No money in nails anymore?

[persianista]

I do think the nail industry has it bad. Competing with the NSS which are mostly money cleanup shops, the benefit bandits and the messers. PLUS the low standards of nail work currently taught in colleges. I had to teach a therapist how to pro polish, even though I have not worked as a therapist for 22 years, my polishing was far superior to hers.

People WILL still pay for quality. My advice is to compete on quality, sanitation, skill and personality. You cannot compete on price when your competition are claiming benefits or are imported as slave labour into this country.

 

[geeg]

I do think the nail industry has it bad. Competing with the NSS which are mostly money cleanup shops, the benefit bandits and the messers. PLUS the low standards of nail work currently taught in colleges. I had to teach a therapist how to pro polish, even though I have not worked as a therapist for 22 years, my polishing was far superior to hers.

People WILL still pay for quality. My advice is to compete on quality, sanitation, skill and personality.

You cannot compete on price when your competition are claiming benefits or are imported as slave labour into this country.

Fantastic and 'in a nutshell'

 

[millytint]

It is a difficult one as there will ALWAYS be someone to offer cheap as chip prices.
We recently started offering Gelish & I charge £27.50 as that is near enough what one of the other high end salons in town charges.

Just seen on facebook today that the cheap as chips place about 3 shops down from me is charging £15!!

I refuse to lower my prices but it doesn't make it any easier to get people through the door in the 1st instance when you have places like that under charging.

It's just very demoralising but given that my prices are on the higher side to begin with, it gives me leeway for offers/incentives if need be.

It must be very very tough for those of you just starting out. It's not something I would want to be doing, that's for sure.

I started offering Shellac last September and charge £20, a few weeks later, the salon down the road started offering it for £12! yes you read that right £12! and now they have an offer on for minx, shellac and a glass of champagne all for £12- how ridiculous is that! and i thought i was too cheap!

 

[Blue Rose]

I started offering Shellac last September and charge £20, a few weeks later, the salon down the road started offering it for £12! yes you read that right £12! and now they have an offer on for minx, shellac and a glass of champagne all for £12- how ridiculous is that! and i thought i was too cheap!

What I can't understand is, if an established place is charging X amount for their services, then why not charge the same or even more? Why is there this ignorant mentality that the only way to get clients is to be cheaper than the rest?

The cheap as chips place down the road from me has a totally different clientelle to us. We did get some of them in last year when I did lots of promos on facebook but to be honest, they were unrelaible cheapskates & not like the majority of our clients, thank goodness. As has been mentioned many, many a time, charge cheap prices & you get cheap clients.

For those service providers who are the cheapest in their area, can they have any pride with their standard of work & pricing structure?

My salon is just outside the town centre but my prices are on a par with the one & only town centre salon, and for some treatments I charge more. I'm proud of the fact I'm the most expensive for most things. How many others can be proud of their placement in their target market?

 

[vitality]

How many others can be proud of their placement in their target market?

People choose their target market so I would assume they would be proud if they got the return they anticipated/hoped for.

 

[vitality]

I would personally prefer catering to higher earners offering luxurious treatments but if there was no market for it then it would be a bad business choice.