Quiet in December?

[sarah1992]

Hey! I am just in need of a bit of a rant or re assurance or just someone to talk to about it really!

I have been open about a year & I am now more quiet than I ever have been & I cannot understand why. I literally put all of my money & spare time into this & I'm getting nothing from it now. I absolutely love shellac & everything CND & I am the only one around here who uses genuine shellac & all I'm seeing is people advertising 'shellac' when its bluesky or gellac but people go to them because their nails will last weeks (nevermind the damage after).

I really don't know what Im doing wrong & makes me feel worse when I see how busy everyone else is as I have just transformed a room in my house into a salon & always have it so clean & try to be as proffessional as possible always but still very friendly.

My main love is nail art & has been since I was 14 but its so rare that anybody will have it around here that I don't get to do it! I really thought I could go somewhere really good with this but it doesn't look likely anymore & I really wanted this to be my career so I would be devastated if I had to give it up.

So sorry about such a long negative post, Im usually as positive as I can be but I am just so frustrated & would really appreciate some help or advise!

 

[Snazzybiz]

I know how you feel, I opened my home salon in june after a break from beauty and started off great then went dead between Oct and now.
However I have people booked in every night this week as I am only part time just from posting on facebook for friends and family a discounted rate and they all snapped it up and a couple of returning clients who haven't been since the summer.

I hope you pick up. Where are you advertising etc ? Have you read the threads about promotion?

I am only just working my way through them but don't give up.
If its your dream you can't give up you will be miserable. There is always a way and there is no such thing as can't my mum says to me

Sending big hugs
Xxx

 

[sarah1992]

I know how you feel, I opened my home salon in june after a break from beauty and started off great then went dead between Oct and now.
However I have people booked in every night this week as I am only part time just from posting on facebook for friends and family a discounted rate and they all snapped it up and a couple of returning clients who haven't been since the summer.

I hope you pick up. Where are you advertising etc ? Have you read the threads about promotion?

I am only just working my way through them but don't give up.
If its your dream you can't give up you will be miserable. There is always a way and there is no such thing as can't my mum says to me

Sending big hugs
Xxx

Thanks so much for your reply, you are right I would be so miserable if I had to give it up it's just a really bad time at the moment and its making me feel like it's going down the drain no matter what I do xx

 

[Redduck]

Hiya, it doesn't matter how good, professional or friendly you are if people don't know who or where you are and what you do. Have you tried setting aside some time every day to promote yourself? When you're not working then get yourself out there be it physically or online.

You sound like you have the passion and it is harder to sell yourself if you don't physically have a shop window but it is possible.

Good luck!

 

[squidgernetball]

Agree with the above. There's a girl I know locally who works from home and I have never seen her advertise. I have heard that people need to see your name 7 times before they think of you when they are looking for a therapist (or plumber, electrician etc) so regular leaflet drops etc are great. I'm in all the local magazines, and get several new clients every time I do a leaflet drop. I am amazed at the amount of people who say "I had no idea you were here. How long have you been here?" and they could feasibly have had my leaflet through their door several times!

Vicki x

 

[Angelaznailz]

I understand your problem but, as a salon owner in a tiny town, it seems to me that everywhere is at saturation point with beauty salons & mobile therapists. Every new business springing up is beauty (or hair) related.
Our industry is limited by the amount of spare cash the public have in their wallets and we are (hopefully) just coming out of a recession. People just don't have a lot of cash to spare.
Hairdressers have the same problem too. My sister has a hair salon and we have lost count of the number of girls she knows who haven't completed their hair and/or beauty courses, however consider themselves qualified enough to 'go round houses' offering services at crazy prices.
It makes me mad and does our industry no favors.
I'm busy enough just now, but I know that in January I'll need to promote, offer 'specials', and generally scale back my working hours. I will probably use this time to do more training too.

Sorry that this post has gone a bit rant(ish) but I got up on the wrong side this morning and am feeling a bit aggrieved.
Happy Monday everyone!

 

[pinkthistle]

I've been trading over 20 years and this December (so far) is the quietest yet...

