How did you escape the 9-5?

[RB1]

Evening lovelies!

I would love to hear experiences of those who have made the transition from full time work in a separate industry into running your own business full time, and from those who are currently trying to do so. Need some motivation and inspiration

 

[Redduck]

Hiya, I worked full time in something totally unrelated. Then I had a reflexology treatment and wanted to know more!

I trained, went PT in my other job and was told I was crazy to leave 'such a good career'.

18 years on I work full time for myself and offer different treatments. Best thing I ever did, it's been hard work and there have been tears but I've never regretted it. If it's something you are passionate about find a way - good luck!

 

[NLCnailsbeauty]

I will be interested to see responses to this as I currently work part time in a completely unrelated job and I am trying to build up my mobile business in order to leave my 'usual' job which I don't like. Can not wait to be able to enjoy my job and do something I actually like!!

 

[FakeBakeLover99]

A new manager started at my "other job" and I'm not exaggerating she was a total nutcase and I went home and cried constantly after work 😒! My boyfriend and I had just got a mortgage but I couldn't take it anymore and took the leap and quit to work full time in my home salon. It's the best thing I ever did and I'm really busy 😀thank god it worked out 😀 also last month the company I left closed down so It was a good decision haha xxxx

 

[BearCat MUA]

I work full time as a receptionist as well as working mobile at weekends and evenings.
I absolutely hate my life during my full time job so I'm taking the leap next year. My best friend is a hairdresser so were looking at opening a salon next year. It's massively hard work and scary but life is too short to be unhappy for a large majority of it. Just makes me more determined to make it work.

 

[vividamnesia]

I have been lucky enough to have taken hair right out of graduating highschool & was 17 turning 18 in hair school. I'm now 37 & still love my career. I did work a ton of shops that I hated & learned to quit & find another pretty quick.

A friend & I that both of us hated the salon we were @, decided to open our own. The first year was rough but got better with time. My advice is to make money doing work you enjoy & jump in. Stay positive. Work with somebody you harmonize well with, keep it to just the 2 of you until you desperately need staff ,offer your regulars promos like a free service from sending in 3 new clients for services,offer local business staff special discounts as they are local & their regulars that like their look will ask them where they get it done. Building clients is the key so to start don't be to greedy & take a hit for a regular or a new potential regular here & there if it generates more clientele paying full costs. Plus you will have the time in a new biz & it always looks better to the public if you are busy when they walk by!

Creative promoting & offers are key to become busy & booked for future success! Use quality product & let clients know that, explain your procedures & cost in consultations,get a good soundsystem for music, create an inviting environment welcoming to all.......we did our space more gender neutral/not to girly to attract male clientele & families. Men were more apt to see us which is good because they are pretty loyal as clients & sure they just get a basic cut every 1-2 months & don't seem like money makers but a guy will get a 25$ clipper sides/back+scissors top in 20mins no wash 2x in 2months=50$ whereas a woman gets a 50$ cut every 2-4 months needs a wash/dry styling.

Plus I find the guys come in when your slow due to frequency of services more so than your foil/cut woman every 2-6 months! We do 10$ buzz cuts & offer free bang trims/neck clean-up's. People will always tip you something when you offer them little things/maintenance for free!.....never slander anyone in the industry in front of clients it's just bad karms/PR!
Good Luck & Always have fun!

 

[Oasis]

I had a 9-5 job which was ok but it troubled me my whole life that I was wasting my time. I'm too free spirited to work for someone else. Then when my little boy was born I just decided I couldn't do it anymore. Went to college part time to do level 2 beauty then quit my job and went mobile. Have not looked back, it's been hard and stressful and amazing but nothing like the kind of stress of being in a job that you're not meant to do.
This is what I was meant to do with my life, just wish I did it 10 years ago.
It's been 2 years now, I'm still building my business up and adding new treatment, love it.
If anyone ever says they fancy doing it I tell them to just go for it.

 

[Leely]

I had an office job and trained in nails in the evening. I was then made redundant from my office job while I was on maternity leave with my first son. I then went on to have my 2nd son so never went back to an office job for 2 years. I kept doing mobile work as much as I could around 2 small children, I also went to college in the evenings to learn new treatments. I did go on to work from a tanning salon offering treatments but it was 20 miles away from were I lived, I then needed hospital treatment and the manager became horrible towards me, so I left. I am now back in an office job, but I have signed up to a make up course with The London School of Beauty and Make up. I will complete this in June of next year, and I plan on completing a waxing course too. I have recently moved away from the area were all my clients were so I plan on building my business up again slowly. I am focused and will do my upmost to make sure it works fingers crossed this time next year I will be part time in my office job and doing what I love at least part time.

