not I can do everyother Saturday in the salon and a day during the week on the other. I know I would be missing appointment opportunities as Saturdays are busiest days, but it might still work.

I will check to see if they are planning to bring in another tech. That would be quite interesting as I would be buying the table and chairs that I need, so she would have use of that. Hmm. The outlook that I got from her though was that me doing 2 or 1 days a week would be fine and they would book appointments in for those days only.
 
Hi

Just some questions.

If you provide your own nail desk - will the owner be expecting you to keep it there the rest of the week? If so, and you have agreed 1 day per week at £20, will the owner be renting out your desk to other techs?

Will the owner expect any contribution towards marketing if including you on their promotion material?

Will you have a formal contract that agrees rent, conditions, etc? If not, what guarentees do you have that the rent won't continuously increase until you are handing over your profits to the owner just to pay for space?

What's your gut instinct? I'm asking this because I was in the same situation a few months back. A new place was asking for a s/e nail tech to rent a space for £150.00 per week. I really liked the manageress, and had a few issues about the place that I wanted to talk over before we came to any agreement. Instead of the manageress I met the owners and my instinct told me that they were not to be trusted. I disliked passing up the opportunity to be in the centre of town but 3 and a half months later the business was closed down so my instincts proved right.

If you're not sure take along a friend or seek professional advice from a business start up specialist such as Natwest or Business link.

Good luck and I hope it all works out.

Pix
x
 
Lots of very useful advice already given.....I would say be careful of being in the window, unless you have blinds....in this weather it gets v v v hot and will be very uncomfortable for you working in a window, and for your client too, especially if it catches the sun at certain times of the day!
 
Hi Pixi,



"If you provide your own nail desk - will the owner be expecting you to keep it there the rest of the week? If so, and you have agreed 1 day per week at £20, will the owner be renting out your desk to other techs?" This is something I will ask her next week.

"Will the owner expect any contribution towards marketing if including you on their promotion material?"
"Will you have a formal contract that agrees rent, conditions, etc? If not, what guarentees do you have that the rent won't continuously increase until you are handing over your profits to the owner just to pay for space?" She didnt say, but will ask her.

"What's your gut instinct?" My gut instinct, is about not earning enough money. The salon has been open now for 1yr and a half, Ive been having my hair done there since then, it started off quiet but business seems to have definately picked up. Like with any new business it takes time to build up, its not going to happen over night. They are all really friendly in there and I know that Claire, the hairdresser has worked really hard to get her clients. So my main concern is about the money side of things. If the owner wasnt very nice and put the rent up etc, then I couldnt see the people who are there now, staying put for such a long time. So I feel as if that side of things would be ok.
 
Cathie! said:
Lots of very useful advice already given.....I would say be careful of being in the window, unless you have blinds....in this weather it gets v v v hot and will be very uncomfortable for you working in a window, and for your client too, especially if it catches the sun at certain times of the day!

Thats one thing that I was thinking of as I was typing it, trying to picture the salon and remember if it has blinds. If not, they'd have to put some in if they wanted me right by the window.
 
I think it sounds like a great opportunity. If the fact that you've only done your friends nails scares you, maybe you could try and fit in as much practising as you can before next wednesday, like on family and friends, its worth a go I think, maybe you could get a job at night like waitressing or something if your scared about the money situation.
Good luck with whatever you choose :lol:
xx
 
Ooh I see you are in Weston, not far from me...and it's damn hot down south right now....and even though we're not working right in the window here, the window really exaccerbates the heat lol
 
Cathie! said:
Ooh I see you are in Weston, not far from me...and it's damn hot down south right now....and even though we're not working right in the window here, the window really exaccerbates the heat lol

I know it is boiling!! you know, I have seen you on geek but never realised you were in Bristol! lol Hello!! :)
 
Dreamer_1 said:
I think it sounds like a great opportunity. If the fact that you've only done your friends nails scares you, maybe you could try and fit in as much practising as you can before next wednesday, like on family and friends, its worth a go I think, maybe you could get a job at night like waitressing or something if your scared about the money situation.
Good luck with whatever you choose :lol:
xx

I do have another income coming in, but its not a full time wage, but its getting more every month so thats going to help.
I've been texting my friends today seeing who wants there nails done but no joy yet!
 
