How to charge when newly qualified...

[skye]

Hi there, i hope i'm doing this right, i'm new to this :0/

Im going on a bio scuplture course very soon, have done arcylic but years ago... I want to know, how to charge... Do i charge at a discount for a few months..? i know i'm going to be slow to begin with... Please let me know your thoughts and how you decided to do it... :lol:

 

[sukic]

I wouldn't have a discounted rate. Charge the rate your comfortable with and maybe do some promotions like £5 for the month of September, something like that. It's really difficult to put your prices up especially when when you have regulars. Believe in yourself, if your trained then go for it. Be confident and never show a client your nervous...you know how dogs smell fear. Clients can smell a newbie a mile off. hehehe. hth

Good luck :green:

 

[Sarah-Jean]

I never knocked my prices down just because I was new to it... I offered a monthly special, such as 10% discount for this month only. Never, ever let on your new to the business - be confident!

I agree with the above poster - starting with low prices and then bumping them up later on would possibly lose you clients.

 

[skye]

Hi...
Thanks for the replies... Now you have said it, i can remember when i trained as a hair stylist all those years ago, reduced prices... It was very hard to put my prices up...

 

[karenrose]

I never discounted either when I qualified! Only to close friends who were helping me with practising and it was also to cover the cost of materials used!
Like has been said once you put your prices up you may lose some clients!

 

[skye]

After your initial training, how long was it before you started trading..?

 

[Sarah-Jean]

I started advertising straight away, and practised furiously on family and friends until I got my first client.... It was probably only a week or so before I started getting enquiries thanks to friends and family putting the word out.

 

[skye]

What about products to set yourself up..? What was your first order like..? With the training being quite expensive and the products are as well, i didnt know how many gels to order..?

 

[Sarah-Jean]

Erm. :o Well, I'm a bit of a cheap skate. I got most of my first lots of products in bulk orders off Ebay... I wanted to try them and see if I liked them before I bought them elsewhere and it seemed like Ebay was a good way of getting a decent amount of product for a relatively small outlay.

 

[Luscious85]

Hi,

I trained in Bio Sculpture about 2 years ago now, and my advice would be to practise practise practise on family and friends possibly for a discounted rate (I used to gel my Mum and Nan's nails but charge them a small price to cover my costs), but charge full price on your "real" clients. The more sets you can do the better early on, as it will give you confidence once you start trading as a nail tech.

In terms of ordering - yes the products are expensive and I did get a bit carried away with ordering colour gels. They advise you to have a good selection of colours which I think is true, but just make sure they're commercial colours. When I was starting I did get caught out doing things like ordering a colour specifically for one client, and then they cancelled, but just add to it as you go along, maybe a couple of new colours per month or something? French is the most popular, well it was for me anyway. I will say that the products last ages though, and after training in new systems, most of Bio's prep products are actually a good price.

Hope that helps!

Laura

 

[Luscious85]

Oh and try to order multiple things at a time as the postage is quite hefty when you're ordering solutions etc!

Laura

 

[Sharkster]

Sorry if this is going to be a bit negative but it's just my own opinion (and everyone has one)

Personally speaking from a client prospective, I would not pay full price for a set of nails that take 3 hours if I can get them for the same price down the road in 1 hour.

Never sell yourself short but if you need to get up to speed then work like hell on family & friends or do some 'model' rates. Yeah you will loose some clients when you stop charging 'model' rates but you will gain new ones. And from experience, anyone that wants a cheap treatment will always keep moving on to the next therapist cheaper than you as they only care about cost and have no loyalty.

 

[Elise78]

I personally wouldn't be lowering your prices when you start out, just set them as you would if you had been in the industry for 5 years, just offer intro offers - say 10% off for the first 10 clients.

It will be hard to raise them once you get a selection of clients, they will be recommending you with the prices you charged, and when their friends start booking, they will be confused by the change in prices from what 'Sheila e.g' was charged.

Some people in this world are very pushy, and they would then be after their treatment for the price of their friends treatment. People will try to push you over or make you feel guilty.

 

[fozzyo]

You shouldn't lower your prices because your newly qualified ... you'll never make the money you should do! Based on a post I made here a while back I wrote an article about setting treatment prices you can read here.

Mat

 

[shine]

I wouldn't lower your prices as it may make people think you are cheep.

when I started I had low prices thinking it would get me more clients, Yes I did get allot wanting more info and clients BUB when I raised my prices to what they should have been in the first place I lost all of them bar .
I had to start from scratch:cry: It was a hard lesson to learn but now I have a nice client base who are with for what i offer not because they want somthing cheep.

Good luck. xx

 

[Emily-Louise]

After I completed my biosculpture training and assessment I practiced on family and friends for a couple of months and then I charged my full pricing when I was working mobile. I think the most important thing is being comfortable with the price you charge so if you want to build that confidence it may be worth an introductory price or offer of say 10% off if your happy with that and see how it goes and then increase to your full price when your happy with timings, consistency of treatments etc.

Hope this helps

Em :green:

 

[skye]

Hi Mat
Thanks for the reply and your article... This is so so true... I know this so well, i'm a hair stylist and have a set up at home, yes i am good at what i do, so i charge accordingly and i have a good client base. i think because i feel i'm starting again i'm a little nervous (but excited at the same time). This site is really good to talk to others. When you work on your own you haven't got anyone to talk to about things like this... Thanks :0)