Leely x

 

[Anna from Toronto]

Hm, I would be a little cautious when listening to people's advice.
This is a major decision and I know there are a lot of people that offer to help and all sounds good and nice but I would like to really see the numbers before I take their advice.
Too often you see nail techs that work very little and spend a lot of time on the internet and for many, too many this is just a hobby they get paid for. (barely)

Again, not to put anyone down but as an educator and a nail tech I have seen a lot. People who "can't afford to spend $200 on a lamp" or work under the table and no insurance or part time too often offer lots of advice.
Very few businesses survive.

Choose a business mentor wisely. Ask for details. Ask for numbers. Disregard the rest.

If I were you I would get a job in your new field. Put in your time. Make a name for yourself. Put away as much money as you can. Open a business (if you still want to) but don't "be" the business.
Being self employed is not worth it in this industry in my opinion. You don't make enough (profit margins are really low in this industry) to save enough for when times are slow or when you get pregnant or you need a wrist surgery... If you are the business... you are screwed.
I've been there and I wish I did things differently.
Take business courses.

 

[Anna from Toronto]

Lets do a little simple math.
"You" are the business. You have 2000 savings. You start from scratch.
1-3 years you make 12.000 a year (about $2000 a month minus $1000/month expenses)- thats 36.000 or nothing.. lots of businesses break even for the first few years
4-6 year you make 20.000 a year so 60.000
7-10 years you make 24.000 a year so 72.000
Then you get pregnant, or need a wrist surgery and you are out for a year
You might still be trying to cover expenses or working part time so you break even for a year.
When you get back to 1/3 of your clientelle you are back at 12.000 a year for 3 years.
You decide to have another baby? What's gonna happen then?

So adding this simple example you made about 150.000 in 15 years. Minus the savings so about 148.000. Thats 9866 a year... that's 822 a month. No paid sick days. No employment insurance. No vacation pay. Hussle 24/7.
But you love what you do. I'm not saying it's not worth it.

That's just an example.

If there are others with different numbers please share the details.

I'm gonna be open with my numbers. I think we gross about $100.000 a year.
Me (more then full time, 20 years experience) and 1 employee full time
My expenses are about $5000-6000 a month (that includes the employees wages but not mine). If I make $2000 I'm lucky.
From a business perspective, the business should have about 4 months of savings sitting in the business account just to be safe. That's about $20.000.
I still don't have that saved up.
At 41 I'm in for a wrist surgery and I'm praying I can work after.

Now the business can sustain itself for the 2-3 months I might be not able to work but if I was on my own (if I was the business) I would be minus $12.000 in 3 months and proably 1/2 of clientelle. Try to pay that off!

 

[squidgernetball]

It is never going to be easy. You only have to look on this site for the amount if people asking 'how do I get more clients?'. Going it alone can be a really hard slog and to have the pressure of having to earn x amount to pay all bills can really take the pleasure out of it.

Doing a lot of hours to build a clientele then hoping you have a kind employer who will allow you to maybe drop a day a week and so on is the best way.

Good luck x

Sent from my GT-I9505 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[KirstyDesigns]

Unless you are able to get the funding to start your business and potentially have a period of time where you aren't making money, you will probably have to build something up part-time. Without knowing what business you want to start could you do it mobile in the evenings and weekends for awhile?

Personally I quit my full-time job with my hopes pinned on doing some contracting work (after very positive meetings with multiple recruitment agencies) and no savings.. within a month of not getting any work from them I had to get a job.

I've been lucky to get a relevant part-time job that are fully supportive of my freelancing the rest of the time. So could this be an option? Or even a non-relevant job that allows you to work part-time.

So (not necessarily in this order)
1) have a solid plan
2) build up some experience and clients first
3) save money
4) consider a part-time job
5) learn what it's like to build your business (marketing, sales, social media) because it is hard I find and also to not get disheartened

But ultimately if it's what you want to do then absolutely go for it! Good luck!

 

[RB1]

Loving all the replies thanks geeks x

 

[RB1]

Bump!

 

[Ashley79]

Evening lovelies!