Hi Hannah

I have just read all of this thread and agree with everthing that has been written.

One more thing that is very important is to do some research about prices.

Is £15 for a full set too cheap. When you are just starting out it means you will need to do one and a bit sets to pay the rent not to mention replacing your products costs.

Will you offer any other nail services, manicures, pedicures, file and polish, lunch time special offers etc.

Hope all goes well for you.
 
:cry: In my experience renting a table was not such a good idea!!!!!!:cry: I was told my first two months would be rent free and after that £60 a week for 7 days, they would also do my advertising. I supplied my kit. They didn't do my advertising and even though I had told them I could only do the three days they expected more. They knew nothing about nails and would only allow me to offer gel, which customers were not happy about!!! You only qualified in April like me and if the woman was happy about still taking you on then i'd say she just wants a bit of cash quick. Where I rented a table they knew I had only just qualified and I was told this would be a long term arangement but little did I know I was just there until they found someone with more experience!!!!! I went on holiday for a week and when I got back my kit was packed in a box and handed to me, they'd got two beauticians with 5+ yrs experience to take my place. Sorry to be so negative but food for thought, maybe. Good Luck whatever you decide, and hope all goes well!!!
 
The £15 is an introductory offer I have done just for August for mobile service but can carry on into the salon to get clients in. After that I will charge about £25 but will need to research salon prices first.

At the moment I can only offer acrylic enhancements, they know this as told them. I am going to study beauty therapy in September, which covers manicure, pedicure etc

Lunch time offer sounds a good idea, do you do this? If so what do you offer? Also with the polish, do you buy lots of colours now or wait to see if there is a market for it etc?
 
Sounds like you really want to do this. Lots of advice on here already but look up threads by me and see what i have had to put up with.
I use my mobile phone as my business tel no. so I can book and check clients myself ask them about their nails etc. or deal with existing clients. The could also ring the salon number. I sat in the window of a busy parade of shops right by the bus stop too the best place in town but is wasn't for me. Just try saturdays and see how it goes. I found Fridays the busiest and mondays the dead day even for the hairdresser.
I hope you get what you want. Good luck .
 
Thought I would update everyone, I did the two salon owners nails last Wednesday. Both of them were really bad nail biters, so really tested me! They wern't my best nails but I still did them, and I suppose this is the only way I can improve, by actually doing them and learning.

Anyway, I was in the salon for about 4 hours and it was so quiet! The majority of people came in to use the sunbeds. All of the staff - beuaty therapist, hairdresser (and their sisters!)- were sat around doing nothing. There is no way that I could possibly rent a table there with it being so quiet. Think the therapist and hair dresser had 1 client each. So I wont be taking the table.

I did get a booking though for end of this month. Apparently lots of people have taken my cards, but I've no calls from them yet! :(

Thanks for all your advice on this situation.
 
Hi Hannah,
I have recently started renting a room in a busy hairdressers and took the gamble of employing a saturday girl to do nails on the shop floor. To save money on furniture (and because I think mani desks are over priced) I bought a desk, drawers and a really cool chair for my client, all for £100, from Ikea. Everyone always complements the set-up.
As my Saturday girl rarely has appointments booked in, I get her to go round and ask clients having their hair /colour done if they would like a mini manicure, pedicure or file and polish and she is busy all day!
The hairdresser promotes my business within her salon, which works well for us both, as you will also be bringing her in new clients.
when you are not busy, offer treatments to the staff (free), it helps you to get to know the staff and they will then talk about you to their clients. It really works!
Your prices are all wrong, work out how much it costs you to do a set, include rent and your time, research the local competition, then set your top price and discount it as an intro offer, clients think they are getting a great deal - seeing the top price, but also it is incredibly hard to increase prices later (also, I find that people quite often will not go for the cheapest place, as they are usually not the best)!
GOOD LUCK

milly
 

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