Thinking about giving up? Mobile 'therapists'

[ChelleConnor]

Hi Everyone,

I'm finding it really hard!
I trained in beauty therapy in 2007, got a job in an office then decided to do beauty part time. I did a spray tanning course 2 years ago as there weren't many mobile spray tan therapists in my area, two or three max.
Within the past year I know about 10 girls who have trained in spray tanning.
Before I wasn't fussed, each to their own & that, but now it has severely effected my business.
I begun to notice a decline in clients about 3 months ago but I just put it down to people not really having much money. But New Years Eve was the real wake up call. I did just two clients, which compared to last year is horrific. I did 19 in one day!
I know it's not the way I spray tan as I have clients come back & I have a few regulars!
Many say competition is good & that I should make myself different from others but at the end of the day if you have a friend who is offering you mates rates for £10 you wouldn't chose to go with a stranger offering £15 a tan.
I refuse to do special offers to get newbies in as normally you get the bargain hunters who won't come back to you when they have to pay full price for a spray tan, I won't drop my prices because £15 is cheap in my eyes, any cheaper & it's just not worth the time or effort.
I'm beginning to get angry at the industry, it seems as if they just train anyone nowadays, the ones that are just in it for the money. I've had so many girls say 'oh I'm just doing it to make some quick money'. I know we all work in this industry to earn money but I also enjoy meeting my clients & making them feel nice about themselves, I actually care about my clients & how their tans turn out & I would get upset if a client wasn't happy.
I'm now debating whether to just give up, I don't see how it's worth it if I only end up doing one client every week or so. My solution will go off & all sorts!
I don't know what to do anymore. I also offer Gelish, tinting & cluster eyelashes. Gelish hasn't really picked up too well & the others do average.
Does anyone have any advice?

Apologies for the long post & for any spelling mistakes! My phone is on auto correct x

 

[Lynne Baker]

I'm afraid that it's the way it is these days. One of my clients decided to train with nouvatan and I hardly do any fake bakes any more. I decided to just concentrate on the facials/waxing/shellac etc.
One course of action could be to buddy up with a local spray tanner and cross refer clients.
Another could be to stop doing it altogether and specialise on really top notch other services.
Frankly, if I never did another spray tan it wouldn't be the end of the world!

 

[cabby]

I am finding I do less and less tans these days, it all seems to be nails for me. Maybe you could do a promotion if they have their nails done they get a tan cheaper then at least you would be doing the tan as an extra x

 

[ChelleConnor]

Thanks for your answers girls!
Lynne I see what your saying! Although I do love doing spray tans & at one point I did all spray tans & nothing else, it was that popular!
Thanks cabby, I normally offer packages anyway!
Just seems a shame that I have to give up because there's so many people doing it!
Will have to focus more on my nails! X

 

[rachy123]

Why don't you introduce more services . Maybe lashes they r really really popular xxx

 

[jowo]

It would be a shame to give up. I think that because it is pretty cheap to train and set up in tanning, everyone seems to have jumped on the bandwagon to make a quick buck. Looking on Ebay, it seems that maybe even some of those have now given up. I wonder if it is a good idea to invest in something specialist that costs more to set up, perhaps there is less competition. Maybe electrolysis or something! Just a thought x

 

[l.a.m.x]

It would be a real shame to give up, the profit from spray tanning is good when you consider how little time it takes to actually do the treatment, compared to other treatments which could take an hour. My advice would be to not buy too much solution in one go.

How are you promoting yourself? I note that you say Gellish hasn't picked up much either, for me tans and Shellac are my biggest treatments xx

 

[ChelleConnor]

Thanks for all your replies!
I advertise on Facebook & texts everyone I know. I always have recommend a friend offers etc!
I just can't seem to get new people in.
X

 

[NiCshairstudio]

Thanks for your answers girls!
Lynne I see what your saying! Although I do love doing spray tans & at one point I did all spray tans & nothing else, it was that popular!
Thanks cabby, I normally offer packages anyway!
Just seems a shame that I have to give up because there's so many people doing it!
Will have to focus more on my nails! X

Don't give up, this industry gets harder and harder, look through the link, I think it's Lynn's or geege's about how to promote your business, get some fresh ideas and keep getting your name out there, sounds like you may have let your foot off the gas when you had enough people but you need to concentrate on keeping regulars and making new customer, do you do a referral scheme? Or if say someone has their tan booked but gets x amount of people, 3 maybe to have theirs too then they get theirs for £10 or £7 something that they cannot resist, so you have ton from making £15 in one visit to £52-£55 in one visit! And potentially 3 new clients!

Or like the other lady above said promote your tans at a saving when combining them with nails or eyelashes etc.

A lady near me did an offer for £49 and you got spray tan, shellac nails, eyelashes and had brows I think (it was 4 things) throughout December and she was rushed off her feet.... Granted that is a ridiculous offer but off the back of that she has probably kept about 40% at least as new regulars!

I don't see tans myself as an every 2 weeks industry, it's mainly special occasions, maybe you could do spran tan parties etc.

 

[ChelleConnor]

Hi!
Thanks for your reply, I do have the odd regulars but even those are few and far between.
I already advertise a referall scheme, for example recommend a friend and received a discounted tan. Have a spray party of 4 or more and received a half price tan etc.
I just feel like there was a big boom with tanning and now its slowly dying out. x

 

[NiCshairstudio]

Hi!
Thanks for your reply, I do have the odd regulars but even those are few and far between.
I already advertise a referall scheme, for example recommend a friend and received a discounted tan. Have a spray party of 4 or more and received a half price tan etc.
I just feel like there was a big boom with tanning and now its slowly dying out. x

Its summer soon spring pastel shades so tans will be a must x plan ahead lol

Sent from my GT-N7000 using SalonGeek

 

[Rinn]

Hi!
Thanks for your reply, I do have the odd regulars but even those are few and far between.
I already advertise a referall scheme, for example recommend a friend and received a discounted tan. Have a spray party of 4 or more and received a half price tan etc.
I just feel like there was a big boom with tanning and now its slowly dying out. x

it's supply and demand...if when you started out there was 100 people available for tanning and 5 tanners .ok average 20 people each.
now there may be 20 tanners but still only 100 people so of course that averages to 5 people each.

you need to fiind your USP , make yourself stand out from the others or introduce something that nobody else does.

