New business

[westy]

Hi all,
Ive just started a business from home, and im starting to wonder if it ever gonna take off!! i started in November i have had a few clients and one has returned again, but since christmas there has been nothing at all!! im starting to think it may just be the location, i live in a village, the nearest town is 2 miles down the road and there are a few salons in the town maybe nobody is gonna drive a couple of miles when they can just go in the town. Or maybe it does just take a while to get clients? ive put cards about put an ad on facebook, gumtree and yell.com but still nothing! im so dishearted at the moment.

Any suggestions or advice greatly appreciated.

 

[shedunlop]

It does take time my darling. You seem to be doing what you can but things do take a while to get going. Could you do a little bit of mobile to get to know some people, not the best idea but it might stop you from climbing the walls. I transferred successfully from mobile to home based and only lost one client in the process so it is more to do with getting known. Not much help am I ? :biggrin:

 

[gemsie1983]

Also this cold weather isn't helping at the moment.

Just get out around your village, local shops, pubs etc

It will take time to build up but i'm sure you will get there.

 

[Martin Duffy]

For most of us it took far longer than a couple of months to build a business, it's quite often a long slog, and the ones that survive are those who don't wallow in despair but instead turn it into a challenge!

So far all of the advertising you have listed is 'impersonal', so why not complement it with some 'personal' advertising, i.e. get out there & meet potential clients by offering to do talks/demos for women's groups, young mother's groups, craft groups, WI etc etc. It's also worth doing demos at holistic fairs etc in the surrounding areas. Best of luck!

 

[daisyl]

It takes a long long time to build a business. 2 months in nothing. Rome wasn't built in a day!

 

[westy28]

Thanks everyone for your comments, i just wanted some advice from folks who have been there, was worried that things were perhaps strangley slow, but its likley due to the weather and the resession too. I just expected more feedback from the advertising. But i suppose its gonna take time.

Has anyone any comments on the location? does anyone think that could be a problem for me? or do you think people are willing to drive a bit if they are happy with the service?

Also any more advice on starting up and getting clients greatly appreciated. xxx

 

[Kayleighs Nail & Beauty Studio]

What you have to remember about home buisnesses is you dont get passing trade like you do with shop front salons i cant imagine lots of people walking past your home and thinking ohh il just nip in for my eyebrows or nails etc if they dont know your there.
An extra 2miles to a client for a better service is nothing, clients will go an extra 10miles if the job there getting is good!
Im in buisness and still after years of doing it , i think starting from home is probably one of the hardest ways to start up a buisness..
Good luck with everything and hope you get your name out there..

P.s ive been in buisness for 2 and half years and im still building my buisness up and will continue for years to come, it takes years to build a successful , busy salon.

 

[Home Salon]

Here are a few things to consider to drum up business:

1) Get flyers printed with an outline of the services you provide and put them in nearby (even a few miles away) housing estates.
Tip- try to get a testimonial from a customer to put on these flyers.

2) Send a press release to your local newspaper about your business.

3) As an introductory offer have "specials offers" to try not only get people in the door but also to help spread word of mouth.

4) If possible have 1 day a week where you are mobile, so you can travel to people's houses rather than rely on them to get to you.

Best of luck with everything.

 

[KristaBurgess]

Invest in a PROFESSIONALLY done website, you wont regret it.

However, im wondering just how remote a location you live it. The demand for your work is going to be a deciding factor.

 

[kezza*]

I have a homebased beauty salon thats outta town thinks it's only a mile and a half into town and I find that people don't want to go into town just to have their beauty treatments. I started working from home in September I previously worked in a local salon so alot of clients followed me I found that I had a lot of new clients in september and October but November I didn't get one new client and December even thou it picked up a didn't get many new clients. Just give it time it will be a bit quiet but it does start to pick up in March just keep getting your name out there.
People will travel to you I have clients that have recently started coming to me that come from the other side of town,,,Also I find that if you offer treatments that other salons in your area don't offer like I do electrolysis that not many salons in my area do so I'm finding that people are coming for that and then having other treatments,,,,I'm looking into doing hot stones and hollywood lashes and hopefully caci I'd really like to be doing these treatments by the end of the year.
I also do some good offer's (i know some people don't recommend this) but it's to get my name and there and to get people in.
Give it time and keep working at it
all the best
Kerry

 

[bombini]

It would help us if you could fill in your profile so we know your training, products you use etc

I can't stress enough the importance of advertising. If people don't know about you then they won't book in for treatments.

Advertising is expensive but there are plenty of thing you can do that cost next to nothing to promote your business.

Free listing in yellow pages, yell.com. thomson local,

Have you got a website ? If you can't afford a professionally designed one then you can get some pretty decent DIY ones like Vistaprint or Mr site.

