Home prices vs Salon prices?

[Yummy Mummy's]

I'm setting up from home (not mobile either) and have read several people saying that salon prices should be more than home prices
Why?
We still have costs and overheads working from home I really don't see the difference

Is there any need to lower my prices?

 

[mm29]

I'm mobile and I'm on par with local salons if not more expensive but cheaper than city centre (where I trained and worked)

It's easier to reduce your price than it is to increase
I would rather work less for more money

Go with what you think and think about what clients you want to attract,
Who will appreciate good products, value your skills and pay a little more for it

Good luck

 

[souz]

yes we still have costs hun but we dont have rent, business rates,separate water and utilities bills, salon insurance which is more than you pay at home. I have been looking at premises and rent and rates alone can be £20,000 a year!!! If you charge the same as salons you are going to alienate clients from coming to you, im not saying you need to charge alot less but a little less at least! Salons offer treatments away from a home environment which alot of people like...for example when people come to my home salon they have to walk through my house, sometimes passing my cat on the way possibly even my husband or children on the way in or out the house where as in a salon you would nt have that xx

i should of said aswell from a personal point of view if i were to go to a strangers house or a salon for the same price it would be a salonxx

 

[adamlea87]

yes we still have costs hun but we dont have rent, business rates,separate water and utilities bills, salon insurance which is more than you pay at home. I have been looking at premises and rent and rates alone can be £20,000 a year!!! If you charge the same as salons you are going to alienate clients from coming to you, im not saying you need to charge alot less but a little less at least! Salons offer treatments away from a home environment which alot of people like...for example when people come to my home salon they have to walk through my house, sometimes passing my cat on the way possibly even my husband or children on the way in or out the house where as in a salon you would nt have that xx

i should of said aswell from a personal point of view if i were to go to a strangers house or a salon for the same price it would be a salonxx

This seems reasonable, you have to look at it from the clients point of view...

 

[Lks]

yes we still have costs hun but we dont have rent, business rates,separate water and utilities bills, salon insurance which is more than you pay at home. I have been looking at premises and rent and rates alone can be £20,000 a year!!! If you charge the same as salons you are going to alienate clients from coming to you, im not saying you need to charge alot less but a little less at least! Salons offer treatments away from a home environment which alot of people like...for example when people come to my home salon they have to walk through my house, sometimes passing my cat on the way possibly even my husband or children on the way in or out the house where as in a salon you would nt have that xx

i should of said aswell from a personal point of view if i were to go to a strangers house or a salon for the same price it would be a salonxx

I've wondered about the OP question too. Some home salons though are very professional; completely seperate entrance, the whole salon setup, professional atmosphere... I think in these cases you could charge as much as a salon if u have the skills, no?

 

[squidgernetball]

Having moved from a home business to a salon, I can honestly say the costs are unreal. At home, your bills all get paid anyway and you can take a percentage of everything against your tax. My rent on my salon is really reasonable, but all the bills, as Souz says - insurance, heating, lighting, products etc really add up. If you want to charge the same, then obviously the choice is yours - the beauty of being self employed - but the costs and expenses are very different!

 

[souz]

I've wondered about the OP question too. Some home salons though are very professional; completely seperate entrance, the whole salon setup, professional atmosphere... I think in these cases you could charge as much as a salon if u have the skills, no?

i agree , most home salons are professional (mine included) ....once you are inmy salon you wouldnt know that you are in my home and as my children are far older (16 and 19) there isnt even noise of children in the distance! however the way i see it is if you were looking for somewhere to have treatments the only thing you have to go by is either a price list or a website so then people start looking at price and as i said if the prices are the same for a salon where at least someone can drive past and see if they like the look of it or a home salon where they only have the outside of your house to look at and cant see inside then i believe that most people will opt for the salon...just my opinion!!

I have managed to have a rather nice little business from my home salon but i know that when i move into premises it will be completely different for clients and i think (am hoping) that i will attract far more clients because im not a home salon!!

 

[jacqueline]

Firstly I must say I disagree that the costs are the same, and here is why.

