Crisis of confidence

[pinkknailss]

I have been wanting to open my own salon/business for about 2/3 years since I started spray tanning.
I spent the past 6 months doing my business plan to open a spray tanning only salon with 2 rooms (NO beauty treatments) and now I am down to the last few bits n bobs and I should be sending off my application for the funding. They have told me already my plan looks good and they see no reason (depending on the cash flow) for not giving the money.
I’ve got it all planned down to the T! All the retail stock, the solutions, the decor, the booking process, the website etc the whole shabang!

But now I am having a real crises of confidence about opening the salon. It’s all a bit scary! My life will change 360 and even though I am a strong person, do I really want MORE upheaval? I’m not sure. I’ve been through enough the past few years let me tell you and I do not want to add a potentially unsuccessful salon to the list.
To open the salon I will have to take out a large personal (government backed) loan, leave my full time job, and move out of my beloved studio flat to move into a single room in a house of strangers as that is all housing benefit will give me. I don’t have a good relationship with my family and they haven’t been involved in me wanting to open the salon that much, I don’t have a partner and I am a bit of a loner so don’t have any friends to support me either. So I feel really alone and not having any support is really hard to keep me motivated to carry on wanting to open the salon? I mean it is a huge logistical challenge of opening a business AND moving house! All by myself!
So after all these months of planning and ideas swimming around my head with only a few more funding meetings to go (one this Friday!) I am properly chickening out! I don’t want to leave my lovely home or sell my stuff, or be penniless again. So now I’m wondering if I should not ask for so much money( about £12,000 less), make another business plan and go mobile again? Offer the same features and service as I wanted to in my salon and go part time at work? But this time it might work out more because I will have the money to get good equipment and variety of products, proper marketing, proper phone line etc and doing it the second time round I have learned from my mistakes and know what will work for me next time.

I just don’t know what to do or where my head is at with all of this because I want to open my own salon SO BLOODY MUCH but I am scared of doing it by myself, but I feel like I am taking the easy way out by just going mobile again as I’ve already done that (and what doesn’t help is that I got a email from SiennaX this morning telling how easy and amazing it is to open your own business spray tanning!). I don’t have to make a ‘decision’ soon but I don’t like not knowing what to do. I have a meeting Friday afternoon for help with my cash flow so I should have a clearer idea what to do then.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated geeks! And if you want to pm me instead of posting on here that’s fine

 

[beccascottx]

I would love to help but I'm in the exact same position & my salon opens tomorrow! i've been up since 4am this morning panicking and feeling sick! Where are you getting your funding from? I've had no help atall :-(

 

[surf girl]

The one thing I can say in hindsight is that opening a salon was the biggest emotional rollercoaster I've ever experienced! Tears laughter worry joy all day every day! You just need to keep your main goal in mind and not back down and run away coz u feel scared at that moment, I felt every emotion under the sun multiple times a day and if I had acted on the sad or scared ones I wouldn't be where I am now! Keep strong n keep ur goal at the front of ur mind! If u spent 2 years prepping then it's defo what u want and u need to stop talking your self out of it with the doubts you put above think positive!

 

[misseden]

pinkknailss you sound organised and positive and im sure you will amazing having your own salon. Self employment is hard but very rewarding at the same time. I think its all about organising and planning and you sound like your a very organised person. Good luck with it all, let us all know how its going for you. Enjoy

 

[wonderwoman]

Its quite scary to take the plunge you don't know what's coming in everyday. Have some faith in yourself and what you are capable of. They have that saying good things come to those who wait, well actually its a lot of hard work, persistence to get success.

Regards to the personal life issues, just think of how successful you want to be, it'll be the driving force for you. You will become confident in other ways as you will be living and breathing your business and it will resonate with other people.

I dont see why you cant stay in your flat and have the buisness too? Either way you need to think about what you really want and how you plan to get it. Good luck! xoxo

 

[squidgernetball]

I'm going to be totally honest. I struggle to see how just spray tanning is going to pay all the bills that are associated with running a premises.
I know that on paper, business plans can look great, but unless you have bodies coming through that door, the business plan remains just that - a plan.

I don't want to rain on your parade, but can you really afford to do this? Can you afford to live on the absolute minimum of money for the foreseeable future?
It's great that you get funding, but I assume it needs to be paid back at some point.

To have dreams is great, but read some of the posts on here "How do I get more clients?" What's the best way to advertise?" "Not making the rent - what can I do?" and so on. People who have started a business without knowing how to run a business. Are there the clients in south London wanting to come out of their homes for a spray tan? What's your profit? This is going to be limited with solely tans. Aren't half the people of Salon Geek moaning about £10 tans?

I have been working locally for 15 years and I'm STILL looking at a quiet January!

If you're a success running a mobile business, stacked out most days and fed up of lugging your equipment around, go for it.

Sorry if it's not what you want to hear, but I wish you the very best of luck with whatever you decide!

Vic x

 

[souz]

Squidgernetball, couldnt have phrased it better!! I was reading through the post thinking exactly the same thing.....as you and i both know its impossible for us to just rely on one thing bringing clients through the door....if its was just nails i could understand but spray tans? I dont see how it would pay the rent and bills and wage let alone make profits.

Why limit yourself to just spray tans, why not add something like nails or waxing or lashes??

I have been working in my village (i say village, 10,000 people live here) for the last 4 years and have had a salon open for the last 14 months, its a very affluent village with little competition in the way of beauty. There is always social events like balls etc on and i have to say i am getting rid of my spray tan kit!!! It just isnt worth me stocking up on solution that eventually some gets thrown away....which is pouring profit quite literally down the drain!!!!

