Jumping in at the deep end or wait to practice?

[chocolatepickle]

I've just passed my spray tan course and was very pleased with it. However, after seeing my model this morning (she has a bit of patchiness on hands and feet) i cant decide whether to wait untill i've had more practice on friends and see if i can spray without problems before advertising and taking on paying clients, or to just jump in at the deep end and advertise for 'real' clients.
I'm worried if i take on a paying client that they will expect me to be faultless or even if i let them know i've just passed they may expect too much and be dissapointed and i just cant be sure i will be great. I've got more models to practice on as soon as my pop up tent arrives but dont know if to wait until i've done them to advertise in case i'm still having problems?
Any advice or recommendations of what to do really will be welcomed :o
How have others began?
Kayley

 

[pinkprincess01]

Hi

Go for it! The longer you leave it the harder it gets, i think anyway.

When you spray the hands just give a light mist from a distance and with the feet i don't spray my clients as all the overspray is more than enough to tan them.

If your not getting an even coverage on the body then why don't you spray horizontally and vertically on the body so you know for sure everywhere covered, i know its a little more solution but its worth it for good results so you can build up client base and confidence and then you can just do the one way of spraying.

Good Luck! xx

 

[kylieb]

When I first did my spray tan training I got all my friends,family,college mates and work mates all together and practised on them first and just charged them £10.
It did help having 7 sisters lol but I found that I wasn't under any pressure as I knew they wasn't expecting it to be perfect in the beginning.
I wouldn't advise you jump in straight in at the deep end unless you are really confident.
xxx

 

[Claudia]

Have to say Im with Kylieb on this one, I must have carried out approx 20 friends/family/neighbours. To be honest I was probably too cautious but it did help me iron out the "mistakes" and learn from them.

It's amazing how your confidence will build. good luck

 

[chocolatepickle]

I think confidence is my main issue here really, if i leave it too long i know i'll lose my confidence.
I might send out a group thing to friends on my social networking site advertising discounted ones and take bookings for them once i've had a couple of freebie practices on family? I just dont want to sell dodgy tans, i'm too worried people wont come back or recommend me then!

 

[kylieb]

I think confidence is my main issue here really, if i leave it too long i know i'll lose my confidence.
I might send out a group thing to friends on my social networking site advertising discounted ones and take bookings for them once i've had a couple of freebie practices on family? I just dont want to sell dodgy tans, i'm too worried people wont come back or recommend me then!

I think you are doing the right thing :hug:
Your confidence will come with practice but better to make boo boo's on your family first. It's important to make mistakes or we never learn xxx

 

[cabinkel]

I would def say to have a practice on a few friends etc. When I started spraying, (in 2002) i used to charge people a small amount just to cover solution. Not many people had really heard of spray tanning so it was so important for me to get it right before spraying the general public, or i could have put them off of spray tanning for life, lol!

Also, I would say to make sure you get detailed feedback off of everyone you spray, its a great way to learn and gain confidence. Even now, me and a fellow geek spray each other now and again and give each other feedback. It wont take long for you to have bags of confidence, good luck!

 

[collin]

I think confidence is my main issue here really,

well this sums it up basically (oh and well done on your course by the way).
You will need to find a balance...to get out there and spray the word brown is going to create problems for you.

Likewise playing with friends and family to long can be frustrating.
It is impossible to recommend how long and how many people you should spray before hitting the streets and charging every poor soul full price for a perfect tan.

It is you and only you that will find the point when practice becomes perfect and that there is sufficient confidence there within you to get out there and charge :hug:

Start with family and friends ..either for free or ask them to pay a fiver to cover your costs....keep at this till you've come across any problems with application...when your confidence level rises your ready for the next stage...offer tans at a reduced rate as a promotional thing and be up front with these customers...your just qualified and that's why your doing this cheap...but do tel them that this rate will only apply for the month of xx or for the first xx number of tans.

This makes for a win win situation..your customer gets a cheap tan and you get experience.

When your at the stage where you've mastered paying customers who you don't know(far different from doing family and friends) YOUR READY FOR THE FINAL PHASE...SPREADING THE :Love: commercially.

You dictate how long it takes...remember your trainer is always there for you to call on....as are we.

Good luck with your new venture :hug: