Too far to travel for a potential regular client?

[Missy G]

hi ,i am finding it hard to title the thread,but i shall explain what i mean.Ive recently started up my own mobile nail buisness,it has been quiet but i have had calls ,some of which ive had to turn away,one of them being i cant do evenings,and the fact that it takes me 3 hours to do a set of extensions,so a day time appointment is better for me.

Now ive just had a lady phone up she lives a good 25 mins away from me ,all she wanted was a gel overlay on her 2 thumb nails that had split,she asked how much i would charge,i said £10.

What im getting at is after i put the phone down,before telling her i didnt come out in the eve..due to family commitments..would it have been worth travelling to the other side of town just for £10,or do you look at it a it could be a regular client,if i could of made the appointment.Im sure if buisness was booming this wouldnt bother me but as imve not long started up i feel guilty for turning someone away.

How would you geeks feel please?

 

[Vetty]

I know exactly where you're coming from and when I was starting out I took clients on that I wouldn't take on now...... Now I'm quite firm about when and where I'll travel to.

The thing to bear in mind with the thumb nail lady is she may become a regular but if she does you'll be travelling for 50 minutes every 2 weeks for £10 each appt. 25 minutes away is what, 10 miles? 20 miles? A 20 mile round trip at 40p per mile is £8 in travelling cost alone..... My opinion? Don't do it.

When you're busier you wont feel bad at turning people down, trust me.

hth's

 

[Bagpuss]

I think its important to have a minimum call out charge....£10 isn't a bad min call out charge but you also have to have a set proximity.

It depends purely on you....as you are just starting up and need clients i would do it...every client has the potential to bring you more clients....it could end up that she has a neighbour who wants them done to...so the travel wouldn't be so bad if it was for 2 clients.

 

[Kittensgotclaws]

Hi there, i'm new to the business myself, has she already got gels on? if so, some nail tech's charge a little extra for maintaining nails that someone else has done, also, you have to figure out how much in petrol it would cost to get there as it's a little further than you would normally travel. Other than that i'm not sure. Jo.xx

 

[Missy G]

Hi there, i'm new to the business myself, has she already got gels on? if so, some nail tech's charge a little extra for maintaining nails that someone else has done, also, you have to figure out how much in petrol it would cost to get there as it's a little further than you would normally travel. Other than that i'm not sure. Jo.xx

- No she hasnt she purely wanted a gel overlay on her two thumbs as the nail was split,the way i priced it was i charge £30 for a full set of clear gel she wanted two doing so i called it £3 a nail and then rounded it up to a tenner for the petrol.I dont mind doing tis sorter thing during the day but in the evening its the inconvenience and like Vetty said if she became a regular ,would i wanna keep travelling to her of an eve regularly?Sposse one client wouldnt hurt but then at some point id have to put a stop to it.

 

[emerald]

Hi, i started out mobile doing nails, makeup in november, spray tanning last month and although at the moment i dont have many clients i state on my pricelist and website that i will travel upto 10miles from my postcode, any further and i will add 40p on for each extra mile. You could do something like this, oh and i have a minimum of £10 call out charge hth

 

[Missy G]

Hi, i started out mobile doing nails, makeup in november, spray tanning last month and although at the moment i dont have many clients i state on my pricelist and website that i will travel upto 10miles from my postcode, any further and i will add 40p on for each extra mile. You could do something like this, oh and i have a minimum of £10 call out charge hth

Ok thanks she got my number from Yell.com does anybody know if you can alter the details on their as this is where i get most of my calls from.xxand may be i can state this on there.xxm

 

[xAnnaBannAx]

im only in training at the moment but have always thought to myself that I will want the clients to come to me...and if they want me to come to them whatever the distance then they will have to pay extra...it must be a lot of hassle having to load all your things in and out of the car..cart it all about and set it all up in awkward places....my opnion is that providing a treatment to a client in their own home is a premium service and if they want that service then they will have to pay for it...perhaps saying that it will cost £A if they come to you and it will cost £A + £B amount if they want you to go to them will give them the incentive to save some money by coming to you.

 

[blossom]

I know exactly where you're coming from and when I was starting out I took clients on that I wouldn't take on now...... Now I'm quite firm about when and where I'll travel to.

The thing to bear in mind with the thumb nail lady is she may become a regular but if she does you'll be travelling for 50 minutes every 2 weeks for £10 each appt. 25 minutes away is what, 10 miles? 20 miles? A 20 mile round trip at 40p per mile is £8 in travelling cost alone..... My opinion? Don't do it.

When you're busier you wont feel bad at turning people down, trust me.

hth's

Well I was thinking how to put what I think into words and now I don't have to . . . Vetty's done it all for me lol!

