Can I have a moan and maybe get some advice

[CatsClaws]

I do nails in a hair salon on a staurday, I pay the owner 20% of what I earn and I provide all of my own products etc. The salon has only been open 7 month and the nail side of it has been very quiet so only having me on a saturday has worked out well so far. The owner (who is also a friend of mine) has just told me that she has paid for one of her friends to do a nail course and she will work in the salon Monday - Friday. This is fine, although its not busy enough yet BUT she has told me that we are now charging just £20 for a full set of nail enhancements. We did charge £30 for a full set which I thought was reasonable compared to some of the salons in the area and so did my clients. Her reason for doing this is because there are quite a lot of NSS salons and she wants to under cut them. I have explained to her till I am blue in the face about the difference between an NSS and us and have said that I pay a lot for the products that I use and for my training but she is certain that this is the new charge.

I really don't know what to do as I love working there but I really don't agree with what she is asking if me.

Have any of you guys been in a similar situation?
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[shell28]

Thats just stupid its not going to be worth your while if your paying her 20% and only charge £20 a set!! Its all very well trying to under cut but i think the price you charge reflects on the quality of your work i know if i was looking around to have my nails done and there were say 4 salons in the area and they all charged £20 but one charged £30 i know which one i would go to !!( just an example).

 

[wishbabe]

I would have ask the owner if she were to buy your products and spend maybe 1.5 hours on each set of enhancements would she be happy to walk away with just £14.00 per set?

If you are giving her 20% of your earnings and you are providing your own products for use then what gives her the right to say how much the enhancements cost? You are basicly self employed and renting a space. Is this not right??:irked:

 

[CatsClaws]

Yeah, I'm self employed. Pay my own tax and everything. She also has just done a new flyer offering half price nails and I told her that I won't be a part of that and that she needs to say that the offer is only valid Monday to Friday. The more I think about it the more I realise what a walk over I am being but I go to her with every intention of saying how I feel and then I back down!!! God, I really need to get some back bone and just be truthful. If she doesn't like it then I can always go back to being mobile again.
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[Violet Star]

Hun you need to be paid for what you deserve to be paid. This just isnt enough to cover your products and time and effort that it takes to do a full set of nails. You are going to feel like your working next to nothing.

Could you try and put this to her if not have you considered going mobile or home based for your work?Because to be honest you would get allot more for the service you offer and it is easy enough to build up your own client base

hths :hug:

 

[sknight]

Please don't go ahead and charge £20, my local nss charges £26. You will not get by on such a small amount (i'm sure you know that already though). Have a chat with her again and tell her you will have to look at going elsewhere as you cannot devalue your work xxx

 

[wishbabe]

I feel this lady is just taking advantage of you, sorry hunny.

I feel you need to explain that as you pay her 20% of what you earn, you are in renting your saturday space from her and not working for her.

If she wants to call all the shots and quote prices etc then she should employ you to work for her and give you a salary.

Maybe I am old and don't always see the good in everyone any more but have you thought she maybe trying to build a client base up until her friend has trained? Why has she not offered you the space from Monday to Friday?

 

[loubylou]

Oh my is the hairdressers owner in for a big shock,
the lady that she has paid for training for will be no where near up to the standards of salon work and it will probably take her around 3 hrs to do a full set as i'm sure most of us can remember from the early days of our nail careers,
you do have choices, you are self employed,
let the mon to fri person charge £20 but you stick to your £30 per set,
you will find that you will end up with a large % of the clients that she has done nails for as the nails are not going to last very well in this early stage of her career and the clients will choose experience over price,
or you can just leave and go mobile,

i would be inclined to stay for a month charge £30 still and sit back and chuckle at the owner who thinks she knows better then an experienced tech :hug:

 

[catsaremad]

I could not agree more ! And remeber chick you are SELF EMPLOYED.................You determine your hours, your prices etc. And as said above if the owner does not like this then she should be employing you and you should be getting all the benfits that employeed people get.

At the end of the day she may be your friend but this is business !!!!

 

[angelina221]

I had a lady come in this morning wanting a spray tan. She said she just had to go and get her nails done first and she would come back. She was back in about an hour and she had done a bit of shopping as well. Her nails looked really nice. She had a full set with nail art and gems and paid £18!!!!!!!!!
I know the salon she went to uses MMA but i couldn't say anything.
At my salon we charge £25 for a set and to be honest we hardly do any as they can go round the corner and have a set done in less than an hour for £18.
I wouldn't drop my prices as i allow a 2 hour slot for nails and my nail girl has to pay me a % of that and it wouldn't be worth her while.
I think some people just want to get things done as quick as possible and some people will go to places that are cheaper but you have trained hard to give a good set of nails and people will soon start to see that your nails are good and you will get a good reputation so i would stick to your guns!

