HandleyHair
Well-Known Member
I recently read an article called "How to set up a mobile business" on a hair and beauty mag called HABmag
I thought it would be good to write about it in my own words to help others and fill in any gaps the magazine missed out on. It is mainly for mobile businesses however it can be adopted into opening a salon.
The article was mainly for mobile nails as I think the author was a nail tech so I have tweaked it to fit around hair.
One of the main reasons people want to know how to set up a mobile hair & beauty business is to earn extra money. When you’re not paying for a chair in a salon or hiring a room out, you have a lower cost of expenditures. The only real outgoings are for advertising, equipment and fuel. In 2014, there was a huge rise in mobile hairdressers starting out and you need to know why.
Flexible hours – You can choose when, where and how
Low costs – You can have the lowest outgoings possible if you work it out right
Personal – Add a more personal touch to your business
No Staff- You won’t have to worry about paying somebody a wage and less hassle
Starting Out
Firstly you will want to look at what courses are available that you would like to apply to your business. Take a look at your local competition and see the services that they offer. Think about gaining more qualifications that will in the long run make your business profitable. I cover cut, colours, perms, bridal hair and 4 different methods of hair extensions.
Try and look for deals from training companies that bundle courses together or offer deals for buying other courses. Avoid courses that have more than 6 people per course as from previous experience, you are left out and don't learn as much. The only reason companies have 20+ people crammed into a conference room in the Holiday Inn is to make as much money as possible. They will tell you that you get lifetime support however they will forget about you. Also ensure that the training company is accredited as you might not get insurance if they aren't.
Once you offer enough services you can cover a wider range of the market for your local area.
Insurance
Make sure that you are fully covered for any services that you offer. Check with insurance companies that they will insure you with this method/company you will be learning before you pay for a training course and always ensure that they are accredited.
Pricing
Once again, look at your local competition and have a look at the prices they charge for their services. Try to be competitive and offer a few deals that will bring people to you. If you are brand new to the industry, try offering a buy one get one free deal, or bring a friend for half price. This will help you get to know and understand your market and help grow your confidence. Every first time client can turn into a potential source of income, make sure you are happy, polite and professional and they are sure to return to you.
Reputation
Building up a valuable reputation is vital. Once you are known well enough and have the experience and knowledge to back it up, you will be able to charge a higher rate than others. There will always be people better than you and that can do a better job, if you're not polite or friendly or if you're miserable, your reputation will plummet.
You Are A Business!
At the end of the day, you are a business. You want to make a profit on everything. If you're too cheap people might not want to use you as you might be seen as a liability or inexperienced. When I have a client that books with me, I am friendly and polite however I still think of the bigger picture. Like any business I work out how to make the most profit out of a job. On good days I can make £430 profit alone on hair extensions by using my trade discount. Say I pay £154 from my supplier for a full head of 16" nano rings, I will add on £46 for the hair and charge £60 to install it. That's £106 profit for 2 hours work. I then make it clear that they need to come back every 4 weeks for maintenance where I charge £25. There will be people who will undercharge as they are trying to build up a client base but they won't see the benefits and lose interest in the end. I have seen people come and go and I am still here with my very loyal client base.
Charging more than you pay is not unethical, it is a way of life. Do you think the corner shop paid £1.00 for that bottle of water? No! Do you think that your moisturizer cost the shop £13.00? No! Did that shop pay £60 for the perfume? You get the idea....
Finding the right supplier!
With any supplier, you need to see reviews, test the quality of the products etc... So my advice is to just search in google and click the top 10 that show up. Request samples, price lists and ask questions! If you like the quality of one product but not another by from another supplier. If your current supplier doesn't sell a product then simply google for the next best supplier. Alot of these companies get their products from the same source, it's just some have more money than others so they look better and can charge more. If you're a hair extensionist, search for the type of hair you're after and get a free sample from them. Avoid murky looking websites that only accept bank transfers and make sure that the hair isn't cheap Chinese hair. If you're buying 100% human, make sure it doesn't have any animal hair mixed into it. You can tell just by visually looking.
Remember: Never tell your clients who you suppliers are! You don't have to hide the packaging as the client will most likely forget the name. You do not want your clients finding out how much you pay for anything!
Mobility
There’s no point in having a mobile business if you can’t get around! Make sure you have the means to get to your clients. If your client can come to you, then make sure you have a suitable area to work in. Think about buying something to section off a part of a room, where you can work undisturbed.
Advertising
Being online is a vital role in today’s market. Make sure you list your business on as many free directories as possible. Try using Yell.com or SalonPages.co.uk as these are sure to help you be discovered online. You can get printed flyers and business cards for cheap at vistaprint.co.uk or for a more professional feel try out solopress.com
Social
To have any kind of success these days you need to be apart of social media. Take photo’s of your work and share it with the world. Ask your client if you can tag them in the picture and also ask them to share your business. If your client has 750 friends on Facebook and you tag a photo of their nails or hair, you then have 750 people who may turn into a future client. The 3 main social media sites to use for a mobile business are: Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram. These are much more efficient than Twitter as these days Twitter is mainly for high profile celebs getting paid to advertise a brand or product.
Also: One thing I have recently tried out and it genuinely worked was "Boost Post" on my Facebook page. I paid £13 to advertise my post for 24 hours and I had 50 clients ring me for details/prices and about 10 new clients booked in! I learned that if you have a Facebook page, your posts don't always show up on peoples news feeds because big companies pay every day to knock you off the top spot. So paying £13 to get 10 new clients in my timetable was fantastic! These 10 new clients could be worth £1,000 each over the next year!
If this information has helped you in anyway, please leave a comment. Also if you have any input that you think I have missed out on, please let me know and I might add it in.