 

[nailpod]

rather get the calls then not get them, i had lasy call for paint on toes in canary warf i live in richmond, after i finished i walked away £60 in my pocket its how well you sell yourself -you also need to think about doing evenings,as i run my mobile on eveings and week ends and i am SO BUSY i get home 12pm most evenings its ridiculous how busy i am.
I also dont do area more then 2 zones away from me and i add on travel fee's. Tell client before hand it costs £10for nails and £5 travel is that OK, if yes then go. Also ask do you have friend who you can ask round for a mani etc.. it pays to ask - dont ask you dont get!! GOOD LUCK girl you can do it!
by way try cut down set to 2 hrs or less, you wasting your time on travel so basically you get to do 2 sets a day, u may well get day job at that rate do nails part time.

 

[Missy G]

rather get the calls then not get them, i had lasy call for paint on toes in canary warf i live in richmond, after i finished i walked away £60 in my pocket its how well you sell yourself -you also need to think about doing evenings,as i run my mobile on eveings and week ends and i am SO BUSY i get home 12pm most evenings its ridiculous how busy i am.
I also dont do area more then 2 zones away from me and i add on travel fee's. Tell client before hand it costs £10for nails and £5 travel is that OK, if yes then go. Also ask do you have friend who you can ask round for a mani etc.. it pays to ask - dont ask you dont get!! GOOD LUCK girl you can do it!
by way try cut down set to 2 hrs or less, you wasting your time on travel so basically you get to do 2 sets a day, u may well get day job at that rate do nails part time.

I am doing nails part time i do have another part time job,i leave myself available to do nails Tues 9-5,fri 9-3 and weekends,evenings are awkward as i have a young daughter and my husband is on the road so i cant guarantee what time he will be home ,i only have me mum to look after me daughter who lives on the other side of town and cant drive,so unfortunatly this all messes things up for me,it does get to me as i really want to make a go of this but its hard when youve gotta work around the kids.As for me doing a set of nails in 2 hours..boy i would love to be able to,if someone can tell me the secret then please let me know as i get so frustated with it taking 3 hours,im sure the clients are glad to see when ive finished too.

 

[Gettin Nailed]

Hi ya I too am mobile. On my advertising I state the areas that I cover. But even with this on, I still get people wanting to know if I will travel a good 40 each way to do enhancements. I don't knock them back, but I do advise the prospective clients that as it is out of my specified travel area, a travel surcharge will be applied on top of the enhancement price. I lot of them do not mind paying the extra cost as they see is as a luxury in having a manicurist come to them, and others are penny pinchers & say no. For small jobs, I apply a minimum surcharge of $20 + cost of repair. The way I look at it is they are getting a professional service in the luxury of their own home - so I charge accordingly.

 

[mdskora]

Hi,
I had a call from a woman who wanted me to come to her in hospital... I work out of a salon so i don;t do mobile calls.... I happened to have a few times free that day so i decided that i would do it... I had just started out and it was only a 15min drive away. I charged her the price of a full set and she was more than happy to pay... she had a private room with a window so there was no problem with the smell... anyway that client had called 10 salons before me... she was about to give up.... now she is a reg client and has bought me a few more...
Why don't you tell her that if she wants just 2 nails done then maybe she needs to come to you....

I don;t like the idea of a mobile service for the fact that I sometimes bring my nail gear home and do my mother in laws and my back is just killing me after... table is not right... you are on funny angles etc.... not to mention the nice smell i had in the car after the monomer tipped over... hubby loved that mess.....lol
anyway i am sure that you will sort it out.... good luck with building up your business
XXOOX Mel

 

[soriminah]

I do mobile massage and I rarely say no to anyone unless they are an hour away. I just charge accordingly. Clients will say yes or no to the proposed fee.

My opinion is that potential client has family and friends who could live closer to me. Most of my work is word of mouth so I will only so no to someone if they live more than 1 hr away.

I'm in the middle of setting up a new price structure dependant on kms I have to travel.

Later in the year when I move I want to set up at home and get people coming to me which will then be easier (for me) and cheaper (for me).

 

[Missy G]

Hi,

Why don't you tell her that if she wants just 2 nails done then maybe she needs to come to you....

The reason why i am mobile is because i cant and dont want to work from home,ok if i had a separate room to work in id start working from home to moz,but i would have to make do with my front room,probly my daughter hanging around if it was an evening appointment,and the young dog all over her or sat at the door whining through out the appointment...that is why i dont work from home,hopefully later when i get a decent clientel bass i will either rent somewhere out ..but we shall wait and see,if im only doing nails a few days a week it may just be worth sticking to mobile.

 

[chantell simone]

I would say go for it

who knows what could become of it later

 

[Retired]

Hi, Debbie,

Personally, I'd go for it, it might be a one-off. On the other hand, if you had any flyers or business cards perhaps you could leave some with her? You could leave your details with all your new clients. That way you could possibly get more. If you did, say, 2 on the same day, it would only be one lot of petrol. Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll make a go of it. You know the old saying: "You have to speculate to accumulate"! :hug: