Does anyone else with a home salon have an unsupportive partner?

[FlawlessBeauty]

Grab a cuppa, it's a long one.

My fiancé really is lovely and I know the things he says only come out of concern for me but sometimes I could wring his overprotective little neck, lol. He comes from a very negative family, the kind that call themselves realistic haha and he has been mugged more than once around ten years ago as he works nights on the tube. Together these make him a nervous nelly.

I have a cabin/summer house salon. My clients go around the back gate and don't enter the house unless I take them in to use the toilet. I lock the gate once the client is in but I don't lock the back door to the house as it can be quite difficult to open again from the outside.

My fiancé is one of those who is very concerned about a possible burglary, so I try to be sensitive to his feelings. He is also wary of my having male clients, but I always take a name, a number, let someone know if I have a new client what time they are and when I should be finished, etc.

Today I had a foreign girl in. I saw her car pull up, she rang to say she was there and I told her to come right over to where I was waiting. She came over with a friend and then a male friend came over too. I was a little wary of this and explained I had no waiting area. They said no problem, they would wait in the car. The man had a question about waxing for himself and the woman I think had come over because my client spoke little English. They went back to the car. I did the client who was perfectly nice, paid, tipped, got in the car and they left.

Later on I mentioned it to my other half, as you do. Big mistake! He's been going ape doo doo. Saying he thinks I should give up my business, it's too risky, they were casing the place, my neighbour could phone the council about all these people hanging around, the council said I'm not supposed to have more than one person, if they force entry to the house we aren't insured, etc.

I have said I will compromise and lock the back door as well as the gate but as far as I'm concerned nothing is wrong and I have put a lot of money, time and effort into my business.

Does anyone else have any issues like this with their other half or family members? I find it so exhausting.

 

[Jake nattrass hair]

This is the risk that you run working from home as your home is his home also, and to you they may be clients or potential clients to them it is strangers in his home (to put it bluntly). I agree he is maybe overthinking but this must be an on going issue if you seek advice so I would chat to him about it and try come to a solution.
I keep my work/business life and personal life separate as it just creates dramas when you combine the two in my oppinion

 

[FlawlessBeauty]

Thanks for your reply. I do understand his fear but equally we've put so much money into it and i love it! I really don't want to let it go if there's something i can do to put his mind at rest. I suppose that's the answer I'm looking for.

It was his idea that i work from the cabin and I've been doing it for about 2 years. Other than this it works fantastically well for us. I can take care of house stuff between clients. My time is my own. Handy when we have children too.

 

[Beautiful-you]

I can certainly understand his fears in general, especially since he has been mugged in the past, it's not surprising he's more cautious really. I definitely agree it's a good idea to always keep your back door locked. My daughter and I currently share a treatment room in our house, off our kitchen (although the conversion of our detached garage is nearly complete). A few months back my daughter was in the treatment room with a client when she heard the kitchen chair scrape. She went to have a look and found a man sat at our kitchen table!!! He was a courier delivering a parcel and as he didn't get an answer when he knocked on the door, he just walked in as my daughter hadn't locked the door when her client arrived!! She was really unnerved by this (understandably!) and we now always keep the door locked!

As your cabin is actually in your garden and sounds like it can only be accessed through your gate, which you can lock, this should be fairly safe in theory. Do you lock the cabin door when you are in there? (I plan to keep my door locked on my new salon when we move in). Maybe to alleviate his fears a little more you could consider installing cctv as a deterrent?

With regard to clients bringing friends, it's a bit trickier, especially if they don't warn you beforehand and if there is a language barrier. Explaining to all new clients that you don't have a waiting area at the time they book is probably your only option.

Making a few changes to keep your fiancé happy (and you and your home safe!) will be worth it I'm sure as you obviously don't want to give up your business after all your hard work. My husband is a worrier too, so I do sympathise with you, but I do see it from their point of view too. I know I will also worry if my daughter is out in the salon on her own, especially at night!

I hope you can come up with some ideas/compromises to keep you both happy - and safe!

 

[FlawlessBeauty]

Wow that's really creepy. Why would he even decide to take a seat?

I don't lock the cabin when I'm in it. I think he is more afraid of the client than someone else coming in. I'm not sure if i would like to lock myself in. Yes i keep the gate locked all the time.

We have security lights but I'm definitely considering cctv. Perhaps keeping something like a rape alarm in there which would frighten someone away.

Thanks for the advice x

 

[Beautiful-you]

Wow that's really creepy. Why would he even decide to take a seat?

I don't lock the cabin when I'm in it. I think he is more afraid of the client than someone else coming in. I'm not sure if i would like to lock myself in. Yes i keep the gate locked all the time.

We have security lights but I'm definitely considering cctv. Perhaps keeping something like a rape alarm in there which would frighten someone away.

Thanks for the advice x

The delivery guy said he couldn't leave the parcel without a signature so he thought he'd come in and wait!!! I contacted the company I had ordered from to let them know so they could look into it and they kindly sent me a little gift to say sorry. Guess who delivered it?? Yep, the same guy!!!

A rape alarm sounds like a good idea too

 

[user 111574]

Delivery staff aren't supposed to cross your doorstep ...I thought! Even Tesco delivery people off load food into your porch unless you specifically ask for help.
I lock all my doors when I have a client in so no chance of anyone (including mother) can walk in.
I only take male clients when my husband or adult son is at home with me. Usually they are husbands of existing clients so ok customers.

 

[BannerPenguin]

We recently (last month) had a banging on our back door at about 8pm at night. My wife suddenly looked very worried and my dog went mental (his small but sounds scary). I thought who the hell could that be?! It was a delivery driver! Opened my back gate, walked across the garden and banged on the back door. Why he didn't use the front door is beyond me but safe to say - he got an earful.

Luckily I was home because if my wife was on her own she would have been even more terrified due to things in her past and we used to live in a dodgy high crime area (funnily enough, back in Essex).

I think a top of the range CCTV system would be a great investment. Camera covering drive, one covering your gate, one covering back door, one covering cabin, one or 2 inside the cabin (depending on size). Small sign front of the house saying CCTV in operation. Sounds over the top but it's a big deterrent and I'd say spend money on a good system. Plus, it may lower your home/cabin insurance.

If I were him I'd think they could potentially be casing the place too

 

[FlawlessBeauty]

Thanks everybody. Cctv seems to be the way to go.

I am lucky in that my gate is accessed via a shared drive and my neighbour is very vigilant too.

 

[Beautiful-you]

Delivery staff aren't supposed to cross your doorstep ...I thought! Even Tesco delivery people off load food into your porch unless you specifically ask for help.
I lock all my doors when I have a client in so no chance of anyone (including mother) can walk in.
I only take male clients when my husband or adult son is at home with me. Usually they are husbands of existing clients so ok customers.

No, I'm absolutely sure they shouldn't cross your doorstep! This one is certainly a bit strange! - he has actually delivered several other parcels from other companies since! I'm sure he's harmless but you never know and I'm not prepared to take any chances!

I don't have any male clients at all because I wouldn't feel comfortable, but that's just me! I don't think my husband would like it either.

 

[kamikate]

It may feel that your partner is OTT on security but sometimes you never know. I have a home salon within my house and I've had clients turn up with a friend. I get suspicious when people do that because they know I'm based at home. I did know of one therapist who let the client's friend sit in another room, very nice as pie they were. After their 2nd visit she found out the friend had stolen expensive items from her front room. I'm in the process of buying a lockable display cabinet as I've had items go missing from my salon room. There's that bit at the end of the treatment where I leave the client alone to get dressed and it's just enough time for an unscrupulous person to take something. Sadly this has happened a few times.