Mobile newbie

[Aimeelangham]

Hi all im new here, found this site while serching for some help. I have been a stay at home mom to our 4 children since we had our 1st 14 years ago. Our youngest started full time school September. I knew i had little too no change of being employed due to not working for so many years so had to train in something. When she started nursery in 2018 i did an evening city and guilds level 2 nail technology course at college in gel extensions. I completed that in june this year and decided to go straight into level 3 which i am now on and will finish the 1st week of july next year. I am training in gel, l&p, fibreglass, e-file, nail art, airbrushing, encapsulation, gel polish, gem application and sculpting. My plan is to go mobile and i have some supplies like my lamp, l&p, fibreglass kit, a few gel polishes and all the basics like cuticle pusher ect. I am struggling to find the money to get many gel polishes ect as they are quite expensive so cant get a lot at a time as with 4 kids and a mortgage and bills theres not much left at the end of the month. How is the best way to build up my stock and how do i know what are the best colours to get ect? I tried to get a loan but i couldn't as my credit score wasnt high enough due to me not working so im not having money coming in so im kind of in a catch 22. Any help or advice greatly received.

 

[linzi]

You don't need 450 polishes to get started.

I would say as long as you have the absolute basics:
Red
Light pink
Hot pink
Purple
White
Nude
Black (can be used as a base for lots of art, such as foils and, when used with a pink iridescent glitter will look navy)

Glitters can be added to change the look as well.

I would also advise saving 30% of all income to put towards tax and national insurance. It will help save a shock come the end of January!

Also, please calculate your prices based on your actual own workings - I.e. insurances, consumables, cost per service for products, etc. It's the only way to guarantee yourself a fair wage.

Finally, it will take a good 2-3 years to fully build up to being booked all the time. Don't stress, it will come.

Good luck

 

[Aimeelangham]

Great thank you so much. I know it will take time but im lucky to be in the position that im not giving up a job to do this so not actually losing any wages. Will i be able to take a percentage off my tax to cover the cost of what it has cost me to train up as it has cost me almost £6000 for the 2 years training but i wanted to do it properly and not just do the day courses but get a proper qualification and do all the theory work and know everything i need to know.
I have all the colours that you have stated so will do some playing and make some swathes up.
I will more than likely have more questions at some point. Will be reading through some posts

 

[7th-Heaven]

When I started I had 10 colours. Throughout a week, I mostly use 10-20 different colours. Most popular is nudes and reds. But it's also important to have black, white, and a couple pinks. Secondary to these main ones, my customers usually go for mauve type colours, browns, and during summer I find coral is so popular. You'll build your collection gradually each month so don't sweat it.
As for taxes, definitely write off your expenses, since you only pay taxes on profits. In Norway, we also have to pay 25% vat on income from these services (due to being self employed, this doesn't apply if you're an employee), and its before any taxes and expenses, so for us we are left with close to 50% of our income unfortunately. We have to get VAT registered after earning a certain amount. Does this not exist in UK? Just curious.

 

[Aimeelangham]

Iv never been self employed but from what iv found when researching i think you can earn £2000 before letting them know (can anyone clarify if this is right?) And can earn somewhere around £6000 before paying any tax on earnings again not 100%on this so clarification would be good. What does everyone do about accounts? Maths has never been my strong point so not sure if i should seek help in this area or go to a site like quickbooks that do it for you?

 

[Aimeelangham]

Iv never been self employed but from what iv found when researching i think you can earn £2000 before letting them know (can anyone clarify if this is right?) And can earn somewhere around £6000 before paying any tax on earnings again not 100%on this so clarification would be good. What does everyone do about accounts? Maths has never been my strong point so not sure if i should seek help in this area or go to a site like quickbooks that do it for you?

 

[7th-Heaven]

Iv never been self employed but from what iv found when researching i think you can earn £2000 before letting them know (can anyone clarify if this is right?) And can earn somewhere around £6000 before paying any tax on earnings again not 100%on this so clarification would be good. What does everyone do about accounts? Maths has never been my strong point so not sure if i should seek help in this area or go to a site like quickbooks that do it for you?

Sorry I was referring to VAT, which is another fee to be paid by self-employed (after a certain threshold), at least in many countries. But the threshold might be vastly different from country to country. In Norway, once you've earned more than £5000 you need to register for vat and subsequently pay 25% of all earnings, in addition to taxes. But on the flip side, we're able to claim 25% vat back on everything we buy for the business which can be substantial when buying expensive things like e-files or dust extractors, or even paying rent, etc. Unfortunately I don't think a lot of self employed do correct (or any) bookkeeping and accounts for taxes (let alone the potential Vat depending on country) , which means a lot are working illegally. Maybe not on purpose, but potentially due to lack of knowledge.