Advice on working from home please

[kaybay878]

Hi everyone. Was just after some advice and opinions please. I am currently working from a beauty room that I rent and I work closely along side a hair salon and fitness studio. I have been doing this since October after working for another salon as an employee for 9 years. So far it is going really well, lots of customers and everyone is re booking which is great. Trouble is, my earning potential is limited as I can only work evenings so can only fit in so many as not many like staying past 9/9.30. I am at home with my children in the day except one full day that I work, but I have a hit a niche in the market for these evening appointments as most salons are closed and generally everyone works in the day so its proven ideal and each night is busy. Going back to earning potential, I'm finding the rent is taking a big chunk of my earnings so not really gaining much financially at the moment, so, we have been saving and we are planning a purpose built log cabin/chalet in our garden, with all the fittings, heating and toilet too. Just wondering if any of you work from home in a similar surrounding and if you find it is still successful in building your clientele and enticing new customers? It would be great to not have any over heads except stock and insurances but worried customers don't take it as serious or they assume you are just not as professional or do as good of a job than a salon would. Sorry to waffle on! Any advice is appreciated. Thank you x

 

[RED STAR]

I'd be very cautious if I were you....
To build a perfect studio from scratch, will be quite costly, could easily be in excess of £20.000.
I had issue's with neighbours, when I had a home studio, they were not happy with a residential property being used as commercial., so be sure this wouldn't become a problem for you.

Some client's prefer a salon environment, others not....
Be sure what your client's prefer, before you assume they will follow you.

If you still decide to work from home, I'd try to convert a room or garage.
You could always add an extention, that way you add value to your house.

 

[PamieD]

I think after this amount of time there wouldn't be an issue with working from home, as you have your client base and word of mouth established. Thing is, that's a lot of effort to work from home, and would it still be as easy to get to as your current workplace? Also, have you thought of flipping the situation around: rent your own premises and let out some of the rooms?

 

[kaybay878]

Thank you both for the advice. We have great neighbours who support the idea, we have worked out costs already and can get it built for under a £1000, its not what you know it's who you know this build is a 20ft x 12ft new England style summer house, with heating, running water, a toilet, light fixtures, plug sockets and the furniture from current beauty room. My workplace is just down the road so really easy to get to, but again its the rent that takes a big chunk of the earnings, I sub rent the room off someone else so its not an option for me to rent to someone else. At £320 a month there, I can pay £100 a month for 9 months to pay off the build then after that can virtually be overhead free! Was just hoping to get some reassurance from some therapists who who work from there home based salon to hear that they are doing well and are busy. I keep doubting myself, but then again I'm doubting myself where I am now so figure what have I got to lose?

 

[KattyB]

Hi

I can't really comment about how good business will be working from home as I have only just started the same process myself from being mobile and so i'm unsure how many people will follow me. I am having my log cabin built for exactly the same reasons as you, I can work evenings which is a niche coz not many salons open late at night, and even if they did clients would not want to hang around the town centre at that time, so my venue is ideal for those who work full time or are mums and need to get the kids in bed before they can pop out for a treatment.
However if this is your only source of income then I think you should anticipate that trade will be slow for a good 12-24months.

Is there no way you could sublet your room to someone who can do days...then you just do the evenings and that way share the rent costs?

When I first started looking at summer houses/log cabins I had a £1000 budget in mind. (my husband is an engineer and has built houses and so would easy take on the work). Since my research has began and through to starting the build that budget has increased to £3000..just for the build. I need a building that will last for 10 years + without leaks/problems etc. I bought a cabin with thicker walls, I've laid a huge concrete raised based, I've now got to landscape my garden so that my clients look out onto a nice setting - not the wheelie bins!! This is not in the budget!!! By the time I've furnished it/ stocked it up and spent some more in advertising, something which you don't have to worry too much about at the gym as you have a ready made foot fall, it ill have cost around £7-8K.

I'm not trying to put you off...after all I've done it myself!! I just think you may need to re-evaluate the costings and the consider if it's still worth while. I also have a part time job which gives me a steady income until the business is off the ground.

I hope my experience is useful to help you with your decision

 

[Rach Dilks]

Hi I have just started working from home in October last year, Im lucky as my hubby is fine with me taking over the conservatory. I had my mum make me some custom blinds (2 layers of thermal blackout fabric) to keep the heat in a sun out. Its not really cost me much right now, as I grow I hope to get an extension built adding value to the house as an added bonus. Is there not a room in your house to start with?

 

[Shellie xx]

I work from home from a room that I have converted in to my salon. I used to rent a room in a hairdressers which I loved but left to have my son who is now 4. I absolutely love working from home, especially how convenient it is working around my son. Like you, I work each evening after I've put him to bed and also the days that he's at preschool.

Overheads are lower from home which means more profit which I'm happy about! There a lots of pros which I'm sure you have thought about but I'll let you know the cons that I have come across:
- I feel my house has to be spotless for my clients at all times as well as my beauty room
- I can't get away from my business (which is actually also a pro because it means I can do little bits when I have spare time like nail pops, my books, tidying up etc)

Actually that's all I can think of for now! For me the pros far outweigh the cons, I would never go back to renting a room now. Good luck for whichever path you decide to take xx

 

[beautybyab]

I have a treatment room at home and i find that my website brings in the most new clients & they are impressed with my consistent branding - just like a "proper" salon. My clients come to me as they like that its more personal & they know they are only going to have me as their therapist. They like the fact i can be really flexible with appointment times as im in my home. My set up looks professional & I retail products too.

I have had my room since August last year & i was mobile prior to that - only a few clients came with me to my home as a lot had a mobile therapist for a reason. So i feel i started most of my client base from scratch. It is slowly building up, although i think this month is going to be the worst so far - which surprised me, as i thought January was going to be really quiet.

My room didnt cost me much - just some extra furniture as i already had equipment for treatments. I then spent some money on my rebrand & having everything printed plus my new website.

Before i got my treatment room i really planned it out - i had been planning for about 3 years & my new rebranding was all ready to go before i moved in to my house & my business plan etc was finished. I had also attended business courses with my local council & all sorts to ensure i had everything behind me to make a success of my business as I still need to pay my mortgage & bills etc each month - so i may not have salon rent but my mortgage and bills are my over heads.

Hope that helps! X