Do I have to work evenings and weekends?

[Becca@PolishedToPerfection]

Hi everyone, I've just started doing mobile beauty treatments. I have a 4 year old that goes to nursery 15 hours a week (will be starting school in September) and a 1 year old. I have paid for my youngest to go to nursery on a Monday as that's all I can afford so that is the day I'll be working. So far the only people that have enquired work Monday-Friday 9-5 so the only time they have is evenings and weekends which I don't really want to do. Does anyone else just work daytime? Is it possible? X

 

[Brooke_09]

Hi there,
I too and mobile and I rarely get to work 9-5 I work evenings and weekends because as you say most people work 9-5. However I am starting from no clients so I have to be flexible to accommodate people and take it from there so maybe as people become regular clients you could perhaps fit them around you? xx

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[ButterflyQ]

Generally in the beauty industry, evenings and weekends are when people book - as that's when people are free! Going mobile and self employed, you can "choose your own hours" to an extent. But in order to be successful and reliable, and if you're starting out, you need to just do whatever time and day the clients request! Providing it's not 10pm for a 2hr treatment or something crazy! Xxx

 

[nailcandymk]

I also find that Friday evenings and weekends are my busiest times. If I didn't work on weekends / evenings then I probably wouldn't have even a quarter of the clients that I do have..

 

[Grace_Hair]

My salon is within another store. So I cannot work evenings.
I do work Saturdays which are usually fully booked.
I occasionally work Sunday's to accommodate those who struggle to get in on a Saturday. X

 

[pure]

The beauty of being self employed is that you set your own hours. Whether you choose to prioritise those hours to support your family schedule or to gain most clients.....it's your choice.

I'm not mobile but I do work from home and I choose to never, ever work weekends. That's time for my children and to me that's more important. However I do work anything up to 3/4 evenings a week as well as mon - fri daytime. The evening appointments do tend to get booked up quicker and further in advance than daytime ones.

But it's your choice, your priorities, and whatever you choose do it with enough effort and dedication and you can make it work

 

[squidgernetball]

What @pure said.

Your choice the whole way. You can tweak your hours to suit you - more at Christmas or in the summer.

Good luck x

 

[kerry33]

I'm mobile and work pretty much as pure said. As you get busier you can dictate more when you will and will not work. My priority when I first started was to build my business up but I prefer to work evenings rather than at the weekend.

 

[aayspa]

I'm mobile and have been for nearly 5 years now. Unfortunately I work every evening as that's when my clients can fit things in. Most people work during the days so it's not viable for me to only work day times. Monday and Tuesday I work til 8pm, Wednesday til 9pm and Thursday and Friday I work til 10pm. I absolutely refuse to work a Sunday and only ever work a Saturday morning if I physically can't fit people in anywhere else in the week.

My evenings are booked up weeks and months in advance (some clients have booked right through until January) as there is only so much you can fit in and they value their appointment times. I value those clients as they are my ultimate regulars. Some clients are now trying to work more flexible hours so they can have me there at 4ish as I've had to stop taking on evening clients as cannot accommodate anyone else! Wish I could find more daytime clients as I usually have morning appointments and manic evenings with nothing in between, nice to have the time but I can't get out of work mode until I'm done for the day so can be frustrating.

As self employed yes we should be able to dictate our own days and hours and I do to a certain extent but sometimes clients take over and you get into that "can't say no" mind set. I need to try to control mine more than I do lol.

Whatever you decide will be the best for you and that's what's important. Being a mum maybe you can target those new mums or stay at home mums that have time in the days, maybe you can work around each others little ones if you get a couple of clients together as would be helpful to them and may help you with your babies too. Just a thought!

Good luck with everything. It'll all work out in the end. Always does x

 

[Martin Duffy]

I have my own salon, but I haven't worked beyond 5.00pm on a weekday for years. Moreover, I don't do Saturdays between May and September as I play fiddle and dance with a morris side at weekends, and even when I do work Saturdays I only work until 1.00pm! It has never impacted my business - I am consistently fully booked all year round, and have cancellation lists for most days - but then I purposely aimed my marketing at those clients who have enough money not to work!

Ultimately, its all about priorities. For me, whilst I need to earn a crust (and preferably doing something that I don't hate), I prioritise my partner and doing the things I enjoy above work!

 

[jacquelineanna]

I'm rather jealous Martin ... I have to work, only me to pay the mortgage

 

[pure]

I do find, especially with new clients who insist they can only do evenings, that if say no because I'm genuinely booked out for the next 3 or 4 weeks that suddenly they're available during the day! They can be cheeky so when you do decide on your hours stand firm!

 

[eager beaver]

If you want to work.daytimes only you just need to market your business to the correct audience. Maybe you could target stay at home mums,or ladies that lunch (and men of course-not to discriminate!)therefore advertising/getting the word out in the appropriate places,such as targeting mums groups/mums networking groups/baby groups/pre schools etc. Offer a referral scheme to help with recommendations. Advertise on netmums etc as well as all the usual website/make a facebook page etc. (that would all be for stay at home mums as an example).
There are hundreds of salons/businesses that are chocca in the day so there's obviously a call for it,once you have found your target market everything should fall into place x

 

[squidgernetball]

If you want to work.daytimes only you just need to market your business to the correct audience. Maybe you could target stay at home mums,or ladies that lunch (and men of course-not to discriminate!)therefore advertising/getting the word out in the appropriate places,such as targeting mums groups/mums networking groups/baby groups/pre schools etc. Offer a referral scheme to help with recommendations. Advertise on netmums etc as well as all the usual website/make a facebook page etc. (that would all be for stay at home mums as an example).
There are hundreds of salons/businesses that are chocca in the day so there's obviously a call for it,once you have found your target market everything should fall into place x

Just to say, you can discriminate if you want to!

Vic x

 

[eager beaver]

Just to say, you can discriminate if you want to!

Vic x

Haha that was to.cover myself obv you can run a female client only business x