How to cope going back to work after having a baby?

[Kayleighs Nail & Beauty Studio]

Hi , im looking for a little advise i own a salon with 1 member of staff and since having my little boy im finding it really difficult going back to work i really dont want to be there i just want to be at home looking after baby but on an otherside i do want to something part time but is it really all worth the stress owning a salon covering the overheads and we have lost alot of clients since i left to go on maternity who said they will come back when im back but the way things are no one seems to be wanting beauty and nail treatments i know i cant be tued on too including my hair .....
hmm anyone else been in this situation any ideas of how to work around this with a nice little income too ..... is mobile worth it ?? no overheads more cash in pocket ??

 

[souz]

can you not take on someone to manage the salon for you which would let you work part time on say the busier days and thus keeping the clients that want you? if you have taken the jump to have a salon i would do everything i could to keep it (if not for your future but your childss! give the member of staff you have more responsibility also.

you may want to be at home at the moment but there will come a time when you will want more!! i personally wouldnt go for mobile, more hassle than its worth!! jmo

 

[Kayleighs Nail & Beauty Studio]

well top and bottom of it is im barely struggling to keep the girl who iv got... iv had to let my other girl go recently due to not being able to cover wages ....eek!
the days iv been going in iv hardley getting anything cos the money i make is covering the overheads :-s

do you think the whole lugging around beauty kit etc ?? i think i would do mainly nails as i have bigger clientelle for nails or do you think to many ppl mess u bout , time wasting traveling to their homes ??

i was thinking of maybe working sundays or late nights while other half could look after baby such a dilema ! so stressful

 

[mrslargelashes]

Can I ask how old your baby is?

I don't think you should give up the salon, limit your working week to 3 days, and use the time at home when baby's sleeping to market your salon. As like another poster says, you might not have your heart in it now, but at some stage as your baby gets older, you will get your mojo back, so it would be a shame to give up now.

I felt the same as you at one point. I was renting a room which I gave up when I got married and had my 2nd baby. I regret it now, and when my baby was 8 months old I started from scratch again, mobile and homebased, its been hard work, I got some of my old clients back, but it had been 2 years so most of them had went else where. So I say stick in and don't give up xx

 

[shazzawilson]

What do you want from your business? Mobile does have it's perks but as you already have premises, I'd concentrate on building your business with what you have.
Firstly if you have a data base, mail everyone telling that you are part time and you have an offer with staff member on the quieter days to try and get people through the door.
Try and boost your retail with an incentive e.g. buy 3 products worth £xx or more and receive a free brow tint, then whilst having said tint recommend a shape.
Try and upsell your services.
It's easier to work with what you have than to start afresh. Not all clients are loyal so going mobile isn't always the answer, and of course there are those who prefer the salon experience outside their homes. Good luck.

 

[souz]

how many rooms/desks do youhave??

what about renting them out?? how much longer do you have on your lease? it could cost you more to get out than is worth. does the girl you still have want to take on more?? what about taking an apprentice on?? so you have extra staff but its cheaper for you.

what treatments do you currently offer?? how many days can you work??

 

[GracefulH&B]

I know how you feel. When I had my first baby, I sobbed my heart out all day on my first day back at work after mat leave. Having said that, you've put your all into setting up this salon and it sounds like you'd done a great job and were busy. I would look at ways of keeping the salon but reducing your workload. Like said earlier, rent out rooms, or even the whole salon if need be. That way, you still own the salon but you don't have to do the hours. In the meantime you can work part time in the salon, or try mobile. In a couple of years, when your little fella is older you could go back to the salon or, if you're heart's still not in it you could sell it then. HTH and believe me when I say this, your little boy will be at school before you know it and if you've sold the salon, then you'll have to start all over again. My first baby is now 6 and I've had two more since then. It will always be a juggling act but I strongly believe that happy mum's have happy children.