 

[virtues2011]

I said the same in another thread a few months back when everyone was hoping for great December trade. My point back then was I wouldn't count on it. It is the first quarter of next year that is the killer and if you haven't been able to take some funding across from December or have some financial consideration in place to see you through you may find many that will fail very quickly....just in time for the new lot to come through!

 

[MissyMuffin]

My local high street is saturated and yet 2 more opened in November. One beauty and hair and one nail drop-in shop. This was busy first week but since then even on Saturdays it's been empty.
I think saturation is the issue and it's harder work than ever to promote yourself. We all need a degree in marketing and psychology 😊

 

[virtues2011]

You need to be able to offer something that is unique and different to the rest, the beauty industry compromises of what in mass? nails, eyelashes, waxing, brows to name but a few. The only thing that is different is the price and it generally decreases.

I am still not convinced enough as yet when I read, people will pay for quality, yes I agree some will that are affluent. The rest, they won't and it is proven they don't.

My hair salon. I have one day a week where cut, blow dry and a treatment is half price, granted I see some of you guys recoil in horror at this ...but...it works for me. The rest of the week the price is normal. The only difference being the tips for the girls on the day when it is half price is minimal compared to the rest of the week. The clients are no different to the ones that come any other day they just don't have enough money to be able to do so but it doesn't mean that these people are awkward or complainers or steal everything in sight. I believe that I offer a service to all and the standards of what I offer do not drop.

I like the fact that people ask for discount and barter I do not think for one minute these people are rude or cheeky - I am no different I very rarely will pay full price for anything if I can get away with it. We have quite a few of the old fashioned gypsies in the area of my salon. Recently we had a guy come in for a cut and finish on the off chance, I asked him where he usually gets his hair cut, he then told me and throughout the conversation he mentioned that he had five children and found it expensive to get their hair cut..so I gave him a two pound discount on each child if he booked them in and they all came in in one go - perfect it worked a treat. Now I have his wife, regular bookings, friends of his.....sometimes you need to look at the bigger picture of where this could potentially lead. For the sake of losing a tenner from the kids haircuts I have gained far more financially out of this than rudely saying "NO" and mumbling "what a cheek" ...but maybe this comes with a business background and not a practical one.

...and don't get me started on the posts that I see of "Don't worry about what the competition is doing around you" ...I will be here for days!

 

[MissyMuffin]

Agree with all that Virtues, the 'don't worry what everyone else is doing' baffles me. Of course you have to worry! There are only so many clients to go round. If you don't understand your competition and potential customer base you are doomed. The geeks who say these things are the ones who are stacked out with regulars and not the ones who are struggling to get off the ground.

 

[virtues2011]

Missy.. .. if you can get through the hard times successfully you will sail through the good times.

The downfall for many that have been consistently busy and successful and are now facing the harder times, are the ones that really don't know how to get out of the situation and really struggle to stay afloat. Some of these are the ones that fail first.

No one said it was going to be easy.

In one of the business I was involved with we inherited a CVA.. (creditors voluntary arrangement) the majority that enter these arrangements fail within the first year. We had to beg on bended knees just to get suppliers to open the doors to us. We came out the other end with the HMRC shaking our hands. It is unheard of. It took many years of constant battles. I am not frightened of hard times as I find it relatively easy to get through them...that said it was not in this industry where saturation is beyond any form of control!!

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[sarah1992]

Thanks so much to everyone for taking the time to answer.

I advertise every way I can , business cards, recommend a friend cards, loads of leaflet drops all around housing estates & in shops in town, church newsletter, always having my nails done & my mothers, facebook ads, twitter, donedeal, adverts, word of mouth & I have a website.

Virtues I definaty agree with your point about saturation & unfortunately it 's not going to stop, however There is only one beauty salon in my small town & I dont know of anyone doing it from home or mobile. I try my best to make sure its clear that I am not just doing this as a hobby on the side & have done a lot of training. & am registered & insured and always wear uniform. I know some people will still think it's a hobby as I do look about 17 though! Thanks for your comments though I completely agree!