 

[Lynne Baker]

Rinn has it exactly right. There's absolutely no point in offering the same as everyone else.
Why do you think I took on the brands that I did? Because you could barely turn a corner without seeing the 3Ds! (dermalogica, decleor, darphin). All good brands but ubiquitous.
You simply have to accept that a goodly number of your potential clients ARE going to be price sensitive therefore it's a pointless exercise trying to attract them.
You'd be better off focussing your energies and money on a service/treatment/product that's not common in your locale, then advertising the hell out of it.
As for there being boom and bust that will always be, in whatever industry. When I was young there was a product called Elancyl. It was everywhere! Every bathroom in the land had an Elancyl body brush doodaa. Where is it now? Um...
'twas ever thus, and 'twill ever be. The trick is to recognise the signs when the peaks and troughs are coming, ride the wave and jump off before you drown.

 

[Feej]

You say that you've trained in beauty therapy, but many of the people you are competing with will just be 'spray tan' qualified and as others have stated, that's the way things are now. it seems anyone can go on a half day spray tan 'course' and set up in business - hence anyone who has spent time and money becoming a 'proper' beauty therapist is left to compete.

I really do think the training in the UK needs to be addressed. In America in some States you have to be a fully licensed cosmetologist/beauty therapist to even do spray tans on the public. This also applies to nails. Surely this is the way to go to stop just anyone doing a half day course then being let loose on the public?

I think the training industry here is being run by the insurance companies and plenty of training establishments that are popping up are making a huge profit by the under regulation of the industry. Some offer very good training, some definitely do not.

Should a certificate just be gained to gain insurance these days or actually be a sign of competence??!

If I trained for two years to be ITEC qualified and someone else does a week long course who is classed as a 'beauty therapist'??? Both of us??

Rant over (for now)

 

[ChelleConnor]

I competely agree.
I invested a year into my beauty course, and then paid for all the little extra courses you get. Nowdays youll get a random person pay for a course and class themselves as a beauty therapy.
Why did I spend so much time and money being trained if I could have done it all in a matter of weeks!? x

 

[Feej]

Exactly. And we can't expect the public to educate themselves as to what qualifications beauty therapists should have, it should be a standard across the board before treating the general public. It makes a mockery of the profession. Obviously salon employers are aware to look for NVQ2/3 standard of training before employing anyone but 'therapists' with far less training get their insurance and off they go.

I do realise my post didn't help you too much with your current predicament though! I think you probably have many more 'strings to your bow' than many of the other spray tanners in your area so introducing other treatments has to be the way to go, though of course this does cost money and more time and investment.

Good luck with it all

 

[Cookies]

Hey honey. I feel your frustration, after going through all of my training in beauty and setting up properly its hard seeing people that just start up up in the one treatment spray tanning all and sundry without consultations or aftercare (I dont mean everyone does that but alot don't bother because I have tested them myself!)

My husband is in the military so a lot of wives start doing little courses in acrylics or spray tanning and offer it very very cheap and post the most shocking poor quality clumpy nails and patchy or uber orange tans and i can't believe people write on their walls thanks for my nails they look fab when it looks like a 6 year old has done them-and they call themselves nail technicians! i am like you and offer £15 for my spray tans which is reasonable but I'm still making a profit as clients come to me in my home based treatment room.

It's hard to stand out when price seems to be more important than quality but this is the way things are. Don't give up though it would be a shame to waste your skills xx

 

[ChelleConnor]

Hi,

Thank you for your replies.
It was getting to me an awful lot but now ive decided to focus more on nails. I am planning on doing an l&p course as I know you cannot do this course without a manicure/pedicure qualification so I doubt many people will be doing that anytime soon.
Its funny as Im watching it also happen with lashes. People who have no experience in beauty are now offering semi permanent eyelashes. So to be honest Im glad I didnt jump onto that band wagon! x

 

[mixnmatch1]

That is why i trained in intimate waxing and body wraps,i don't know of many,if any that offer these mobile around my Area....YET!

 

[souz]

Hi!
Thanks for your reply, I do have the odd regulars but even those are few and far between.
I already advertise a referall scheme, for example recommend a friend and received a discounted tan. Have a spray party of 4 or more and received a half price tan etc.
I just feel like there was a big boom with tanning and now its slowly dying out. x

you are exactly right hun in that there was a boom and it is slowly dying out but it will come back! its just like fashion, just goes around and comes back......to stay in business and be succesfull you need to offer other treatments also as you are doing but make sure that you have a specialist treatment that you love as well as the latest treatment etc out. Its no different from clothes shops that have to keep changing their stock to seasons and fashions, you have to do the same.......

for example: i specialise in Nails as that is what i love so i make sure that i am up to date on all things nails and have the latest craze stocked in....about 10 years ago foils were in and now they are back so i have them in AGAIN but i also do waxing BUT promote my eyebrows and what i can do for clients eyebrows but offer the rest of waxing also....ithen added spray tan and to be honest im disappointed with how its gone but you win some you lose some. the way you promote yourself also makes a difference and your attitude towards the business will make a huge impact on your return. If you love what you do keep at it, if you dont then give up xx