I've been a nail tech for 12 years and, as much as I love doing it, I've decided to close my business at the end of the year and walk away from the beauty industry for awhile. I'm leaving mainly due to stress, feeling unappreciated, and feeling like a majority of my clientele are toxic personalities (#SmallTownProblems). It's a choice I've wrestled with for a couple of years so it's not a hasty decision. I haven't made the official announcement as I'm waiting till December 1 to tell my clients. Here's where my problem lies: there are a few of my clients I genuinely like. They've almost become more friends than clients and it's going to kill me to say goodbye to them. I know my decision to leave is the right one for me and I know they'll understand, but I have a soft heart and I'm just having trouble dealing with how to tell them. Any advice?
It’s easy to think clients are friends but realistically, 99% of the time, if they started off as a client, they never will be a proper friend. There’s always an element of you being the service provider and one that can’t exactly say what you are thinking because you need to keep their business.
I love my clients and some of them are very very much like friends, I love my job; but from experience I understand that it is often one sided. They come to us to relax/offload, but we just end up totally and utterly drained if we try to be friends because it just doesn’t work vice versa.
Any client that you think is toxic to you, don’t even bother saying goodbye in person.
If they are the type to kick off I’d just send a polite email to thank them for their loyal custom over the years. Don’t book any new appointments, say you’ve not got anything for a while as you are going on holiday. They don’t need to know how long for or why or if you are coming back.
I had one right nutcase tell me ‘I come to you because my usual lady has cancer.’ I was like god that terrible is she doing ok? She goes ‘I don’t care, she is a total waste of space not being there when I need her for a tan.’ I was disgusted...casually didn’t invite her back.
Do you think if you started afresh with a new target market you would feel better?
I know that when I stopped using Facebook after an awful incident...my clientele became more upmarket and kinder and less inclined to be after a bargain. I started with just my favourite regulars and didn’t book anyone new for a while. When I did It was like a new lease of life, a totally new job. No more awful bargain hunters moaning about everything and instead lovely clients that choose me because they appreciate me and what I can do for them.
I think the saddest part of what you wrote was that you feel underappreciated. The thing is, when you run the business that’s your job - to boost your own morale. Asking immediately ‘are you happy with your treatment?’ instead of giving an open question like what do you think, because then it invites criticisms and often people will fish for one just to have something to say. That’s just a little something I do when I want to know for sure if I’m doing a good job. Yes or no. Very easy.