 

[vanitybeauty1]

This is my 3rd Christmas since my salon has been open and I'd say the first December was really quiet I thought it would be packed. 2nd was better but 3rd is amazing I'm very busy and almost fully booked each day. It takes time to build up a a good client base. I have to say October being quiet doesn't surprise me at all, that's my worst month in the year and from speaking with fellow geeks it is the same for them also..

Don't beat yourself up, keep going and you WILL get there, if you want it bad enough!

Promote promote promote, as for the nail art maybe do a special promotion on it or a discount, most of my clients are quite reserved and wouldn't go for nail art even if they saw it on colour pops they couldn't imagine it on themselves until I started wearing it on my own nails now they all want patterns and glitter and snowmen!

Business is hard I have had a lot of hard times but if your passionate about it and willing to put a lot of effort and money into it at the start then you will see the rewards and see clients coming in! X

 

[virtues2011]

Thanks so much to everyone for taking the time to answer.

I advertise every way I can , business cards, recommend a friend cards, loads of leaflet drops all around housing estates & in shops in town, church newsletter, always having my nails done & my mothers, facebook ads, twitter, donedeal, adverts, word of mouth & I have a website.

Virtues I definaty agree with your point about saturation & unfortunately it 's not going to stop, however There is only one beauty salon in my small town & I dont know of anyone doing it from home or mobile. I try my best to make sure its clear that I am not just doing this as a hobby on the side & have done a lot of training. & am registered & insured and always wear uniform. I know some people will still think it's a hobby as I do look about 17 though! Thanks for your comments though I completely agree!

That's ok Sarah. I'm not sure what difference it makes whether you do it as a hobby or not. Most people know that I do beauty as a hobby. What I find upsets people is the fact that they don't have a choice, they have to make a living from it. I am fully qualified, endorsed and certified by the manufactures and suppliers of the professional products and machinery I support and I am fully insured. . Doing it as a hobby just makes your life that little bit easier whether you have one client a day or ten clients a day it doesn't make any difference. It doesn't mean your standards are poor and you automatically charge £8 for a set of nails, some of us in this situation choose not to reduce our prices but I am competing with an average of £300 a service not £30.... this is the difference. If I had to compete with 'usual' beauty services I would never had spent more than a second thinking about it IMO.

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[persianista]

Agree with all that Virtues, the 'don't worry what everyone else is doing' baffles me. Of course you have to worry! There are only so many clients to go round. If you don't understand your competition and potential customer base you are doomed. The geeks who say these things are the ones who are stacked out with regulars and not the ones who are struggling to get off the ground.

Ok, I'm one of the people who doesn't discount, says don't worry about the competition, and is stacked out.
I'd like you to ask yourself why people like me are stacked, rather than dismissing our point of view. The short answer is that we are CONSISTENTLY rebooking, CONSISTENTLY retailing, and serving our clients with CONSISTENTLY good services. We are the ones who offer daytime, evening and weekend appointments, rather than restrict ourselves to a few set hours a week.
Most importantly, we believe that we have the same right to earn a living as everybody else.
Every area is flooded with salons and mobiles, it always has been. Competition is a fact of life, but not all your competition is price based. Unlike other people on this forum, I don't trek about looking for a Penny off of everything I buy. I'm too time poor to do that. I look for ease of parking, availability, and whether what I want is in stock. I've just come back from Bluewater today, Fortnum and Mason yesterday. Not a bargain in sight, but both rammed to the gunnels.

Rather than just reduce prices (which incidentally turns the clients off, they assume you are a bit rubbish to be so cheap), work out what makes YOU unique, then capitalise on that. It may be that you are available for time-poor working women, who need after work appointments, or that you have acres of free parking, to make life easier for stressed mothers. Whatever it is, don't focus so much on price, because all that'll happen is you end up poor.

You can take or leave my advice. I can only speak from extensive experience in the industry, and other sectors. Other people will have the opposite opinion, which is fine. Only you know your clients buying habits, and what works in an affluent suburb, may be different to what will work on a sink estate.

 

[virtues2011]

There are always two sides to every story. Luckily for me though I don't have to get up for work any day if I choose not to - so I can't be doing it all wrong!