 

[rouge]

Yeah, I'm self employed. Pay my own tax and everything. She also has just done a new flyer offering half price nails and I told her that I won't be a part of that and that she needs to say that the offer is only valid Monday to Friday. The more I think about it the more I realise what a walk over I am being but I go to her with every intention of saying how I feel and then I back down!!! God, I really need to get some back bone and just be truthful. If she doesn't like it then I can always go back to being mobile again.
Posted via Mobile Device

Why don't you write her a letter? Or write some notes to use when you talk to her? At least then she'll know how strongly you feel about it, and it gives you a good chance to get your point across very clearly. I think if I were you I'd be starting to look for somewhere else to work from. :hug:

 

[Isabella]

Sorry Hun, I'd have to say, go mobile or work from home. I used to charge (Mobile) 25 for alot of years, then I went to start my NVQ and my trainer Gina, said I wasn't charging enough for the quality of product I was producing, I now work from home in my own little Nail Room and I Charge what I'm worth, £33. I have alot of regular cleints and you will too. You can leave friendly, just do it with out fuss. Unfortunately friends and business do not mix!!!

 

[CatsClaws]

I have a meeting with the salon owner on Saturday and I have written everything down that I want to say.

She called me today and asked me to sort out a set of nails that her friend did on a client that has gone horribly wrong. She has given the client a full refund and has told her that I will soak them off and do a full set free of charge!!! Would have been nice if she asked me first!!

I'll post again and let you know how it goes

xxx

 

[champagne]

Get out of there ....... that is not on & if you allow it once it will only get worse xx

 

[nora525]

Funny that, would your friend the hairdresser appreciate if you would promise to your friends that she will do them a dual coloring on a long hair with half price. And cutting ofcoarse too???? I am sure if you would ask her that , then she would say well nooooooo!!!!
I don't think that she realises that you are producing a quality nails and that is your selling point. And ofcoarse, you need to tell her if she promises things for free on your behalf, then she needs to pay up the difference or you are not doing it.
Hold your ground girl and tell her, she would surely like to see her salon as a good quality salon, not a give us a fiver for a cut salon, which is run by someones uncle or auntie.....
Professionalism is the key for a long success.

 

[Jolicatellas]

I have a meeting with the salon owner on Saturday and I have written everything down that I want to say.

She called me today and asked me to sort out a set of nails that her friend did on a client that has gone horribly wrong. She has given the client a full refund and has told her that I will soak them off and do a full set free of charge!!! Would have been nice if she asked me first!!

I'll post again and let you know how it goes

xxx

Is she (the salon owner) going to pay you for doing the set for free? She should!! b/c it's her fault/problem - is her friend still being trained?? She's a hairdresser and knows very little about nails. When she trains her friend, and has her friend only charge $20 (sorry now pound symbol on my computer) she's going to find it hard to make her money back.

What you said about having every intention to talk to her and then backing down, is a very normal human response. Many, many people find it hard to be open and honest and upfront - especially face to face!! We want to always look good and not offend or upset anybody - usually putting others feelings above our own - only to come out feeling like "I never got to say what I was really thinking/feeling".

Be a stand for yourself, what you want and what you believe in (and believe in yourself!!). You are Self Employed and confident and good at what you do... approach her 'knowing' that.

Hope that helps and Good Luck :green:

 

[Ditzy]

I have a meeting with the salon owner on Saturday and I have written everything down that I want to say.

She called me today and asked me to sort out a set of nails that her friend did on a client that has gone horribly wrong. She has given the client a full refund and has told her that I will soak them off and do a full set free of charge!!! Tell her you'll do the soak off and full set, and SHE can pay you for your work! How DARE she give your time, expertise, products, etc etc away for free!

Would have been nice if she asked me first!!

I'll post again and let you know how it goes

xxx

Honey, please, just get out of there, she is really taking the P! I feel like going round and having a word myself! So fed up with people undervaluing a true nail technician's skills.:hug:

 

[Elaine143a]

You could ask your so called friend if she uses professional hair products, or something clients can buy in a supermarket, then she may "get" your point!

She's not being professional in her outlook, and I would run rather than walk away from what she's asking you to do.

No "friends" in business. Put it down to good (or bad in this case) experience and find yourself somewhere with a professional outlook!

 

[CatsClaws]

Well, I worked in the salon on saturday and the owner came in so I told her that it was no longer going to be worth my while working there. I said that I have really enjoyed my time there and that I hope it doesn't affect our friendship and she just said 'no hard feelings' and walked off!!!
But, my future is bright- I have just booked myself on to the cnd brisa course which I am so excited about and have organised lots of advertising so fingers crossed going mobile wil be the right avenue for me.
Thank you all for your advice, if it wasn't for you guys I would probably still be there working for nothing.
Xxx
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[nora525]

Hi, I am happy that you have come into a decision that works for you. the problem with these saturday chairs is that nobody really takes you seriously.
When you are working as a mobile, the business is between you and the client and you have no people to answer to apart from your paying customers.
Go and make a succesfull carrier and hopefully that will make your friend to see a reason.