Exhausted and not even up and running

[Miniminx13]

Right so, I am trying so hard to set up a home based salon and I feel like I am spending every waking minute, thinking, planning, practicing etc etc... Everything is ready to go but I just cant seem to drum up any clients.

I live in a large village with a salon nearby and i think it is fairly busy so there is a demand....my USP was the flexibility of appt times, cheaper (only a bit)....

However, I have had posters advertising my business removed by a mystery person which is annoying..... I have flyers made ready to do a drop but most dis-heartening is all the verbal networking I have done seems to falling on deaf ears. Any ideas how to get going? I have done a complimentary Gelish on a local friend who is promoting me but the initial interest doesn't seem to make it into a booking.....

I am not a very outgoing person but i have even been forcing myself to talk to people out and about in a casual non desperate way..lol....

Sorry for the rant .... I have read a great post on hear about advertising and have taken lots on board but unless I have a few bookings to begin with the budget for more promoting material is hard to come up with....

 

[Rinn]

lynne baker has a great thread on here. more ways to promote your business. you'll get it in the search section.

http://www.salongeek.com/biz-geek/83160-more-ways-promote-your-business.html

found it

 

[Miniminx13]

Thank you.. i have read it many times..think i am battling more with being a newby to the area...

Sent from my GT-I9100 using SalonGeek

 

[julie25]

Aw I know how you're feeling. Literally set up 4 weeks ago and am constantly living in a panicked state and always thinking of new ways to get myself known. I'm quite a shy person and have really had to push myself to be more out going and promote myself. That's annoying about someone taking your posters down though!! Xx

 

[Wonda]

Awww, i'm so glad you lovely ladies have posted this .... i was starting to think i might be doing the wrong thing setting up my own business after being made redundant.

Since making the decision in the last month i've been buying kit, spreading the word, doing the courses, posting on facebook about what i'm doing, setting up a website & facebook page, telling everyone i know about it & yet no clients.

I've been giving my mum free Gelish manicures once every 1-2 weeks to practise, given her a stack of business cards should anyone ask where she got her nails done, dropped leaflets with business cards off at my hairdressers in the centre of chester & yet, no clients.

I realise i wasnt going to have a mad rush of people wanting appointments, but flippin heck, didnt think it'd be this dead :sad:

Am seriously thinking of getting a part time job to secure some money coming in while i get a client base up & running.

 

[Redduck]

Hiya, I just wanted to say good luck to you all don't give up. Keep leafleting and spreading the word and it does happen. I started up 15 years ago and it was slow going to start with but with determination it does happen.

Make sure you just buy what you really need and as you earn money you can invest more in your business.

Keep going xx

 

[umvemve]

How about your car? I have this sign off ebay - £7.99 and works a treat

 

[Miniminx13]

How about your car? I have this sign off ebay - £7.99 and works a treat

That's fab... Don't think my work would be too thrilled if I rolled up to work with one tho... (spa 2 days a week for now)! I have a few door magnets from vistaprint which are not as good but can pop them on naff as needed,,,,

 

[umvemve]

That's fab... Don't think my work would be too thrilled if I rolled up to work with one tho... (spa 2 days a week for now)! I have a few door magnets from vistaprint which are not as good but can pop them on naff as needed,,,,

LOL I work in marketing as my day job. I don't know what anyone makes of it - think they are all too polite to say!

 

[Wonda]

I got some business cards off Vista a few weeks ago & then they sent me an e-mail with "everything below is free" .... so hopped on the marketing bangwagon & got myself 2 car magnets along with a load of other free stuff, just had to pay for p&p which wasnt much considering all the stuff i'm due.

But i did think while out & about today about the scrouts around where i live nicking the magnets off just for fun, so might invest in one of those rear window stickers as well just in case.

 

[Up To Scratch]

How about your car? I have this sign off ebay - £7.99 and works a treat

Anyone displaying business signage on their cars needs to make extra-specially sure that they have business cover on their motor insurance... Sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many claims get put on hold, and even thrown out, due to motor engineers seeing business signage on a vehicle that the policyholder has not declared business usage on when setting up their policy - an expensive thing to forget to do!

 

[Emma H]

Anyone displaying business signage on their cars needs to make extra-specially sure that they have business cover on their motor insurance... Sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many claims get put on hold, and even thrown out, due to motor engineers seeing business signage on a vehicle that the policyholder has not declared business usage on when setting up their policy - an expensive thing to forget to do!

This is very true please be careful and don’t end up in a shocking situation like my boyfriend did...

Took some mail out in our car for Royal Mail to deliver, police pulled up asked him if he has business insurance as the car was being used for business use he said he didn’t realise etc. he got slapped with 6 penalty points, a fine and our car impounded! If that wasn’t bad enough when we informed our insurance provider they cancelled him off the insurance as they see his conviction code (driving with no business insurance) as one of the worst offences in the book! We've now had to take out new insurance and our insurance is extortionate now after being so cheap. All the big insurers won’t touch u with this conviction code and only a few companies in the UK will insure u if you’ve had a cancelled policy. I urge everyone to make sure they are covered for business insurance as it was the most stressful and upsetting week of my life not to mention expensive! x

 

[souz]

i live in a village also and dont know that many people as only moved here few years ago. I started my business on January and its been hard going i can tell you, as the months have gone on i have got more and more to the point in the summer i was turning people away!! then september was dead! October has been steady.