I hope my response is taken not with critisicm but with the honesty of running abusiness xx

 

[RED STAR]

DON'T DO IT!!!'
Sorry for my negative response, but totally agree with squidgernetball and souz.
However, on the bright side, are you anywhere near Sidcup?
Your profile say's you do nails.....i'm looking for a self employed NAIL/BROW TECH.
You could keep your day job, and have a Saturday at the salon! :lol:

 

[pinkknailss]

Thank you for your responses, I am not offended at all! I asked for advice you lovely business women are giving it to me!

Its better to be honest, and I respect all your opinions. (Which is why I asked )

 

[pinkknailss]

Its a pity I cant go into detail with the salon ideas and give you all a proper feel for the business
There is going to be a medium/large retail area as well, so its not going to be ONLY spray tans to make money. I've worked in sales before in most jobs and I am confident in my selling ability.

 

[BannerPenguin]

Its a pity I cant go into detail with the salon ideas and give you all a proper feel for the business
There is going to be a medium/large retail area as well, so its not going to be ONLY spray tans to make money. I've worked in sales before in most jobs and I am confident in my selling ability.

Will it be retailing beauty products as such?

 

[pinkknailss]

Will it be retailing beauty products as such?

Yes, I will be selling all before/after tanning products, Sun lotion, hair brushes, gift sets, OPI nail polish, Solar oil, a few fake bake make-up bits, small little grabs at the till etc
And the salon will also be promoting 'healthy' tanning so around the salon there will be information on skin cancer and the harms of sunbeds, what sun lotion is best etc

*also I will have a large St Tropez retail kit, a retail kit from vita liberata, and tanning products from Siennax and Fake Bake.

 

[RED STAR]

There is a gift for retailing...that I do not possess!!!
I am always fully stocked with retail for hair and nail's, offering promotions like 3 for 2, gift wrapping for Christmas etc.....but find it increasingly hard to get the consumer to part with their cash. I think the perception now is that it's cheaper to buy on line.....not alway's true, but it's their belief!
Also, don't forget you need to buy in bulk for the best deals, that can however leave you with unwanted items, especially if there is a 'Best before' date for them.
You've probably already considered these point's, but thought I'd just mention my experience

 

[WaxGirl]

Do you have a good diary of customers already?

If not, don't leave your day job until you've built up a good book of clients

 

[squidgernetball]

Hey beccascott how's it going? Hopefully you're too busy to be on salon geek!

Vic x

Sent from my GT-I9195 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[beccascottx]

Hi squidgernetball!

It's going okay. Not quite the opening rush I was hoping for, but what more could I have expected from the first week in January! Got the odd bits and bobs in, & fully booked until 2pm tomorrow which makes me feel a bit better!

I've been doing leaflet drops on a night time, made a business facebook page and put an opening offer of 15% for all treatments booked in January, the local newspaper is coming in next week to do a piece on me and my salon too which will hopefully bring clients in & get the word out that I'm here!

Do you have any advice on the initial start up, getting the word out etc?

Becca x

 

[squidgernetball]

All I can say is keep at it. I try and look at my books over a week rather than a day because you can have some really bad days, especially starting out, and think it's all going pear shaped until you add the week up and it's not too bad.

Try and add retail to everything. Varnishes, removers, skin care and so on.

Have you got a website? I took a leap of faith last year and paid for seo which has done really well for us and we get a lot of clients through it. We have also started a regular ad in our local magazine. The mag is free and has a great weekly distribution, but a good sized ad isn't cheap. I'm doing this about once a month!

Historically, I don't get a lot of work through Facebook. My clientele tend to be 40 plus professional women who may use Facebook but not very actively.

Did you have a client base to start with? When I moved into 'proper' premises, a lot of my clients were very supportive, refusing to use 'Thank you for following me discount vouchers'.
I have also found that people local to me would think I was Vicki who did a bit of beauty. Moving into the salon has made them a lot more trusting of my skills and expertise. We are now known locally for our skin knowledge and we back that up with constant training.

Sorry, the thread had deviated.
Good luck to the op with whatever she decides.

Beccascott, please pm me if I can help any more.

Vic x

Sent from my GT-I9505 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[pinkknailss]

Hey Geeks!

Thank you for your advice
I have decided to NOT go ahead with opening the salon after great thought for all my wasted hours planning. I am just not ready for it in my life right now, in a few years? 100%

So I am booking a week intensive driving course and my Dad is buying me a car( I am sooo great full!) I am still going ahead with the business loan, but this time for a small amount which still ables me to offer the same brands, the same quality of service, new equipment, website and marketing etc
So I am in the process of knocking up another quick business plan!

 

[BannerPenguin]

Hey Geeks!

Thank you for your advice
I have decided to NOT go ahead with opening the salon after great thought for all my wasted hours planning. I am just not ready for it in my life right now, in a few years? 100%

So I am booking a week intensive driving course and my Dad is buying me a car( I am sooo great full!) I am still going ahead with the business loan, but this time for a small amount which still ables me to offer the same brands, the same quality of service, new equipment, website and marketing etc
So I am in the process of knocking up another quick business plan!

Good move in my opinion

If you need any printing or a website you know where I am

 

[pinkknailss]

Good move in my opinion

If you need any printing or a website you know where I am

I'm too scared to use anyone not from this website lol too paranoid! You'll be hearing from me soon!