Adverts in the local paper, lots of towns have a directory or booklet that goes out once a month and are usually reasonably priced to advertise in.

School fayres, fetes, charity events, etc. donation of gift vouchers to competitions.

Vistaprint also do car stickers, they are fab !

 

[westy28]

Thanks, brilliant advice, i have been looking on vistaprint, thats where i got my cards and vouchers, and was looking at the websites, im assuming you have one? do you find you get alot of feedback from it? i must look into the local directory book thingy as thats something i hadn't thought of.

 

[catsaremad]

Westy, I actually posted on another thread but deleted my comments because at the end of the day I was not being constructive.

At the end of the day you get out of being a beautician, nail technician, hair dresser etc what you put into it ! I wish you all the luck in the world and hopefully by you putting in a lot of hardwork this career will pay off for you

I can recommend Ruth on here for websites also a gentleman who i think is called carl (get in touch with tiptop she can tell you who)

best of luck I hope it all picks up

xx

 

[MrsMacTheKnife]

Morning! I would definitely recommend a website, we are not opening until the 1st February and I'm already getting phonecalls galore from it!

I would also definitely recommend Ruth and Carl too, they did mine and they were the most helpful and knowledgeable pair you can imagine... They work together with Carl creating the design and Ruth doing the very complicated, throw-a-double-six-to-start technical stuff.

Mine has a lot of pages and a lot of info and still, their price for their work was amazing.

Take care, MrsMac

 

[EMMA AT ELITE]

Morning! I would definitely recommend a website, we are not opening until the 1st February and I'm already getting phonecalls galore from it!

I would also definitely recommend Ruth and Carl too, they did mine and they were the most helpful and knowledgeable pair you can imagine... They work together with Carl creating the design and Ruth doing the very complicated, throw-a-double-six-to-start technical stuff.

Mine has a lot of pages and a lot of info and still, their price for their work was amazing.

Take care, MrsMac

Hi MrsMac,

Can you tell us your web address please, I would love to take a look at your website I am seriously thinking about getting one!!

Many thanks
Love Emma xx

 

[MrsMacTheKnife]

Hi there, I purposely didn't post the address as I didn't want anyone to think I was replying for that purpose (I know that's too many purposes but it's late and I've had a beer, lol)..

It's www.theheavensentdayspa.com - and I'm chuffed to bits with it.

Take care, Jacquie

 

[sknight]

It is very early days for you babes! Dont let it get you down. It does take time to build up client and if you are doing a great job then you will notice people coming back. You need to stay positive about your business as noone wants to go to someone who is wondering if they are good enough. Be upbeat and promote all the time and you will see results. All the best xx

 

[Violet Star]

It does take time! Under two months is definatly not enough time to have a client base or become busy. People have to know about you and trust you and your business name before they will book a treatment. It takes years to become successful and have a steady client base. All mobile/home beauty therapists have to go through this stage and no beauty therapist becomes rich quick with this it takes time.x

 

[EMMA AT ELITE]

Hi there, I purposely didn't post the address as I didn't want anyone to think I was replying for that purpose (I know that's too many purposes but it's late and I've had a beer, lol)..

It's www.theheavensentdayspa.com - and I'm chuffed to bits with it.

Take care, Jacquie

WOW!
I am not surprised you are chuffed with it, its great!
Looks very professional too.
xx

 

[Tresselle]

I definitely recommend getting a website also. If you have the time (or inclination) there are lots of sites with free professional looking templates. However this can be a time consuming affair and would recommend it only if you feel you have the time AND skill to create a professional web presence - I created a website myself for my mobile service. There are also a number of other free listing sources that you can utilise and these are excellent in terms of getting your details to come up via search engines and also are great as you can upload images of your work and invite your clients to write reviews about your service.

Some of these sites include:

FreeIndex - The free UK business directory
www.uksmallbusinessdirectory.co.uk

Also be sure to set up a profile on social netorking websites e.g. facebook twitter myspace reason being that hen search engine crawl (search) these sites to generate webpages to list because of the high volume of traffic (millions of peopel) these sites will receive. I have loads of other tips to share but do not want to have my post removed because it is considered as 'advertising'!!

Be aware that you will probably get loads of different companies trying to sell you their service for hundreds of pounds (albeit they il try to sell it to you as a 'cheap' monthly fee) for work that you can do yourself in a few hours. I know because I have been suckered into signing up to one of these and quickly realised that I was paying for something which I could do myself! Luckily I was savvy enough to only sign up for a one month trial!

It took some time to set up and establish a regular client base and as many others have said PATIENCE and working at building your client base and offering incentives is going to be key!!

Feel free to pm me if you want any additional tips and tricks
Good luck