I thought it would be good to write about it in my own words to help others and fill in any gaps the magazine missed out on. It is mainly for mobile businesses however it can be adopted into opening a salon.
The article was mainly for mobile nails as I think the author was a nail tech so I have tweaked it to fit around hair.
One of the main reasons people want to know how to set up a mobile hair & beauty business is to earn extra money. When you’re not paying for a chair in a salon or hiring a room out, you have a lower cost of expenditures. The only real outgoings are for advertising, equipment and fuel. In 2014, there was a huge rise in mobile hairdressers starting out and you need to know why.
Flexible hours – You can choose when, where and how
Low costs – You can have the lowest outgoings possible if you work it out right
Personal – Add a more personal touch to your business
No Staff- You won’t have to worry about paying somebody a wage and less hassle
Starting Out
Firstly you will want to look at what courses are available that you would like to apply to your business. Take a look at your local competition and see the services that they offer. Think about gaining more qualifications that will in the long run make your business profitable. I cover cut, colours, perms, bridal hair and 4 different methods of hair extensions.
Try and look for deals from training companies that bundle courses together or offer deals for buying other courses. Avoid courses that have more than 6 people per course as from previous experience, you are left out and don't learn as much. The only reason companies have 20+ people crammed into a conference room in the Holiday Inn is to make as much money as possible. They will tell you that you get lifetime support however they will forget about you. Also ensure that the training company is accredited as you might not get insurance if they aren't.
Once you offer enough services you can cover a wider range of the market for your local area.
Insurance
Make sure that you are fully covered for any services that you offer. Check with insurance companies that they will insure you with this method/company you will be learning before you pay for a training course and always ensure that they are accredited.
Pricing
Once again, look at your local competition and have a look at the prices they charge for their services. Try to be competitive and offer a few deals that will bring people to you. If you are brand new to the industry, try offering a buy one get one free deal, or bring a friend for half price. This will help you get to know and understand your market and help grow your confidence. Every first time client can turn into a potential source of income, make sure you are happy, polite and professional and they are sure to return to you.
Reputation
Building up a valuable reputation is vital. Once you are known well enough and have the experience and knowledge to back it up, you will be able to charge a higher rate than others. There will always be people better than you and that can do a better job, if you're not polite or friendly or if you're miserable, your reputation will plummet.
You Are A Business!
At the end of the day, you are a business. You want to make a profit on everything. If you're too cheap people might not want to use you as you might be seen as a liability or inexperienced. When I have a client that books with me, I am friendly and polite however I still think of the bigger picture. Like any business I work out how to make the most profit out of a job. On good days I can make £430 profit alone on hair extensions by using my trade discount. Say I pay £154 from my supplier for a full head of 16" nano rings, I will add on £46 for the hair and charge £60 to install it. That's £106 profit for 2 hours work. I then make it clear that they need to come back every 4 weeks for maintenance where I charge £25. There will be people who will undercharge as they are trying to build up a client base but they won't see the benefits and lose interest in the end. I have seen people come and go and I am still here with my very loyal client base.
Charging more than you pay is not unethical, it is a way of life. Do you think the corner shop paid £1.00 for that bottle of water? No! Do you think that your moisturizer cost the shop £13.00? No! Did that shop pay £60 for the perfume? You get the idea....
Finding the right supplier!
With any supplier, you need to see reviews, test the quality of the products etc... So my advice is to just search in google and click the top 10 that show up. Request samples, price lists and ask questions! If you like the quality of one product but not another by from another supplier. If your current supplier doesn't sell a product then simply google for the next best supplier. Alot of these companies get their products from the same source, it's just some have more money than others so they look better and can charge more. If you're a hair extensionist, search for the type of hair you're after and get a free sample from them. Avoid murky looking websites that only accept bank transfers and make sure that the hair isn't cheap Chinese hair. If you're buying 100% human, make sure it doesn't have any animal hair mixed into it. You can tell just by visually looking.
Remember: Never tell your clients who you suppliers are! You don't have to hide the packaging as the client will most likely forget the name. You do not want your clients finding out how much you pay for anything!
Mobility
There’s no point in having a mobile business if you can’t get around! Make sure you have the means to get to your clients. If your client can come to you, then make sure you have a suitable area to work in. Think about buying something to section off a part of a room, where you can work undisturbed.
Advertising
Being online is a vital role in today’s market. Make sure you list your business on as many free directories as possible. Try using Yell.com or SalonPages.co.uk as these are sure to help you be discovered online. You can get printed flyers and business cards for cheap at vistaprint.co.uk or for a more professional feel try out solopress.com
Social
To have any kind of success these days you need to be apart of social media. Take photo’s of your work and share it with the world. Ask your client if you can tag them in the picture and also ask them to share your business. If your client has 750 friends on Facebook and you tag a photo of their nails or hair, you then have 750 people who may turn into a future client. The 3 main social media sites to use for a mobile business are: Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram. These are much more efficient than Twitter as these days Twitter is mainly for high profile celebs getting paid to advertise a brand or product.
Also: One thing I have recently tried out and it genuinely worked was "Boost Post" on my Facebook page. I paid £13 to advertise my post for 24 hours and I had 50 clients ring me for details/prices and about 10 new clients booked in! I learned that if you have a Facebook page, your posts don't always show up on peoples news feeds because big companies pay every day to knock you off the top spot. So paying £13 to get 10 new clients in my timetable was fantastic! These 10 new clients could be worth £1,000 each over the next year!
If this information has helped you in anyway, please leave a comment. Also if you have any input that you think I have missed out on, please let me know and I might add it in.
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Just trying to help as I see a few questions on here that can be resolved just by reading this. Especially the old "How Much Shall I Charge?"
