Do I take the plunge?

[Absolutebeautyx]

Hi geeks! Been having a look about this site for nearly a year but this is my first post lol!
I've done all my training and am fully qualified in waxing, facials, manicure, pedicure, gellux, acrylic nails, eyelash and eye brow tinting, eye lash perming and spray tans and am currently offering these treatments from my spare room, with 2 clients who's house I go to.
Problem is I can only do this after 5 o'clock Monday to Friday and weekends as I work 40 hours a week in an office! I'm on a very good wage there and am only making about £120 a month doing beauty but I am desperate to do it full time! I live with my mum and dad and have a car but don't exactly have much responsibilities! Do I take the plunge, leave my job and continue to work from home (or rent a space if i can get the right place) or do I stay miserable in my full time job dreaming of the day that I'm making enough money to live on?
I love being a beauty therapist it makes me so happy but I am so tired after a full week at work and sometimes feel I'm not doing as good a job as I can be (clients assure me i am)! Ahh sorry for the long post just need advice :sad:

 

[ShellacMad]

Hello! I'm newish to salon geek but been a qualified beauty therapist for 7 years. I love my job too

Is there anyway you could reduce your hours to have more time to do your beauty? It would be good to have a strong client base before you take a huge leap! Or maybe find a part time job to supplement your earnings & leave your full time job?

It's a scary decision to make. I now only work a 4 day week in a salon but spend all my other time working from my home salon. I am exhausted & turning clients away but I'm saving for my holiday so can't leave the salon just yet

Being self employed there is so much to think about, it's all quite daunting! But there is so much help here on salon geek

This is a decision only you can make, give everything a lot of thought & explore all your options. Wishing you lots of luck for the future x

 

[laurenosaurus]

I think this might be a really naive answer but I think you pretty much just answered your own question- you said you're miserable in your current job, why not take the plunge?
Aslong as you're prepared to put in some hard work then I'm sure you could make it work and if not... Well, it's not the end of the world! Atleast you can say you tried.

Maybe think about putting a little business plan together to give yourself a clearer idea of your goals and how you will achieve them and if it's still viable and you think you have what it takes then go for it girl!

 

[Absolutebeautyx]

I've been trying for about 8 months for a new job just not happening and my current boss won't even entertain the idea of cutting my hours even though we are over staffed! x
Your right actually I did answer my own question cause I HATE working there with a passion and I have not really much to loose I suppose if it doesn't work out I can always get another job! Just the encouragement I needed as I'm not getting much From friends or family who think its stupid leaving a good paying job grr money's not everything I suppose! Sorry for that rant lol x

 

[mcmog]

I think you should go for it!

Do it now before you acquire responsibilities and give it your all for a couple of years. If you feel it's not for you or is not working out, you can return to 'conventional' work - but I bet you don't!

I'm nearly 35 with two children and stuck in a job I hate, dreaming of other things. Don't be me.

My friend is a hairdresser and is the only person I know who loves her job...

Good luck

 

[Absolutebeautyx]

You are 100% right and I am going to go for it! I might be a bit low on cash for a while but I'm like that anyway so at least ill be doing something I love! Thank you so much for that :hug:

 

[mixnmatch1]

hi,you have the security of still living at home so go for it,you never know unless you take the leap.
let us know how you get on,good luck

 

[Rhimisty]

Personally, I would rather take a reduce in pay a month but be happy to go to work Monday mornings than have a but more money but do something I dread!
And as said above, you have the security of living with your parents. If I were you, id think that now was the best time before you decide to move out, have a mortgage/rent to pay. Children or pets and bills etc

Don't know if that helps but I wish you all the best!! Let us all know how you get on !! X

 

[Dannijoa]

