To go mobile or not... that is the question?

[Miniminx13]

Hiya Geeks...
I have read many a thread on here about the mobile side of the business and this is my dilemma...
I have recently been made redundant from a salon and have since got another job in a busy spa.. the spa is going ok but all the therapists there hate it! I have been told I will learn to hate it?!?!? Anyway, I have for some time debated to do my ownthing as a mobile therapist but my last boss made me feel like poo and really knocked all my confidence. So I am now thinking, was she right and maybe I am just not that good or should I write it off as just a bad workexperience and throw caution to the wind and just do it?
I will keep up with the spa for the forseeable as things seem pretty tough out there, but is mobile just as tough?
I have most kit already just would need polishes, gels, and consumables....
Any thoughts from mobiletherapists would be a fab help...:Grope:

 

[TracyS]

Hi Miniminx,

I go through phases of loving and loathing being mobile. I've taken a treatment room a couple of days a week and find I'm trying to persuade my clients to come there rather than me to them.

The reasons I love being mobile are that when you're not working, you're not working, you don't have to go out and "open up" just in case of passers by, I personally have learned to work only the hours I want to, rather than every hour that clients requested so I don't have an hour at 10am then nothing until 4pm then nothing til 8pm, I condense my working day down to fit around my family. I work Saturdays if I want to but tend not too unless it's a good earner so that we can all have some family time together, my 2 kids are only little, 6 and 21 month so I value the time I can give to them more than £20 and 2 hours out of the house on a Sat afternoon. I do tend to work Sat evenings though which I don't mind at all.

Reasons I loathe being mobile are the storage of every single item in the house and not enough storage in the house to put everything. Constantly filling and emptying the boot of the car, not having the passing trade which may come the way of a salon so feeling like (and it is just a feeling before the salon owners jump on me here!) that i have to work more laterally on marketing to new customers, you can't fit in nearly as many clients in a day because of travelling/set up/packing up time.

It's great for some, not suited to others. Work out your market, your products and whether you could really be bothered with the in and out of cars/houses etc, then make your decision.

Good luck with whatever you decide to go for!

:hug:

 

[Miniminx13]

Thank you TracyS

I too have little ones and that is part of my reasons for thinking about the mobile thing... it would be lovely to work around the family so we can actually have a whole day together... :|

My last boss was a bit of a :evil: but I thought it was my fault, not being 'right' for the salon.. Altho I am out of there now it has really battered my confidence so I keep making these plans then putting them on the back burner... 'just incase SHE was right' (Grrrrr)

I think the practical things you listed make alot of sense and I agree the marketing must be much harder.... Any advice on making those first steps in getting some actual real clients?

Thanks again..x

 

[TracyS]

Not being 'right' for a salon can be no-one's fault, it's like that beautiful pair of shoes you see... no matter how much you want them, you just totter rather than walk! Sometimes, it's just a case of moving forward to find the next pair. Don't let it knock your confidence, assess what you do and how you do it and be critical of yourself, but not overly so, what little touches do you like when you get a treatment? Incorporate all that you love and ask around as well, what makes a great experience as well as a great therapist.

In terms of marketing yourself, website, advertising, confidence, self promotion and thinking latterally. Offer vouchers for your service to friends and family rather than pressies for xmas, then draft them into promoting you as well.

Don't spend fortunes and the money you do spend, spend wisely, target rather than a scattergun approach as always worked best for me.

Don't put it off! Get going and get those would-be clients hearing your name and ringing your number! Oh, and don't forget the other practical things like insurance for yourself and business use on your car insurance!

xx