Cheap nails ???

[adelekeegan1]

There is a thread and a blog at the moment about techs being forced to give up and a huge issue is competitor pricing.

My local NSS charges £20 for 40 agonising germ laden minutes and a local air hostess does a full set of slabs for £22.

I have stuck to my guns and kept my prices to a reasonable but respectable middle of the road, but after allowing for costs my hourly rate is not where I'd like it to be.

I cannot understand how the NSS can cover their costs (I know they use cheap stuff) but the rents and business rates in my town are horrific. Long standing reputable family businesses are being forced out - how are they doing it?

The air hostess is easier to understand, she works on her off days for cash in hand, carts her small kit round (enhancements only) and works off your ironing board. This is not something my clients would accept but she has a clientele none the less.

I know that different areas of the country vary enormously but round here cost is everything - I can't imagine a quality salon surviving in my town center (in fact they don't) - they would have to set prices far to high just to cover costs.

 

[sj1973]

See...i was going to post a thread ...(but i done a blog)but i am glad you have hun......but this is what i cant understand....

This lady is charging £14 a set.....now she has a shop....if she is giving it up and doing sets cheap then i understand.....but she is not.....

It just is not worth me doing nails for £14 ......clients are going to her because she is cheap.....like you say...she has her rent and business rates to pay so i cant see how she is making money..........

Its a shame but its not worth me doing nails....i have a family to support and i just treated myself to a sofa (love it!!!)........i am still goig to come on here.....SO DONT WORRY !!!!!!....thanks for posting this hun xxxxxxxxx:hug:

 

[maguire]

Hi I have just answere a thread but I will put on here as well,

Would it not be possible to compete with the nss now that popits are available, you could offer a reduced price for the popit enhancement as you can do them in half the time, then once you have the customer through the door then maybe you can convert them, once you have the customers then start putting your prices back up, I do not mean reducing prices on all your
your skills just the popits, keep gel,acrylic p&w and everything else the same prices. Its just a thought.

 

[talented talons]

I had this problem when i first started out. I have two NSS right near me and another 2 salons who are also hairdressers or beauty salons too. I have never had cheap prices compared to others around me as it only attracts the sort of clientèle you really don't want. Like the ones who always moan, who expect something for nothing, always expect you to drop everything at a moments notice and really don't appreciate what you do.

I found it hard to build up clients at first, but have always used my website to show what i do and also word of mouth works for me too. All i can say is, even in a town where people are reluctant to part with money, (believe me, despite living in a fairly rich town, they are the worst for parting with money) you just need to stick to your guns, find something different and unusual to offer when it comes to nails and make sure youare offering something just that little bit more special.

It doesn't happen over night, but it WILL happen. I have since put up my prices so i am only a little below the dearest salons, but i have done more training, made myself a better tech and just worked hard to make sure, when people come to me, they always return. Some of my clients only come to me for special occasions as their job doesn't allow them to have them all the time, but they always come back to me.

As for the others charging silly prices, they have to work all the hours to get their money. They will also use inferior or cheap products to be able to survive with what money they do bring in. I'm sure you guys wouldn't want to have to do this. It is hard in the beginning and feel like you will never get there. It has taken me four years to get where i am today and finally feel i am making it. I think it took me two to three years to start building a good client base, so please stick with it and it will happen.

Believe me, when it does, it makes it all worth while. The harder you work for it, the more you appreciate it.

 

[Sassy Hassy]

I cannot understand how the NSS can cover their costs (I know they use cheap stuff) but the rents and business rates in my town are horrific. Long standing reputable family businesses are being forced out - how are they doing it?

Well there was a huge police raid on quite a few of the local NSS in my area - all illegally growing dope! So maybe that smell as you walk in isn't just cheap products!

I agree with everything Talented Talons says. As I said in another thread today, it can take 3 years for any new business to see a return on their business. It's a long hard slog and won't come without hard work and a lot of frustration!

If we are looking at the NSS in the original terminology of them being mainly Vietnamese run salons then the thing I do notice with the South East Asian community is they are not afraid of hard work and will work all hours god sends to get their business off the ground. They often start with low prices to get busy and then word spreads ... not just with nails but with any business they do. Kind of a "pile em high sell em cheap" way of doing business. Either you have to decide if you really want to compete with them, which is not easy, or you have to approach your business in a different way.

Promote your professionalism, the look of your work, the hygiene. Not all clients will care about this and will stick with the NSS, but many people DO CARE. Many people don't know the difference and when they realise they have been conned into paying more for "gel" when it's l&p, when they realise it doesn't have to hurt, that nails should look natural etc etc etc then they WILL come to you.

Dont see the NSS as your competition, you can't compete with them and they can't compete with what you do. They are the opposition and don't worry about the clients they have ... you really wouldn't want most of them!!!!

 

[Bagpuss]

See...i was going to post a thread ...(but i done a blog)but i am glad you have hun......but this is what i cant understand....

This lady is charging £14 a set.....now she has a shop....if she is giving it up and doing sets cheap then i understand.....but she is not.....

It just is not worth me doing nails for £14 ......clients are going to her because she is cheap.....like you say...she has her rent and business rates to pay so i cant see how she is making money..........

Its a shame but its not worth me doing nails....i have a family to support and i just treated myself to a sofa (love it!!!)........i am still goig to come on here.....SO DONT WORRY !!!!!!....thanks for posting this hun xxxxxxxxx:hug:

When you say she is doing sets for £14...is this a special....and how much are her rebalences....?

have you seen her work...?

 

['chelle]

I'm off to have a peek in a minute (as it said the website would be live in March), but perhaps this new SafeSalon website will help businesses struggling to compete with NSS's?

