Sassy Hassy
Well-Known Member
Before I start this thread I would like to lay down a few ground rules. I know that it is going to be a controversial one (I've never been afraid to be the one to kick of controversy) and some may not like what I say (maybe it hits a raw nerve?) and for that I actually make no apology. It is not aimed to offend, but it is aimed to get a response! :Grope:
HOWEVER, this thread is not about tech who takes their training seriously so don't go all huffy and think this is all aimed at you, we all had to start somewhere and I have full respect for those who push themselves onwards and upwards and take their trade seriously.
However what I do ask is that this is meant for debate and not a bitch session. Therefore if you would like to add your two penneth then please do so constructively. I also ask that people can add their opinion without fear of being neg repped for doing so - provided it is presented in a constructive fashion .. It’s not what you say it’s how you say it! :green:
Finally the comments that I make are not aimed at anyone in particular(although if the cap fits and all that), it is very much an observation of the industry as it has evolved in the UK over the past 6 years that I have been in it. So I DON'T want it to be full of people trying to defend themselves, or admissions of guilt or innocence.
So here goes, grab a brew, sit back and read away, it’s not quite War and Peace, but I have had a lot of issues and thoughts bubbling away for a very long time … and please remember this is only my opinion and the way I see things, doesn't mean I am right! ….
Frankly I am getting very disillusioned about the state of our beloved industry. Whilst I am no tech extraordinaire I do find that the standards within our industry are getting to a record low … and I don’t mean the traditional NSS of Vietnamese non-trained people wielding MMA. Nope it goes far deeper than that …
It seems to me that nails are the thing of the moment, whence once a bored housewife took up knitting they are now taking up nails (ouch there’s the first controversial thought - but remember if this is not you then don‘t take offence, if the cap fits then maybe you knitted it!!
). There is no real thought behind it except maybe, that looks cool I’ll give it a go. Nothing wrong in that I guess, hell that’s how I decided to change careers! But what I find disheartening is that many people want to do everything on the cheap, expect it to happen overnight and from thereon in it’s a downwards spiral of lack of skill, lack of technical knowledge twinned with poor educational standards and most of all a lack of passion.
So let’s move onto education! Yup so much of it is dire and boy can you tell by some of the newbies that join (please read on before replying at this point). It’s not their fault, they parted with their money in good faith, but when I see so much of the basics lacking in their knowledge I am appalled that effectively an NSS equivalent of education is out there. When I started I bought Doug Schoon’s book and read it from cover to cover and still pick it up as my main point of reference.
We work with chemicals which if not used properly can at the least result in a poor quality service and at the worst cause over exposure and chemical burns. Coupled with a lack of hygiene practices, poor terminology (we do not apply falsies for example, let’s rise above that kind of language), lack of correct use of anatomy (boy don’t consider medicine as a profession!), unable to know the correct form of a balanced nail structure (it’s probably why your nails don’t last) and so on. It just horrifies me!
Where do some of these tutors come from? Are the colleges and other places so desperate to fill places that they take people who aren’t qualified either as a technician or as a teacher? Would you send your children to school if you knew your teacher did not have a teaching qualification - or was not properly taught to teach? It does not follow that just because you can “do” nails that you can teach! Maybe people see that they can't actually make a go of running their own nail business, so what do they do - teach it?! Who knows!
So then we get onto business acumen! Why oh why do so many people think that they have the skills to be self employed? Take a class in business studies and THEN do it. Come on now, let’s have a show of hands for those who actually did a business plan when they started? Does a profit and loss forecast mean anything to you? Don’t just go round gathering every price list in town and undercut them, that's not how it's done and is jsut business suicide.
Firstly people charge their prices for a reason - TO MAKE A LIVING! It’s not a hobby or a bit of pin money so they can add to their shoe or handbag collection, it’s what pays their bills, their mortgage, their food on the table. So by trying to bring in some unholy price war these people are undermining someone’s way to earn an honest crust (yup bet that one never occurred to some of you - that your hobby charging silly stupid prices could actually be making some poor soul go bankrupt and becoming unemployed).
Yup I agree when you are training that you should charge model rates BUT what happens when you are qualified, when you are good enough? Do you put your prices up to a sound business level? Nope you are too afraid because you did not lay out your final price list from the start!
Go to any good nail bar and they will have a price tariff based on skill level from a rookie tech right through to a master tech. Once the tech has achieved the training and level required then their prices go up to the next tariff … so should yours!
Forget the NSS they are not competition, if you try and beat them on price you will not win! People will AND do pay for a quality product with a quality service. The trouble is I see so many people try to come down to their level rather than raising the bar. People WILL question why your sets are anything up to double the price of the NSS, but if we keep our prices the same as them then they will just continue to go to them as we give the price of our service no added value.
In my home town we have a variety of hair salons. I could pay anything from £60 to £200 for the same service, but the perception is that the one who charges more uses better products, has better staff with greater skills and training and you get a classier salon, and a better cut and colour etc etc. Then why don’t we make it the same with nails?
I’m not saying to set a cartel on prices as that is illegal, but for goodness sake when I see a full set from a mobile tech for £15 (and I’m not talking a model set here) which is someone’s main price list (not an offer) I just think WTF, you’d earn more on the dole! Just where are these prices plucked from?
Yup I already hear the cry, “but clients won’t pay this“, and yes I do realise that there are regional differences, and sometimes it’s not that straightforward, but how do you know they won’t pay it unless you try ... unless we ALL try? Aim your marketing and advertising at the right demographic (yup you’re going to need some business acumen for that one too!) and you WILL get the clients.