Hi geeks! Been having a look about this site for nearly a year but this is my first post lol!
I've done all my training and am fully qualified in waxing, facials, manicure, pedicure, gellux, acrylic nails, eyelash and eye brow tinting, eye lash perming and spray tans and am currently offering these treatments from my spare room, with 2 clients who's house I go to.
Problem is I can only do this after 5 o'clock Monday to Friday and weekends as I work 40 hours a week in an office! I'm on a very good wage there and am only making about £120 a month doing beauty but I am desperate to do it full time! I live with my mum and dad and have a car but don't exactly have much responsibilities! Do I take the plunge, leave my job and continue to work from home (or rent a space if i can get the right place) or do I stay miserable in my full time job dreaming of the day that I'm making enough money to live on?
I love being a beauty therapist it makes me so happy but I am so tired after a full week at work and sometimes feel I'm not doing as good a job as I can be (clients assure me i am)! Ahh sorry for the long post just need advice :sad:

I think you should go for it! You have the security of living with your parents and you already have clients at the door.
Maybe do a little advertising or a survey in your local town to see;
How many people use beauticians,
How far would they travel,
Etc,
Hope it all goes well!

 

[411]

Go for it! No responsibilities yet so it's perfect!

It takes time & patience though.

I work full time, and work in my home based salon evenings & weekends.
Every evening after the cooking & cleaning when I finally sit down I'm always updating the sites I'm on, updating websites, thinking of promotion ideas. It's a lot, but if that's your passion you will succeed!!

Good luck 😃

 

[clementine]

Dot it, Do it, Do it!!!

I've been open for coming up 2 years, whilst working my other job which was 22 hours per week and doing 20 odd hours at my place, I gradually dropped my hours at my office job up until finally last November I left and went full time at my own place.

Best thing I ever did, love, love, love beauty wish I'd done it years ago

By the way I'm over 40 and have 2 little girls, husband, ill mother and inlaws

You have no responsibilities so no reason not to go for it :hug:

x

 

[Absolutebeautyx]

Thanks for the advice girls just what I needed! I have a few rooms to view next week (excited!!!) then I can decide if I want to stay a home salon or find the perfect place to build my business! Need to figure out how I can get my self out there if I want to stay at my home salon though!

Id love to take less hours at work but we have just found out recently that one girl is pregnant so will be on maternity very soon and another girl is going to be off for a few months due to ill health so there is no way id be able to drop my hours :sad:. due a big bonus from work in June though so ofcourse I will stay and get that then bye bye ha!

All I need to keep saying to my self is 'I can do it!!'
Fingers crossed for me that it works out xx

 

[clementine]

Thanks for the advice girls just what I needed! I have a few rooms to view next week (excited!!!) then I can decide if I want to stay a home salon or find the perfect place to build my business! Need to figure out how I can get my self out there if I want to stay at my home salon though!

Id love to take less hours at work but we have just found out recently that one girl is pregnant so will be on maternity very soon and another girl is going to be off for a few months due to ill health so there is no way id be able to drop my hours :sad:. due a big bonus from work in June though so ofcourse I will stay and get that then bye bye ha!

All I need to keep saying to my self is 'I can do it!!'
Fingers crossed for me that it works out xx

Best of luck whatever you decide x

 

[Male Waxing]

Do it!

And every spare second you have when you have no clients is when you are out telling people about what you do - handing out or posting flyers.

 

[blush09]

as one of the other posters said be prepared to put in the hard work .. when i first started out, i was still working pt time and almost treated my beauty business as a means to earn a bit of extra pocket money .. i didnt take myself seriously and so nobody else did!
and make sure you charge your family/friends the going rate from the start, a mistake i learnt the hard way .. gave out far too many freebies, and cheap treatments and this came back to bite me on the bum when wanted to start charging the going rate
ive taken a good 18mths break from nails and lashes, but am slowly breaking myself back in .. im actually training in millinery, but as i know this is going to be a long and expensive road to success i plan to use what skills i already have (beauty) to try and support myself, hope to retrain in lashes later in the new year, and believe me it will be whole different ball game when i start to promote my business this time round .. freebies are off the menu!!!

 

[sjmand]

Go for it!!!! You have the drive and as you don't have commitments you have nothing to worry about check you parents are supporting your decision once you leave your job you will have to focus on building your business to survive so it will work. You have 6 months get a Facebook page set up and do as many clients you can even work every evening up until June and you will have a strong clientele to get you off your feet good luck you won't regret it