I would love to hear experiences of those who have made the transition from full time work in a separate industry into running your own business full time, and from those who are currently trying to do so. Need some motivation and inspiration

I did it 11 years ago & have never looked back! I had a full time job in an office & wanted to do hairdressing. Luckily I trained when I was younger but only worked after qualifying for a year. A did s 1 day refresher course & literally worked all hours mobile around my job. After work, weekends, even a quick trim in my lunch hour! My boss knew i was unhappy & let me drop a day at work so I was able to work an extra day building my business. I was totally knackered I dread to think how many hours I was working. But I was earning loads & saving as much as possible in preparation to take the plunge. After a year I quit my job & did mobile hairdressing full time. I loved it! It was s bit scary as I went from 70+ hours to about 25 hours a week. I had my savings to fall back on if I had a quiet week & advertised loads. It was before social media so I mainly advertised in the local paper & posted leaflets through doors. I am so pleased I did it. I know have 3 children & it's a fab job to do around my family. Good luck to anyone doing the same. Life is too short, do what makes you happy. And don't let money stop you. You will always manage through the tough times, it will worth it in the long run x

 

[courtjb91]

I was working full time as a reception manager at a gym. I was doing client after work and on Saturdays. They then changed my hour to shifts so I would do 2 late nights a week an every other Saturday. This meant I missed out on 10 clients a month. My waiting time got so ridiculous I decided to quit my job and give it a go. I've been self employed since September 2014 and I'm so busy. I'm earning more now than I was working full time... Yes okay now i end up working longer hours but to me it doesn't feel like work.

I say go for it the the plunge! It's been worth it for me and for so many others as the commented suggests xxxx

 

[byKaty]

I've made the decision in my head that I do not plan on being in my office job this time next year. I've just gone back up to 30 hours in office over 3 days and will have to go back to 4 days in January. Fri and Sat will be in salon. Until I can get busier I need the money from office job as we are selling house next year so need money set aside.
It's not what I had planned but needs must. I started in may renting a chair with virtually no clients so it's going to take time to build clients.

 

[applepie]

One thing to add another perspective, are you hair or beauty?
Am currently renting a beauty room in a new hairdressers and I really feel they are two different ball games nowadays.

A lot of the positive opinions here are from the hair point of view.

I feel clients no longer value beauty treatments as much as hair and I am struggling to take a wage while the hairdressers are doing really well.

They only need one cut a day and their rent is paid and they can start profiting. They can charge much higher prices for services than beauty and fit more clients in an average day than me. And beauty always seems to be the first thing that people cancel for whatever reason but they are less likely to go without regular hair cut or colour.

I think things are much tougher now and it is very hard to earn a living wage if you have rent to pay. Market saturation means cheaper prices, more competition, people doing nails etc as a sideline for low prices etc.

If I was training now, I can honestly say I would pick hair, not beauty.
So if your are in hair, I would say go for it.
If it's beauty, think carefully and save as much as you can, while you can!

 

[Ashley79]

One thing to add another perspective, are you hair or beauty?
Am currently renting a beauty room in a new hairdressers and I really feel they are two different ball games nowadays.

A lot of the positive opinions here are from the hair point of view.

I feel clients no longer value beauty treatments as much as hair and I am struggling to take a wage while the hairdressers are doing really well.

They only need one cut a day and their rent is paid and they can start profiting. They can charge much higher prices for services than beauty and fit more clients in an average day than me. And beauty always seems to be the first thing that people cancel for whatever reason but they are less likely to go without regular hair cut or colour.

I think things are much tougher now and it is very hard to earn a living wage if you have rent to pay. Market saturation means cheaper prices, more competition, people doing nails etc as a sideline for low prices etc.

If I was training now, I can honestly say I would pick hair, not beauty.
So if your are in hair, I would say go for it.
If it's beauty, think carefully and save as much as you can, while you can!

I agree it's very competitive now. When I started my business 11 years ago as a mobile hairdresser my clients said they struggled to find one. Recently iv been taking on new clients as my kids have started school & im finding it much harder than before. There are mobile hairdressers everywhere & social media makes it easier for people. I think the only reason I stand out from the crowd of many that are advertising is my experience & all the lovely client reviews I have, many saying I have done their hair for 10 years & wouldn't go anywhere else. I would find it scary taking the plunge now. Sorry if this sounds negative. X

 

[blossom]

It was kind of easy for me as I'd stopped work to have my 2 babies and wasn't working at all apart from Sundays at Waitrose. So I didn't need to make much money a week to equal that, and it just built up slowly. Perfect thing to work around a family though . Best thing I ever did.

I agree with the above post though. 12 years ago when I started there was only myself and 1 other nail tech in town, now there are about 30 places you can get your nails done if you include nail salons, hair salons and mobile or from home and that's just in my own town. xx