So there we go, a lot of issues raised and thank you for sticking with this epic post… and the keyword here is DEBATE! Like I say if you don’t have an opinion then IMO you don’t have the passion to change our industry for the better which is what the geeks have always been about ... BTW I hear knitting is a great pastime!! :lol:
Okay gets off soap box over to you, keep it constructive
HOWEVER, this thread is not about tech who takes their training seriously so don't go all huffy and think this is all aimed at you, we all had to start somewhere and I have full respect for those who push themselves onwards and upwards and take their trade seriously.
However what I do ask is that this is meant for debate and not a bitch session. Therefore if you would like to add your two penneth then please do so constructively. I also ask that people can add their opinion without fear of being neg repped for doing so - provided it is presented in a constructive fashion .. It’s not what you say it’s how you say it! :green:
Finally the comments that I make are not aimed at anyone in particular(although if the cap fits and all that), it is very much an observation of the industry as it has evolved in the UK over the past 6 years that I have been in it. So I DON'T want it to be full of people trying to defend themselves, or admissions of guilt or innocence.
So here goes, grab a brew, sit back and read away, it’s not quite War and Peace, but I have had a lot of issues and thoughts bubbling away for a very long time … and please remember this is only my opinion and the way I see things, doesn't mean I am right! ….
Frankly I am getting very disillusioned about the state of our beloved industry. Whilst I am no tech extraordinaire I do find that the standards within our industry are getting to a record low … and I don’t mean the traditional NSS of Vietnamese non-trained people wielding MMA. Nope it goes far deeper than that …
It seems to me that nails are the thing of the moment, whence once a bored housewife took up knitting they are now taking up nails (ouch there’s the first controversial thought - but remember if this is not you then don‘t take offence, if the cap fits then maybe you knitted it!!
). There is no real thought behind it except maybe, that looks cool I’ll give it a go. Nothing wrong in that I guess, hell that’s how I decided to change careers! But what I find disheartening is that many people want to do everything on the cheap, expect it to happen overnight and from thereon in it’s a downwards spiral of lack of skill, lack of technical knowledge twinned with poor educational standards and most of all a lack of passion.So let’s move onto education! Yup so much of it is dire and boy can you tell by some of the newbies that join (please read on before replying at this point). It’s not their fault, they parted with their money in good faith, but when I see so much of the basics lacking in their knowledge I am appalled that effectively an NSS equivalent of education is out there. When I started I bought Doug Schoon’s book and read it from cover to cover and still pick it up as my main point of reference.
We work with chemicals which if not used properly can at the least result in a poor quality service and at the worst cause over exposure and chemical burns. Coupled with a lack of hygiene practices, poor terminology (we do not apply falsies for example, let’s rise above that kind of language), lack of correct use of anatomy (boy don’t consider medicine as a profession!), unable to know the correct form of a balanced nail structure (it’s probably why your nails don’t last) and so on. It just horrifies me!
Where do some of these tutors come from? Are the colleges and other places so desperate to fill places that they take people who aren’t qualified either as a technician or as a teacher? Would you send your children to school if you knew your teacher did not have a teaching qualification - or was not properly taught to teach? It does not follow that just because you can “do” nails that you can teach! Maybe people see that they can't actually make a go of running their own nail business, so what do they do - teach it?! Who knows!
So then we get onto business acumen! Why oh why do so many people think that they have the skills to be self employed? Take a class in business studies and THEN do it. Come on now, let’s have a show of hands for those who actually did a business plan when they started? Does a profit and loss forecast mean anything to you? Don’t just go round gathering every price list in town and undercut them, that's not how it's done and is jsut business suicide.
Firstly people charge their prices for a reason - TO MAKE A LIVING! It’s not a hobby or a bit of pin money so they can add to their shoe or handbag collection, it’s what pays their bills, their mortgage, their food on the table. So by trying to bring in some unholy price war these people are undermining someone’s way to earn an honest crust (yup bet that one never occurred to some of you - that your hobby charging silly stupid prices could actually be making some poor soul go bankrupt and becoming unemployed).
Yup I agree when you are training that you should charge model rates BUT what happens when you are qualified, when you are good enough? Do you put your prices up to a sound business level? Nope you are too afraid because you did not lay out your final price list from the start!
Go to any good nail bar and they will have a price tariff based on skill level from a rookie tech right through to a master tech. Once the tech has achieved the training and level required then their prices go up to the next tariff … so should yours!
Forget the NSS they are not competition, if you try and beat them on price you will not win! People will AND do pay for a quality product with a quality service. The trouble is I see so many people try to come down to their level rather than raising the bar. People WILL question why your sets are anything up to double the price of the NSS, but if we keep our prices the same as them then they will just continue to go to them as we give the price of our service no added value.
In my home town we have a variety of hair salons. I could pay anything from £60 to £200 for the same service, but the perception is that the one who charges more uses better products, has better staff with greater skills and training and you get a classier salon, and a better cut and colour etc etc. Then why don’t we make it the same with nails?
I’m not saying to set a cartel on prices as that is illegal, but for goodness sake when I see a full set from a mobile tech for £15 (and I’m not talking a model set here) which is someone’s main price list (not an offer) I just think WTF, you’d earn more on the dole! Just where are these prices plucked from?
Yup I already hear the cry, “but clients won’t pay this“, and yes I do realise that there are regional differences, and sometimes it’s not that straightforward, but how do you know they won’t pay it unless you try ... unless we ALL try? Aim your marketing and advertising at the right demographic (yup you’re going to need some business acumen for that one too!) and you WILL get the clients.
So there we go, a lot of issues raised and thank you for sticking with this epic post… and the keyword here is DEBATE! Like I say if you don’t have an opinion then IMO you don’t have the passion to change our industry for the better which is what the geeks have always been about ... BTW I hear knitting is a great pastime!! :lol:
Okay gets off soap box over to you, keep it constructive