 

[BeautyLoungeSW]

Ok, I'm one of the people who doesn't discount, says don't worry about the competition, and is stacked out.
I'd like you to ask yourself why people like me are stacked, rather than dismissing our point of view. The short answer is that we are CONSISTENTLY rebooking, CONSISTENTLY retailing, and serving our clients with CONSISTENTLY good services. We are the ones who offer daytime, evening and weekend appointments, rather than restrict ourselves to a few set hours a week.
Most importantly, we believe that we have the same right to earn a living as everybody else.
Every area is flooded with salons and mobiles, it always has been. Competition is a fact of life, but not all your competition is price based. Unlike other people on this forum, I don't trek about looking for a Penny off of everything I buy. I'm too time poor to do that. I look for ease of parking, availability, and whether what I want is in stock. I've just come back from Bluewater today, Fortnum and Mason yesterday. Not a bargain in sight, but both rammed to the gunnels.

Rather than just reduce prices (which incidentally turns the clients off, they assume you are a bit rubbish to be so cheap), work out what makes YOU unique, then capitalise on that. It may be that you are available for time-poor working women, who need after work appointments, or that you have acres of free parking, to make life easier for stressed mothers. Whatever it is, don't focus so much on price, because all that'll happen is you end up poor.

You can take or leave my advice. I can only speak from extensive experience in the industry, and other sectors. Other people will have the opposite opinion, which is fine. Only you know your clients buying habits, and what works in an affluent suburb, may be different to what will work on a sink estate.

I must say I totally agree with persianista. We have only been open just under 2 years and have learnt to steer clear from discounting constantly, and to just be confident in the fact that we provide a very high standard of customer service and treatments. I truly believe from experience that once you begin discounting services left right and centre you become the dreaded 'offers salon' that no one will come to unless u have some sort of ridiculous offer on. I have not offered any discount for the Xmas period as I feel that if they want it and you are good enough, they will pay. - seems to have worked as we are fully booked this week and next.

We are bringing in intimate waxing in march to capitalise on that for the summer months as no one else in our town offers that at the mo. we were rammed the summer just gone but if I can increase my takings from just one extra treatment then why not!

What I'm trying to say is dont devalue your self or your treatments because times are hard. I am sure you are a fantastic therapist - dont let the quiet times take that away from you. Just keep pushing through because hey- what doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Lots of love xx


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[virtues2011]

You can be successful doing both. It's proven.. Do whatever you think is best for you and your business.

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[hazeleyes]

Personally, I find it somewhat disheartening when "stacked out" salons say they never ever discount and they never mind the competition. And insist that's the answer to our struggles, It makes me feel my struggle isn't understood and also makes me feel like I'm so far away from being able to do that and not knowing how best to get there. It sometimes feels to me like there's is a lack of empathy for new and struggling therapists. it's simply not that easy and actually idealistic and unrealistic for everyone of us yo start out, brand new, unheard of and with prices as high as you really want them with no thought for the competition.

if you live in a tiny village with no existing salon whatsoever and 100 loyal lady's all who know you, all who are wanting their hair and nails and waxing done every 2 weeks.... Then yes, perfect! But the reality is very few of us have that luxury and being new, must be intelligent, inventive and creative with how we market ourselves! Reputation must be earned, people need to first know you exist and then know that you can deliver, then comes the right to charge high prices despite other places undercutting you.

In this climate, to gain and retain high paying, loyal clients you need to offer more, a better and wider range of high quality, expert services and value for money but, If your fairly new maybe you can't offer as much as existing salons, as fast, as vast range of retail products etc, but in order to grow, develop and learn more in your trade and in your business you need working experience, clientele to help you build your confidence, skill and revenue to then plough back in to your business, in order to up skill and continue to train.... A catch 22, Without one it's hard to have the other!

There simply are not enough clients for every salon to be "stacked out" every day, it's unrealistic. In a business plan, there is a section to review you competitors so it clearly us highly relevant to any new or aspiring business. I believe one should always be mindful of what the competition is doing and against the advice of many, while I don't necessarily fix my prices based on the person up the roads pricing, I am very mindful everyday of the competitive nature of the nail industry, and new developments and advancements within it that can set me apart from the rest.