You don't really have the same costs when setting up a home salon, than a salon/spa, apart from maybe some of these lovely wee cabins you see as stand alone businesses from the living accomodation, but I don't know what those cost to buy then convert so just guessing here.

I invested $$$$$$ in my spa and Persianista will probably tell you the same when it comes to opening a new place you are looking at circa £80k to do it correctly,you can of course do it with less depending on your business plan.

So for example if my business costs, not including stock etc., were $40,000 a year, running it from home would probably be $4,000. Huge difference and this is reflected in the pricing of my treatments.

I also wouldn't expect a therapist with a set up at home in the spare room to be charging the same as they can't always offer what a physical location salon/spa can.

Luckily for me, home salons are few and far between here as you have to jump through some real hoops at state level to get them. Mind you I battle lots of illegal activity with people doing homers.

Just my two cents worth as a business owner.

 

[NailsXpress]

I actually charge a little more for mobile clients. I rent my beauty room and desk space in a salon but if someone wants me to go out to them (mobile) then I charge £5 more for sets of nails of any kind and have a minimum charge of £20 anyway. It's on my website etc and I've not had any problems with it. I prefer to work in the salon than run around doing mobile.

I charge more because I have to use more of my time packing up, getting to them, fuel, business insurance, setting up again at their place, doing the job, packing up again and returning to salon. It's all for their convenience so they pay more for the service. If they want to pay the normal price then they can come to me at the lovely salon. Not had any problems with this and I even tell them on the phone that it is cheaper for them to come to me! So they do have the choice.

Whether we work at home, in a salon or mobile, we still have overheads whether they are large or small.

 

[umvemve]

Funnily enough I pay more for a treatment I receive from a local home based therapist than I would at a salon and am happy to do so. Reason: at salons I have been to in the past I would often get a different therapist each time, or good staff would leave and move on. I am paying more to my home based therapist because I want the same person and the same level and continuity of treatment each time. I also would never want to walk around town after having a facial or spray tan and would pay the same. At a home therapist it is a quick nip out to the car and a drive home. Nails I'd prefer to have in town and would expect to pay less to someone home based.

 

[NailsXpress]

But why would expect to pay less to a home based technician? She is giving you the same set of nails as most places and possibly better because she can take more time over them and not rush as much. She can probably fit you in at your desired time too as she is possibly not quite so booked up as a high street salon. If she is say CND trained and uses all CND products why should she not be able to charge the same price? She is just as good as anyone else!

She may not have high overheads, but her hourly rate, products etc are just the same!

 

[umvemve]

But why would expect to pay less to a home based technician? She is giving you the same set of nails as most places and possibly better because she can take more time over them and not rush as much. She can probably fit you in at your desired time too as she is possibly not quite so booked up as a high street salon. If she is say CND trained and uses all CND products why should she not be able to charge the same price? She is just as good as anyone else!

She may not have high overheads, but her hourly rate, products etc are just the same!

Do you know, I don't know why. I think it is because when having a nail treatment I like to have hustle and bustle around me - same goes for hair so I would want a salon with other stuff going on and a sort of glammed up feel about the whole thing. Also I find my clients and friends don't have a clue about brands when it comes to nails, unlike with skin so the CND thing wouldn't cut it for me if I wasn't a geek.

 

[squidgernetball]

But why would expect to pay less to a home based technician? She is giving you the same set of nails as most places and possibly better because she can take more time over them and not rush as much. She can probably fit you in at your desired time too as she is possibly not quite so booked up as a high street salon. If she is say CND trained and uses all CND products why should she not be able to charge the same price? She is just as good as anyone else!

She may not have high overheads, but her hourly rate, products etc are just the same!

That's the point isn't it - she can charge the same. You can do what you like when it's your own business. Once I started paying rent, I almost started clocking in and out, and then you employ staff and it changes again. I am way too cheap, I know that, and have to raise my prices.