I have leaflet dropped twice and got one or two from it only. However the ones i did get told their friends and they told theirs!! I also have got clients from always having something different and eyecatchy on my nails, i got stopped in the local garage and one of the local pubs by the bar staff! so dont rely on who you know!!just get your name out there!

do you have a website??the rest of my clients have come from my website. I am also on yell.com, viva street, gumtree etc which boosts my website.

dont give up, coming up to xmas you will get clients but probably after xmas will be quiet so dont get despondant, it happens and its hard at the beginning!ten months on i am still finding it hard and still struggling to get lots of regular clients!!i get more people that just have them done when they are going out but thats ok as at least they do keep coming back!

 

[Miniminx13]

This is very true please be careful and don’t end up in a shocking situation like my boyfriend did...

Took some mail out in our car for Royal Mail to deliver, police pulled up asked him if he has business insurance as the car was being used for business use he said he didn’t realise etc. he got slapped with 6 penalty points, a fine and our car impounded! If that wasn’t bad enough when we informed our insurance provider they cancelled him off the insurance as they see his conviction code (driving with no business insurance) as one of the worst offences in the book! We've now had to take out new insurance and our insurance is extortionate now after being so cheap. All the big insurers won’t touch u with this conviction code and only a few companies in the UK will insure u if you’ve had a cancelled policy. I urge everyone to make sure they are covered for business insurance as it was the most stressful and upsetting week of my life not to mention expensive! x

Blimey... Thats cr@p! What sort of advertising did he have?

 

[Emmalou91x]

Hi all, soo glad i come across this, feeling so fed up, i know it all takes time, but i started out about 4 weeks ago done a website and facebook page, i had 2 people book then have to cancel, 1 has been in contact and coming tomorrow morning, i just hope with all the bad luck recently it doesnt go majorly wrong, (bad luck ~ flat tyre, new expensive tyres, then alloys damaged cz them fitting them)
Im working from home and my mum keeps telling me i might not do any good from home, but i want to keep trying.
Just dont know what to do to get myself out there more, i got my friends to like my facebook page and now thats it, noone else i dont have a personal facebook, so just have to rely on people finding my business page.

Does it all start like this and does it get better??

Its not even so much the money, but just the fact i want to do what i love doing (hopefully give people nice nails and tans), and iv spent so long training and make something of the £2500+ iv just spent on beauty stuff lol. x

 

[411]

I know exactly how u feel! I'm in the same dilemma!

I haven't given up my full time job, because I'm so worried of not being able to get the business going.

I'm thinking of getting leaflet drops.
I've had business cards done by vista print n other freebies.

It is very hard, advertising costs so much.

I've been keeping up practising on myself, coz even though I've put the word out that I'm starting my own business, discount salons down the high street charge next to nothing for a set of nails, n in this economic climate, people want to go for cheap, rather than quality.

It's my passion just to have a small home based business to start off with, but slowly my dream seems to be fading away, as I hear so many people in the same situation...

Don't give up hope!

 

[Miniminx13]

Hey ladies..I am a little more positive today... Got 3 ladies looking to book a Gelish and another massage client who I have met via work today (it's a spa so she was on a package day out rather than a salon client....still a wee bit naughty tho lol.)

I am sure in time we will all make something happen but I guess Rome wasn't built in a day so patience and persistence is the key.... Xx

 

[Miniminx13]

http://www.salongeek.com/showthread.php?p=1671125

 

[NailsXpress]

umvemve, could you post the link for your car sticker from ebay please.

I have advertised everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. There is only my car left to advertise on now. Just got to sort out the insurance side first though of course.

Thanks

 

[Glitterbox81]

I'm in a similar position and have just set up my home based salon but determined to be positive. I know I just need to get the first few customers in and then (hopefully) it will snowball from there.

I've set up a Facebook page and I try to post a picture of a nail pop or something on there every day- I also got a £25 advertising voucher from Facebook so I have used that and that's increased the likes on my page. I have my first customer booked in next week (sadly for French which I suck at :lol.

I've advertised on Gumtree and Netmums, I've got myself listed on Yell and 118.com, set up a website (though I prefer to use my Facebook page in the main),I've ordered some flyers which I'm planning to put in Christmas cards (from Poundland) and post through the doors local to me - I figure most people just chuck flyers in the bin without looking but if I put them inside a card then hopefully they might actually sit down and open and read. I'm also going to leave some flyers in the local library and community centre.

I have my sister in law coming in next week for a tan, nails and eyelash extensions for free- I'll send her off with a stack of business cards and she works in a trendy clothes shop so hoping she'll act as a walking advertisment.

I think that's all I've got planned so far. I'm in a lucky position as I work self employed in It already so I can keep up the main job until the business picks up and work my hours around each other. My aim for my first year of business is to be earning enough by the end of it to cut my IT work down to part time at least.

Good luck everyone!