hhmmmmmmmm.........potential price war

['chelle]

Hi everyone. What do you think of this..........

I have rented a room in a hairdressers and will be starting work as a nail tech next Tuesday. I am on a busy high street with lots of passing trade. There is a beauty salon more or less over the road, however (until now) this did not concern me, because although she does enhancements, she is more focused on holistic therapies, and doesnt even advertise enhancements on the outside of her salon.

I have put some signs up on my salon front advertising that I will be there from 22 Jan, creative qualified tech, etc etc, and there is now a sign up in the other lady's window saying "Acrylic Nails £20".

My cheapest set of nails is £30. Now I am a bit of a stickler for not competing on price, and so I'm not going to get dragged into a price competition. I would like to think that I can focus on quality, really push the Creative brand, focus on the fact that I'm a specialist and dont offer any other treatments, and although my client base growth may be slower, ultimately it will be a good sustainable client base as clients who will pay more for a recognised brand and specialist service are more likely to be long term clients.

Now I dont know if the sign in her window is a reaction to my advertisements or not, nor do I know what products she is using (for all I know it could be Creative, but she has no Creative posters or such like).

I'm going to be positive, I dont want to cause ill feeling with this lady, I would like to just concentrate on my own business, and drive it forward. Having said that, this is still on the back of my mind niggling away at me.

Has anyone got any comments, suggestions, or experience of this type of situation??

Thanks.

 

[fificharlie]

Hi everyone. What do you think of this..........

I have rented a room in a hairdressers and will be starting work as a nail tech next Tuesday. I am on a busy high street with lots of passing trade. There is a beauty salon more or less over the road, however (until now) this did not concern me, because although she does enhancements, she is more focused on holistic therapies, and doesnt even advertise enhancements on the outside of her salon.

I have put some signs up on my salon front advertising that I will be there from 22 Jan, creative qualified tech, etc etc, and there is now a sign up in the other lady's window saying "Acrylic Nails £20".

My cheapest set of nails is £30. Now I am a bit of a stickler for not competing on price, and so I'm not going to get dragged into a price competition. I would like to think that I can focus on quality, really push the Creative brand, focus on the fact that I'm a specialist and dont offer any other treatments, and although my client base growth may be slower, ultimately it will be a good sustainable client base as clients who will pay more for a recognised brand and specialist service are more likely to be long term clients.

Now I dont know if the sign in her window is a reaction to my advertisements or not, nor do I know what products she is using (for all I know it could be Creative, but she has no Creative posters or such like).

I'm going to be positive, I dont want to cause ill feeling with this lady, I would like to just concentrate on my own business, and drive it forward. Having said that, this is still on the back of my mind niggling away at me.

Has anyone got any comments, suggestions, or experience of this type of situation??

Thanks.

Bless you hun,

I totaly know how this feels!

My salon is in my local town centre, and apart from the local NSS is the ONLY 'Nail only' bar in town.

I got up and running and advertised myself and my prices etc - My prices when I started were £33.00 for a set of calgel enhancements - I was just above the Nss as they were charging £28.00.

I am no where near any of the other 'beauty salons' either.

There is an Internet Cafe over the road from my salon, and I walked in there to grab a coffee one day - what did I see on the counter????

'Acrylic Nails £17.00 per set' - my heart sank - so I rang the number on the leaflet (it was a home made one - really tacky looking)

I found out it was a salon about a 5 min walk from mine. Luckily, the owner of the internet cafe asked me if I wanted them removed Bless him, so he kindly replaced them with mine! woop.

Im waffling now - but..... to my horror, the next day, this 'tech', was standing OUTSIDE MY SALON WINDOW and giving one of her leaflets to EVERYONE tht came to my door! THE CHEEKY MARE.

Not wanting to cause a kerfuffle, I simply waved :lol::lol: and as I nipped out to get my lunch, just said 'Good luck!'

When I came back, she was gone, and has never been back. The salon looks absolutely awful. Really really dirty. That speaks for its self.

Promote yourself as much as you can hun. Maybe put some pics of your nails up in the window? Get out in the street and give leaflets to people that walk past.