Another point is that just because you're not a home salon, doesn't mean you're high street. I'm in a barn, and try to retain everything that clients liked about home treatments - reliable therapist - usually me, great products and taking time over treatments, so you do all that, at the same hourly rate as a home therapist, but there's a lot more to come out of your coffers at the end of the day - but would i change anything....no!

 

[lynn amber]

I've been in my home salon for 15 months now prior to that I rented a chair in a city center salon and I change the same as I did then but probably should have been changing more when I was renting, im probably more expensive then the salons that are near me, new clients are always verry surprised how professional my set up is and haven't had anyone question my prices, on average in my city I would say my prices are mid range ,here is a pic of my home salon :-D

Sent from my LT30p using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[umvemve]

I've been in my home salon for 15 months now prior to that I rented a chair in a city center salon and I change the same as I did then but probably should have been changing more when I was renting, im probably more expensive then the salons that are near me, new clients are always verry surprised how professional my set up is and haven't had anyone question my prices, on average in my city I would say my prices are mid range ,here is a pic of my home salon :-D

Sent from my LT30p using SalonGeek mobile app

It looks super Lynn. For a set up that profesh as a client I would pay.

 

[NailsXpress]

I've been in my home salon for 15 months now prior to that I rented a chair in a city center salon and I change the same as I did then but probably should have been changing more when I was renting, im probably more expensive then the salons that are near me, new clients are always verry surprised how professional my set up is and haven't had anyone question my prices, on average in my city I would say my prices are mid range ,here is a pic of my home salon :-D

Sent from my LT30p using SalonGeek mobile app

Now looking at that pic, you wouldn't know it was a home salon, it looks like a pic of an area in a high street salon. You are giving the same professional service too.

 

[lynn amber]

Now looking at that pic, you wouldn't know it was a home salon, it looks like a pic of an area in a high street salon. You are giving the same professional service too.

Thanks I feel im giving my clients a better one to one service than when I was in the salon, I also don't and never have as self employed booked clients in between colours, my clients seem to like it that way, means if they want to have a chat to me they can or if thay just want to chill read and mag have a cuppa and a chocy biscuit with no interruption they can :-D

Sent from my LT30p using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[lynn amber]

It looks super Lynn. For a set up that profesh as a client I would pay.

Thanks I do love my little salon I also have my small spear room set up only for tanning :-D

Sent from my LT30p using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[Lks]

The only reason that I could think a salon could charge more is because it has that salon "ambiance". Im taking about that psychological factor. When people see a home salon, i think they dont perceive it to be on par with a salon because it is afterall in a home location (even if seperate) and you just get a different vibe. That said, I think once they see how professional you are and everything else is, they won't complain about price...but it may initially create a small shock factor in their minds.

If I were to do mobile, i would charge at least 50% more. Some of your prices are too low!! With mobile you waste so much more time and its so much more inconvenient; 15 min traveling both ways + gas + set up/tear down time=a whole other treatment you could have done at your home salon...so charging 50% more is actually much more a bargain for the customers then they think and pain for you!! Always charge what your worth. Always.

 

[lores]

The only reason that I could think a salon could charge more is because it has that salon "ambiance". Im taking about that psychological factor. When people see a home salon, i think they dont perceive it to be on par with a salon because it is afterall in a home location (even if seperate) and you just get a different vibe. That said, I think once they see how professional you are and everything else is, they won't complain about price...but it may initially create a small shock factor in their minds.

If I were to do mobile, i would charge at least 50% more. Some of your prices are too low!! With mobile you waste so much more time and its so much more inconvenient; 15 min traveling both ways + gas + set up/tear down time=a whole other treatment you could have done at your home salon...so charging 50% more is actually much more a bargain for the customers then they think a pain for you!! Always charge what your worth. Always.

I totally agree and love this response! As a mobile therapist with a professional attitude and approach to your treatments and using high quality products you are actually providing a greater service then the majority of high street salons...You take the strain of travel, parking etc so the client doesn't have to do anything else other than relax and enjoy the experience in the comfort of their own home.

There is obviously an upper limit to what you can charge for your area, but I fully support the statement 'always charge what you are worth'.

xx