 

[meechnails]

Hi there,
I am soon to be in a similar situation, I am due to have my baby ANY day now, I'm 40wks +6 days and I am soooo impatient waiting for this little one to arrive!!!
Last year I relocated my salon of 4yrs to my home, I followed all of the council guide lines and did everything by the book, I can honestly say it is the best thing I have EVER done.
I also had to let 2 staff go in the last year of trading at the salon because all I was doing was working twice as hard to pay them and all the overheads!! I made the decision to relocate to home because my husband and I wanted to start a family and there was NO way I could afford to keep afloat with running the salon.
Have you ever thought of working from home, is it an option for u?? I have also done some mobile work but I found it really tricky after a while, at the beginning I said yes to any clients, any time or day and made a huge rod for my own back!!!
My plan at the moment is to return to work to do a few clients pre Xmas whilst my husband uses a couple of days holiday to look after the baby and then after new year I plan to go back 2 mornings or afternoons a week (depending on baby routine!!) to earn a little money!! As my overheads are soooo much lower I don't need to earn as much money to get by and it takes off a huge amount of stress!!
I really hope you find a solution for your situation.
As someone said above, is there any option for u to rent out your work space??
I felt like a huge failure closing my salon but I didn't lose a single client and they all prefer the more informal setting of being at home.
I hope this helps you.

Xxx

 

[gemmalou1981]

I have 4 children (11,9,7 and 16 mths) I rent a space in a salon and have done for 7 yrs. I tried mobile but personally found with having kids I prefer a structure of what days and hours I work. I cried constantly when I went back after having my.youngest but I only do 3 days. I do thurs- 10-6 Fri 10-2 and sat 9-4 and am generally booked up.
I find I love my time at work and home as I have a good balance and only don't do the school run on a Thursday afternoon.
No matter what anyone else says you have to follow your heart and decide what is best for you and your family

Sent from my GT-N7000 using SalonGeek

 

[Kayleighs Nail & Beauty Studio]

thanks to everyone for the replies and shared experiences, my baby has just turned 5months , iv been going in to work the last 3weeks on a friday evening for 4hours i still want to cry every second and if a baby comes in the salon i get a lump in my throat and i can feel myself filling up - i dont want to be a mum who puts there baby into childcare cos thats not for me i would rather be with him than anyone else ...... (sobb)

my problem is the 1 girl who i do have has been so loyal i dont want to upset her by cutting down her hours as iv already done that once this year ( but later put then back up again) .... my other option is if i was there alone work when i can and maybe get calls transfered to my mobile from shop phone so im not losing buisness and set so many hours for me to work..... or go down the route of doing that and getting her to work on a as and when basic ..... iv worried too much in the past now about it looking unprofessional not open every day but i think im at the point now where iv realised ppl dont care if your only open so many hours a week as long as we have evenings in there

we went from working tuesday til saturday and closed on a tuesday and a saturday to cut back on wages etc as they were dead days our busiest are wed , thur , fri so we currently trying that out but it seems so quiet im worrying more cos less working days to guarentee on wages i was hoping it would get busier by all the clients putting in on them 3 days to make us off our feet....
clients nd friends have said until i get back to work and they know im back thats when they will start coming back but iv txt a few and not heard a thing .....are ppl cutting back ?
cos i know i am with hair etc ..... weather doesnt help with this rain ppl dont want to come out .....

we got a brand new shopping centre and 1,000 student accommadation development going on and due to open may 2013 and ppl keep saying hold on til then you ll pick up loads when that opens ( because at moment what was there has been knocked down including supermarkets so ppl have no reason to come to our town centre for time being)

is it worth hanging on ?

sorry to anyone losing track iv kind of slipped off the track of the original subject and ranting about my other problem

i suppose i can only try the above ...

i couldnt rent out a space as i already sub let by a hairdressers.....

thank you for everyone whos reading its let a bit steam off and i really appreciate everyones comments and open to advice

 

[Kayleighs Nail & Beauty Studio]

i think the reason im questioning all of this is because iv got an offer of a job wheree iv previously worked and i was thinking is getting a wage n coming home ,no stress a better option for me and my family then trying to keep a float a business

 

[lissy00]

If your avatar is your salon set up, then it's lovely.

How much advertising have you done? For not too much outlay, you can get some postcards / flyers printed up and do a massive drop, especially where you think these new students are going to be living. You could include a discount to get them through the door, and maybe a particular day of the week that you want to get busier.

If this girl who works for you is sitting for periods doing nothing, then she should be happy to get out there dropping leaflets.

Have you made use of social media like facebook? If not, maybe this girl could keep on top of it, or you could do it from home and generate the buzz of your business again.

Clients will feel it if you give out 'I don't want to be here, I want to be at home with baby' vibes. I understand where you are coming from though, so set yourself what time you are prepared to be away from baby and put your all into it.

If you don't like going into your lovely little set up to work, you will hate lugging your equipment in and out of the car and in and out of people's houses even more! Then you will be thinking, I wish I was at home!

I know it must be hard keeping a premises going, but it's sink or swim time and only you have the ability to choose which one it's going to be.

All the best xx