The fact of the matter is, at £20 a set, she is not going to be earning much out of it. - Think of it like this - she cant be doing that well out of her other treatments.....otherwise undercutting you on ONE service wouldnt even enter her head, if you see what I mean.

Let us know any updates - I'm really interested to hear how you get on x

 

[loubylou]

If i was you i would keep my prices as they are honestly,
her skills with doing nails can not be that good or she would not have panicked and put up an advert for give away nails,
you will probably find that all the clients that have already tried out her nails will come to you, putting quality before price, if they have already had a set from her and they didn't last well they are not going to waste another £20,
as for the ones that do decide to try her out because she is cheaper may well find out that you do get what you pay for and then come to you to repair the damage,
you have to be sound in your own knowledge that your sets of nails are top notch and will last without problems until their rebalance appointment, if you have this confidence then your clients will be confident about your skills too

 

[marie111]

If it were me I would ignore it. Stick with your prices and if people decide to go over the road, its competition don't worry about it.
There are a lot of people who still prefer to go for the more expensive thinking they will get better quality (myself included)
Would you get your nails done for £20?

 

['chelle]

Thanks ladies I absolutely agree with all of you, however it doesnt stop you worrying when you are about to open a new salon, added to the fact that I've handed my work notice in to do this, so I'm relying on myself 100% for income now!!

I shall persevere, stressing "quality not price" and will pretend that she's not even there.

Thanks again!

 

[Blue Rose]

I think it depends on whether it's a Beauty Therapist doing nails or a specialised Nail Tech whether you need to be worried or not.

No offence intended to any BT's who do nails but I tend to think you're either very good at beauty or very good at nail extensions. As BT's don't always get to do many sets of nails there is the tendancy to be quite slow (depending on which system is used of course) so from a client point of view can be too time consuming.

From the other salons point of view £20 isn't much money & she'll probably withdraw that offer pretty sharpish when she realises she's not making any money.

If I was a client I would rather have my nails extended by a specialist like yourself. Same if I wanted reflexology - I'd rather see a reflexologist than a BT who can do reflex.

Try & stay positive (always helps with clients re-booking) & just remember you're on a busy main road with lots of passing trade.

 

[Katelisa]

No offence intended to any BT's who do nails but I tend to think you're either very good at beauty or very good at nail extensions.

have to disagree with that statement. I can do a cracking (not literally lol) set of nails, and am also a top notch therapist. (if i do say so myself! lol)
you cant make general statements like that wether you intend to offend or not. as there will always be someone (or many people in this case im sure) that totally goes against what your saying!

its like saying you can either be good at hair or beauty, cooking or cleaning. s'not how it works!!

 

[fificharlie]

have to disagree with that statement. I can do a cracking (not literally lol) set of nails, and am also a top notch therapist. (if i do say so myself! lol)
you cant make general statements like that wether you intend to offend or not. as there will always be someone (or many people in this case im sure) that totally goes against what your saying!

its like saying you can either be good at hair or beauty, cooking or cleaning. s'not how it works!!

I totally agree hun,

I am a nail tech, but also do waxing, and have great results with both.

Could we even say its almost like suggesting that as a nail tech, you could only be good at say gel, not acrylic and gel? :idea:

I think there are many talented people out there that can be good at many different things. :hug:

 

[blossom]

Good luck in your venture 'chelle, as you said yourself, carry on as if she wasn't there. I think you have NO NEED to worry. It smacks of desperation if she sticks up give away nails at the first sign of any competition. She's only doing this because she doesn't have enough clients yet presumably she's in a main road position too so it's not that she doesn't have enough exposure. It must be a) because the nails she does aren't good enough to get repeat business or b) because she isn't personable herself (This second one, I think, is a biggy, clients have to feel comfortable in your company otherwise they will find somewhere else).

And she really isn't going to be in business for long if her full sets are £20 - goodness, what are her rebalance prices?

