How long did it take you after passing your course?

[mandaxmx]

hi just a general question really ,
i done my foundation course in february and have just done a sculpting course with nsi, i am looking at goin for a nail art course and mni and pedi one in next few weeks...

my question really is how long did it take you to feel totally confident .. i.e ready to open own business, go mobile, etc.....

i know i can do nails .... obviously not brilliant but im happy with how i do them, and i know the longer im at doing it the better i can get and the more courses i do the better knowledge i will get...

i just feel totally unconfident when it comes to doing strangers... i have had cards printed ( but not handed any out yet :| ), website getting done, etc... but feel totally unconfident.... i am the same with my hair dressing aswell.. i have just qualified in hairdressing mens and ladies nvq 2 and feel exactly same way ....

would shadowing someone in a salon for a bit build up my confidence or do you think i should just throw myself into it?? ......

your opinions will be greatly appreciated xxx

 

[ris]

About a year! Well, it's a bit personal, I guess. But I was totally afraid of doing strangers and I didn't take them on, just practiced - on me and friends!
And I can't say that I feel absolutely confident now - I still get jittery sometimes. :lol:

 

[kirsty_]

hi, i qualified in l&p approx a month ago and not confident at all - i do my mum's nails at the mo and all other practice is on my nail trainer, i think i have a long way to go yet however lots of people on here say that the best practice is to get yourself out there and practice on real people. just cant bring myself to do it yet though so i know how you feel. lets hope we both get out and about soon xx

 

[Lemmonie]

I am naturally very confident and as soon as i did my course (2 day crappy one!) and embarked on my very good NVQ2 i started the business. I did friends and friends of friends starting at student prices and after 6 months i was confident enough to raise my prices. I opened my salon four months after starting my NVQ2 and thowing in a CND conversion as well. I was confident as a sudent and now i am a confident tech.

 

[kirsty_]

i am generally a very confident person however i am also a perfectionist so my problem is that i find fault with everything, i want to be perfect before i take on clients, or at least nearly perfect...lol. prob best thing to do is as lemmonie says, charge student prices and take it from there x

 

[champagne]

The only way to do it is t0 get people, people & more people....

Special offer for the 1st month, I didnt mention that I was newley qualified.....

I rented a room a few weeks after qualifying and got on with it.....most of those early clients are still with me a year on..

Good luck & Enjoy it x

 

[billymiff]

Hi
I'm exactly the same. I am planning to do it from home so I have just sorted my room out, I'm all ready for clients, just need to get advertising. I am gonna charge student prices to start because I do feel my nails are ok ( obviously I want them better) but its the time it takes me (about 3hrs)
but i'm a perfectionist too and I need to know when to stop. My kids have just broke up from school for summer so i'm gonna practice for the summer then start for real when they go back in August. Aaahhhhhh I;ve scared myself sayin it out loud:lol:

Best of luck everyone.... we can do it

Clare x x:hug:

 

[geeg]

The longer you guys put off the day when you start doing clients, the worse it will be.

Has anyone ever started a job that they were already perfect at doing? It is just plain silly to think you ever will be.

Confidence comes with experience.
No experience just means a longer time with no confidence.

Get out there and start working ... take the knocks ... take the criticisms, take the ones who 'try it on' but deal with it and get the experience you need to gain the confidence to carry on.

A client's life is not at stake here! You're doing their nails for Pete's sake. You're not performing brain surgery.

I really believe that if any of you do not have the gumption to get out and do the nails you have been taught to do then maybe nails is not the business you should be contemplating doing at all.

What are you all frightened of? I'll tell you what it is, FAILURE. Everyone is frightened to fail in front of their family or friends.

It is simple ... if you do good work and have the other attributes you need to run a successful business they you will not fail. If you think you will fail ... then most likely you will.

The people I know who have succeeded in the nail business (including myself) never for a single second ever thought that they would fail ... it never entered my head.

If you really want to do this ... you will get out there and do it. If you don't, then you don't want it enough or you know the job is not right for you.

 

[beanzybaby]

hey all, i completly agree with all of you! i to are newly qualified and am set to start renting a chair in a couple of weeks, and im absolutly bricking it!
but im determined to do well, im spending so much time practicing and researching that my confidence is growing daily. i just cant wait to get stuck in now in a scarey kind of way!!!!
we all just need to bite the bullet, and good luck to everyone.x

 

[tigi]

oh gosh, i feel for you i really do. but you need to feel your fear, and do it anyway!!! i cant put it any better than that really.

tigi

 

[Creative Cal]

well it is week 3 after passing my foundation and whilst my nails are not perfect they are still better than some places out there. i cannot agree more that it takes practice but a nail trainer hand is not the same as real people. . . How else will you learn How to deal with fan nails and nail biters unless you get out there and meet them. i hope that by learning from my mistakes is what will one day make me that perfect technician. . . though i have a long way to go! x x x
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[xxxchezybabexxx]

Iv just finished my nvq level 3 and doing extra courses and im not perfect but not that bad am im exactly the same with a little lack of confidence. Im nervous about pushing myself out there but then you just think, the more clients i do and the more practice i get, then the better i will be. you only learn by your mistakes. I did novice comp at scotish beauty and sadly came second last lol but the feed back on my list of mistakes helped me alot and its not always a bad thing being told where you went wrong or looking and thinking ooooo i shouldnt have done that coz at least youl know for next time. Just a good kick up the a** will help me ha ha

 

[mum]

Are you a hairdresser or a nail technician??

Being a beginner in both of those (having recently completed courses) is a bit tough for anyone!!

How is there enough time to improve on all those skills???

Frankly, I don't think you're being fair on yourself in trying to be an expert in both of these skills. People spend a lifetime trying to be expert in just one of the professions not both at the same time!

I would suggest you concentrate on one of them for quite some time, build your skills and experience.

 

[pkkelly]

I would just bite the bullet and do it, i passed my foundation back in 2004, its not till now that my new partner has given me the confidence to do it, i was lacking it!!!! and im having so much fun, once you done a few sets of nails you stop feeling so worried and now i look forward to having my next client, especially as most are wiling to have different things done to there nails so i try and make them look as fun as possible! just get out there and enjoy it!

 

[kimpearce]

I did my foundation course 9 months ago and haven't done anyone except myself and my daughters yet I almost got a friend of my daughter's to do but she went and had gel nails done which lasted 3 days and all fell off which gave me some confidence because I think from the staying on point of view I have 'got' the prep right because I rarely get any come off unless they are caught or picked at I know I have got much better in the months since I did my course and can even do my own pretty well now but I am sure Gigi is right, the longer you put it off the worse it is! I didn't take the course to do it as a business, just so I could do my own and my 3 daughters' nails and as a mid-life challenge, so it doesn't really matter if I do clients or not but there are times when I think I would like to expand on it.

 

[chaseyboi]

Im in the same boat as some of you guys but the 2 things that worrie me is quality & longevity of my work. I have loads of customer service experiance & deal with the genaral public on a daily basis so not worried about that but the thought of my clients nails badly lifting & not being able to go 2/3 weeks before reabalance scares the hell out of me. Quality & reputation is very important to me & before I unleash myself I want to be sure that I can produce a good service that will keep clients coming back rather than driving them away.

Good luck to us all xx