The site is Homepage - Safe Salons

Its a consumer website with information about the dangers of NSS salons, and tells the consumer how to spot an NSS salon (it may be obvious to them but no so much to the consumer). It also warns about the dangers of MMA, which is even more dangerous than I ever though!!

Personally I dont mention these salons when I speak to my clients, and to be honest I dont think I want the NSS clients either. Talented Talons is dead right, they are a different breed of customer, they are not serious about long term maintenance and are not a good sustainable client base. Having said that, its easy to say if you're not facing direct competition from these types of salons, and so thats why I thought I'd mention this website, those who do struggle to compete could perhaps use this website to their advantage??

I'm off to have a look now!

 

[weezie]

Well there was a huge police raid on quite a few of the local NSS in my area - all illegally growing dope! So maybe that smell as you walk in isn't just cheap products!

One near me is a front for a brothel! Maybe these back door businesses are where they make their money!

 

[Katelisa]

Well there was a huge police raid on quite a few of the local NSS in my area - all illegally growing dope! So maybe that smell as you walk in isn't just cheap products!

common practice from what i know.

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Well there we go, we have to be "drug growing laydeez of the night" to be able to do cheap nails! :lol:

(BTW before I get jumped on this is tongue in cheek and I am NOT saying that everyone who does cheap nails is doing this ... boy do you have to cover your back in this crazy politically correct world we live in )

 

[Katelisa]

Well there we go, we have to be "drug growing laydeez of the night" to be able to do cheap nails! :lol:

haha yeah, maybe when they're doin the business out the back, the 'lovely laydeez' talk their male clients into booking their wives in for their nails?!

 

['chelle]

Oh my Lord, so many amusing comments I want to make, and not one of them appropriate for this site!!!!

I wonder if these NSS salons have their full range of services and products on their menu?????????

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

Well, I have decided "again" lol
To complete my waxing qualification,
I have only had I think its 3 clients all of last week..

But I do have people ask about waxing, so It makes perfect sense,

Hopefully it will eventually work out and I will do ok with the whole waxy naily thing :lol:

I have my kit and my beauty bed, just need to get the dosh for training...which as you can imagine with no clients...is'nt easy !

Im hoping that the leg wax clients etc....will eventually have nails done....brings along friend etc...etc...
Just spreading the word a little bit further

 

[sj1973]

When you say she is doing sets for £14...is this a special....and how much are her rebalences....?

have you seen her work...?

Hi angie........no this is not a spaecial......i dont know how much her rebalances are.......i have HEARD she is not good BUT i have never seen them........

She has her own shop and has been there a while......we live in small town so if she was closing ...it would be known.......xx

 

[cups1974]

I still cant belive that MMA is not out lawed on the other side of the pond! We have our far share of NNS and yes they charge next to nothing. And i have to go with Talon that is a clientle of a different kind. Where i am upstate NY we have one in Liberty they are open all kinds of hours and just for giggles i went in one day i noticed that most of them are working off the Temp Lic. and some don't even have a Lic. This to me is crazy!! Why would you let someone use a Dremal on your nails who is not Lic. Ok now i'm just complaining.

 

[talented talons]

I still cant belive that MMA is not out lawed on the other side of the pond! We have our far share of NNS and yes they charge next to nothing. And i have to go with Talon that is a clientle of a different kind. Where i am upstate NY we have one in Liberty they are open all kinds of hours and just for giggles i went in one day i noticed that most of them are working off the Temp Lic. and some don't even have a Lic. This to me is crazy!! Why would you let someone use a Dremal on your nails who is not Lic. Ok now i'm just complaining.

These places are just working for the money, regardless of how they get there. I know we are working towards licensing now, so when we do get there, these places will be starting to disappear. I have had two recently who were shut down due to money laundering. I have to say i had never noticed that they only take cash and not cards. Now i know why.

Have to agree with you Cups, i would want to see credentials if someone was using an electric appliance on me..... It still makes me wonder why, when i have recently had new clients say to me, you don't hurt me when you file???? Don't they realize, it's not supposed to!! Don't get me started.....lol

 

[bombini]

Well the local NSS in our town is rammed all day every day, the prices seem to be all over the place though as quite a few of my clients go there (don't ask) and some pay £20 and others pay £35 ive seen paper thin nails and slabs.

I ask everyone why they go there and it usually goes in this order,

• Cheap
• Quick (45min - 1hr)
• They do exactly what they ask for thin/thick etc

I haven't seen a set I like yet but heres the thing there hasn't been one client that has disliked them, the worst comment was they are ok but you can't complain at that price !!!!

 

[Susie H]

When I worked in the town center I charged £20 a set, I didn't set the price, the woman who owed the shop did and if she'd had her way it would have been £15:irked: But it was my products so I dug my heels in.
Her point was that £20 was cheaper then the nss that surrounded us. But they were still busy,
It came down to quickness and I did learn where I could cut corners and what the customers wanted.
But it wasn't what I wanted, so now my home salon is ready and I'll do the service my way and not have the type of clients I had before.
If I'm just going to cover half your nail in a white tip with no smile and cover the lot in clear, then I won't bother, its pointless, and strangely enough the only repeat customers I had before where the ones who wanted my 'custom' work.

 

[g5m_sh]

I can only charge £25 for a full set as there is that man sunbed shops in my area that do nails for £20, they have girls in that are only collage trained (am not trying to offend any one) and all they can do is stick a white tip on and slap a bit of acrylic over! They don't offer infill's, sorry they do but not rebalance!! The nails are that bad, you can just flick them off as if they were stick on's. Some how... they are always busy!!
What gets me is that some people say 'am not getting them done off Gemma, she is too pricey' WHAT????? I am sooooo undercharging to start with.
I know no one in my town can do nails better than me... people just dont appreciate quality some times!!!!!