Just concentrate on your salon and your work, make sure every client that walks out is happy and has had a great experience and you will make a real success of your business. :hug::hug:

 

[Katelisa]

Could we even say its almost like suggesting that as a nail tech, you could only be good at say gel, not acrylic and gel? :idea:

I think there are many tallented people out there that can be good at many different things. :hug:

Exactly!! Although, maybe its because im good at beauty and nails, that i cant iron or excercise lol.

 

['chelle]

Exactly!! Although, maybe its because im good at beauty and nails, that i cant iron or excercise lol.

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Ah so thats it!!!!! Always wondered why I can do nails, but cant go to Tesco (so have to send husband instead, what a shame!!!)

 

[Angelaznailz]

Hi everyone. What do you think of this..........



I have put some signs up on my salon front advertising that I will be there from 22 Jan, creative qualified tech, etc etc, and there is now a sign up in the other lady's window saying "Acrylic Nails £20".


If I were riled enough (and sometimes I ca get pretty mad) I would put a sign in my window saying " I fix £20 Acrylic Nails "
Then sit back & watch the fireworks.....:wink2:

 

[Katelisa]

If I were riled enough (and sometimes I ca get pretty mad) I would put a sign in my window saying " I fix £20 Acrylic Nails "
Then sit back & watch the fireworks.....:wink2:

PMSL :lol::green::lol::green::lol:

 

[Blue Rose]

Well ladies, that told me!

The point I was trying to make that as a Nail Specialist, 'chelle shouldn't have any problems in building up a regular client base.

I have employed many therapists over the years, and always the ones who were excellent therapists were not very good at nail extensions and no matter what system has been used, nails have never taken off (could be the area we leave in, I don't know).

As with a lot of professions, individuals often end up specialising in one area. You may be okay at lots of things but actually excel at just 1 or 2. We can't all be very good at everything. I know I'm better at some treatments than others.

Anyway, I agree that there are some very talented peeps out there who excel in all beauty treatments and all systems of nail extensions. I've never had the good fortune to meet one but CV's are always welcomed

 

[Katelisa]

Anyway, I agree that there are some very talented peeps out there who excel in all beauty treatments and all systems of nail extensions. I've never had the good fortune to meet one but CV's are always welcomed

haha the problem is, that if your that good why would you work for someone else?! you just wouldt unless you had no inkling of a business head. eg i earn full time wage working part time hours. I could never ever get that working for someone!! so i would never apply! lol. god i sound so big headed, im not!! :green:

 

[blossom]

haha the problem is, that if your that good why would you work for someone else?! you just wouldt unless you had no inkling of a business head. eg i earn full time wage working part time hours. I could never ever get that working for someone!! so i would never apply! lol. god i sound so big headed, im not!! :green:

That is so true. I would earn less than half what I do now if I worked for someone else.

 

['chelle]

I agree that a talented therapist and tech would have the savvy to go into business for herself, perhaps leaving the less talented people to seek employment for another person, that would make sense.

p.s - on my way into the salon this morning I had another look at the sign in her window and I stand corrected, she is not advertising "Acrylic nails £20", she is advertising "nail Extensions £20"

I'm just not worried any more!!

 

[nailzoo]

haha the problem is, that if your that good why would you work for someone else?! you just wouldt unless you had no inkling of a business head. eg i earn full time wage working part time hours. I could never ever get that working for someone!! so i would never apply! lol. god i sound so big headed, im not!! :green:

that infers that techs employed by someone are not as good as self employed techs ..... bit of a rough statement

 

[Beautyandme]

Hi, I think you should do what you said in your thread. Have faith in your service, and give your business time to flourish. Dont get into the price war, otherwise no one wins. goodluck

 

[Katelisa]

that infers that techs employed by someone are not as good as self employed techs ..... bit of a rough statement

not really, Cogsi said she has never had anyone good at both working for her, i replied with my answer saying its because you make more money working for yourself. Which doesnt imply that you dont get great techs employed. just says if your good you make more money working for yourself.

on the flip side, theres also of god awful therapists / techs out there that do work for themselves. because they are a one man band they either get away with it easier, or dont have other members of staff to compare with and do a bad job not really knowing, thinking they are doing things right.