New business quiet or am expecting too much in recession help needed!

[rock chic]

Hi Guys
here it goes i've been doing beauty part time for a long time along side my other job as a consultant for a leading skincare company. Have been running my mobile beauty business for a few years but only part time as i had full time job. This year i opened my own home salon and cut my full time job down to half. Now i have advertised and done small leaflet drop. I am in the country and its quite a quiet rural area not many clumps of houses together but plently of people in area iynwim. I starting to think its me and this is affecting my confidence,making me not motivated at all and i'm not like that. any wise advice guys i do know it takes a while and in the current market its hard. maybe i need something to boost my confidence or maybe even a kick up the bum!! all thoughts welcome:hug::hug:

 

[rock chic]

:hug:just bumping in hope of some advice!

 

[ladylee]

Hi Guys
here it goes i've been doing beauty part time for a long time along side my other job as a consultant for a leading skincare company. Have been running my mobile beauty business for a few years but only part time as i had full time job. This year i opened my own home salon and cut my full time job down to half. Now i have advertised and done small leaflet drop. I am in the country and its quite a quiet rural area not many clumps of houses together but plently of people in area iynwim. I starting to think its me and this is affecting my confidence,making me not motivated at all and i'm not like that. any wise advice guys i do know it takes a while and in the current market its hard. maybe i need something to boost my confidence or maybe even a kick up the bum!! all thoughts welcome:hug::hug:

Tina,
I think it is a combination of both the time of year and the recession. Once people know your there it will pick up. I am also in the process of opening a shop in my house and was just wondering where you put your salon in your house. I am using my a spare room but there is not a separate bathroom or sink or a separate enterence. I work full time in a school but am free for a couple hours after work and holidays, vacations, weekends and all summer vacation. I am hoping it will work out. Maybe you could make a flyer and do an open house for the people in the neighborhood so they know you are there. Also sometimes the newspaper will do an article for free when a new business comes in or for a grand opening.
Hope this helps some
Lisa
:smack:

 

[rock chic]

Thanks lisa. Well my salon is actually separte altogether from the house and has a separte entrance it is at the back of the garage. I got leaflets done up at the start but they have xmas offers on them so i cant use whatever i have left and would need new ones made up. wish i could do them myself as it would be cheaper but i'm not that good at that kind of thing. My sister runs a successful hair salon from her house and doesnt have any probs its near her back door they have to use her loo but thats not a problem at all. hth:hug:

 

[Saya]

Not sure if this is any comfort, but I've just opened a brand new salon in a brand new development in London City!
I finally opened my doors on Christmas Eve, and guess what, zero customers so far!!
My staff can't be bothered to turn up anymore and my rent is now in arrears.
The key is advertising, my promotions and advertising were set for my original opening in November but the builders had delayed their works. I therefore had to cancel all my pre-bookings and then could not advise when I would open.
When it finally happened, the leaflet lead-in time was over 2 weeks due to holidays.
I am still waiting for them. Leaflets that is, and staff oh, and customers!..

Don't knock yourself, people just need to know you exist, the leaflet drops, the local paper advertising, some introductory offers, a launch event, anything to have you noted in their thoughts.

 

[Anastasia Vasic]

You should be more optimistic, it will pick up. I started like you two years ago. It was so quiet to start with, and I was really worried if it was a good idea to give up a good full time job for it. It took me a while to become busy, and there were times where i thought it won't work out for me. I have to say, looking back, i realize that any business needs time and effort. And it will be working well if you believe in it enough. People know where you are, so don't worry you will be getting more and more clients each month. The best advertising is a word of mouth, so do your best and get your client to recommend your business to their friends. There are a few threads about it, it could be useful for you to go through them.
Best of luck:hug:

 

[rock chic]

I knew i was expecting to much to soon,suppose it would be worse if i had big over heads like some people do. Thanks for all the advice makes you better i guess sometimes lack of confidence can make you feel is it me is that the reason. But i have to try to be more postive. :hug::hug::hug:

 

[Vons]

I'm in exactly the same boat. I opened a new salon in November and have put all my life savings and my partners into it and we are really quiet at the moment. I have managed to get the local paper to run an article with pictures this week and I have just ordered 5000 leaflets to distribute. Everyone that visits the salon loves it and most people are now comming back for second and even third appointments but I know that I need loads more clients. There are so many people in our town that still don't know that we exist so I'm determined to do everything possible to get our name known. Everyone in the business has told me that it takes time to build up a client base so I suppose you just have to keep positive and get out there and do as much marketing as you can afford. I don't want to have to close thinking that I could possibly have done more to get people through the door.
As refferals are best form of advertising have you thought of holding pamper taster evenings for your existing customers? You offer your services free for a couple of hours if they bring five friends. they then get the chance to sample your treatments and products and you can offer them a discount for treatments booked that day.

 

[sammykins80]

I am also in a similar situation. I have been working for myself for nearly a year, starting out part time. It is sometimes hard to keep motivated but you have to keep on being positive and motivated as it does take a long time to get a good client base. I am still struggling but I can see it slowly building up. A cheap way of promoting your business is to go on to the Vistaprint website and design yourself some postcards with your promotions on. You can then hand them out, do a leaflet drop and leave them at gyms etc. I also think the post about doing the taster evenings is a good idea and i'm going to organise one for myself.

Anyone got any other good ideas?

 

[The Geek]

If a clientèle was built so quick and easy, everyone would be in the business

Be patient and focus on blowing your customers minds each and every time they come in. And remember that if 1 out of 10 new customers become regular clients, its going to take awhile to get a full clientèle

Best of luck and keep us in the loop

 

[essentia]

Hi I too started off 2 days a week but have expanded more as my son is at school. It does go up and down but I saw a noticeable difference when I did my website. There are also a load of marketing tips on here and the advice given so far is excellent. It is true everyone would be doing it if it were so easy, it takes commitment and dedication to get there.

This forum is a valuable source on how to add value to treatments, attract clients and improve what you offer. :hug:

 

[rock chic]

thanks geeks for all the much needed help and advice it horrble when you lack confidence but it feels better to know i'm not alone and its not personally me being the reason. So a big thanks to you all i will stick at it. Need more leaflets done up,it vistaprint the best wish i could do my own but i'm so crap at it!:lol::hug: