Working too much for nothing...

[_sabrina_]

Hi everyone
I'm in need of some advice!

I am a mobile tech, and I have to say I have my days full doing nails. I manage to see 5 clients maximum in a day, or 6, if 2 are at the same house. I take 1hr30mins approx with each one, sometime 1hr15mins but due to chit chat/phone/client answering door, it takes more.

I work a full 5 days a week and on Wednesdays I try to keep it free as my day off or only do 1. I wouldn't manage my life otherwise.
So..all in all, with 5 clients a day, that's a 10hrs working day due to travelling+packing/unpacking time which always takes me 30mins inbetween clients.

Lately I have been feeling really tired due to all these hours, often not engaging into conversations with my clients cos I would be almost sleeping there and then (lol), and on Sundays all I want to do is sleep to regain my energies! and feeling that I'm not paid enough after all. Do you think this is worth it?

I charge approx £18/€20 as the starting price for a refill and I'm feeling it's cheap.
I really want to put my prices up to compensate for petrol and mostly travelling time (because after almost 5yrs, I now just realized I spend approx 2hr30mins travelling a day and that's time lost!:suprised

Do you think it will be worth it to say, put my prices up by £1.75/€2 and risk losing some clients so that I would work less hours? This dilemma has been bugging me for weeks. I am afraid of losing clients though I have a good client base with a 3 week waiting time to fit new ones.

Any views or advice for me pleeasseee?

oh just now I've had a text asking to repair a nail today!! don't you know it's Sunday ((

 

[angel fingers]

i recently did a £2 price rise on all my services. i had agonised over it for nearly 2 years!

it hasnt made any difference to my client list. they are all still with me.

a lot of them commented that i hadnt had a price rises in ages and i shouldnt have waited so long. one of them summed up the situation by saying that if a persons budget was so tight that they couldnt find another £2 in 3 weeks then they really shouldnt be having their nails done at all.

if you have more clients lined up too, then its obvious your work is in demand. have the confidence in your ability and up your prices. really you want to work out the cost of 2 1/2 hrs that you loose per day and divide it between the 5 clients you do in a day to cover your lost hours if you feel that you are doing them unpaid.

 

[geeg]

I would say your prices are WAY below what they should be and by a larger margin than 2£. At two hours per client and minus travel time and product expenses plus depreciation and the rest, you are practically on a minium wage.

I honestly suggest you get help to work out a reasonable and realistic price for your services and suck up the losses and start afresh. If your clients love you they will live with it ... If not then you will attract new ones.

 

[mizzy_dizzy]

price hike!
A wise man toled me last week " less work more money " lol

 

[pinkypink]

firstly well done for building a clientel so big,
im not really sure the price of nails where you are but it does sound a little cheap, maybe you should look around your area at differnt places and see what they charge then go from there.
i think the nail was hit on the head ( if your clients cant afford an exra few pound sorry dollars every few weeks then they shouldnt be getting nails done)
good luck hun Xx

 

[showson]

Hi

I to am a mobile tech and it is really hard work lugging all your stuff about and driving as well run back and forth home chaning bits from one client to the next.

I dont have a big a client base as you as i have only been doing nails since last sumer and this takes time to build etc. I was doing nails for £15.00 and i to realised that this was not good as i was just not making any money buy time you took of costs of products pertrol etc so what i did was did a new price list for new clients and for all my clients i had at the time i just explained the situation that i was not making any money and that now i had been going for a while that my nails were better so i would have to put there nails up by £5 to £20 a set the majority of my clients stayed and said that they understand and pay the extra £5 no problem one two left and went some where else but they have slowly came back to me and now i am still not making money but i am making more and hopefully over the next year things will get better as i get more clients.

If you clients are happy with you and like your work then they will pay the extra but you real need to get your prices up as products are very expensive (which i think sometimes clients dont realise how much things costs) and all the work that we put in to do a set of nails we deserve to get a little something out of it (apart from the feeling that you get when you have done a fab set lol ).

 

[kdmb212]

I haven't launched yet, BUT I can tell you how I have been figuring out my prices. Calculate how much it costs you for product, add your average petrol usage (it will obviously be different for every client so just give yourself a little leeway...remember you are giving them a little extra so they do not have to go anywhere!), this will be your TOTAL cost of service. Now calculate how much you would like to earn per hour, (I won't post any numbers as it's against the rules ) and multiply that by how long it takes for a treatment. Research the prices around you and if you are still falling a bit low or finding you are a bit steep than just re-calculate. If you are falling low then perhaps add 10 or 20% as extra overhead. Sorry if this is all stuff you already know just don't sell yourself short! You are obviously in high-demand so charge accordingly! :lick: Best of luck hun xx

 

[Missy G]

Ah bless you ,I cant give you advice on raising your prices as its something I havent done yet..but seriously think I should with the price of petrol now a days, but its nice to know your busy but sometmes we do find it hard saying no ..or must say I do so myself..and we run ourselves in to the ground.

I worked an 11 hour shift last Wednesday, and that killed me,not something Im used to and that was just for one day , so god knows how you must be feeling.

I had had such a busy week ,Friday after my last appointment my phone was switched off (this is bank holiday weekend)...and I decided Im chilling for the weekend....Monday evening I thought Id just switch my phone on to see if anybody had called..at 5pm BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY...have you any appointments available today for some nail extensions please.. :grr:

 

[Envylicious]

Hi,
You are so lucky! I have just started up in business myself, from home, but willing to do mobile work. I have done a website, which is fairly high in the listings, dropped leaflets through doors, handed out business cards, put signs up outside, been round to nearby hairdressers and left leaflets, and still no clients. Is it me? Am I doing something wrong? I realise these things take time, but I am getting so fed up now, with no enquiries etc. What are your secrets of success?:sad:

 

[kdmb212]

Hi,
You are so lucky! I have just started up in business myself, from home, but willing to do mobile work. I have done a website, which is fairly high in the listings, dropped leaflets through doors, handed out business cards, put signs up outside, been round to nearby hairdressers and left leaflets, and still no clients. Is it me? Am I doing something wrong? I realise these things take time, but I am getting so fed up now, with no enquiries etc. What are your secrets of success?:sad:

Sorry to hijack...but this is actually my biggest fear when I launch. It's a matter of market saturation. NSS and cheapies are a dime a dozen around here. You have to narrow your market and find what they are looking for and then provide it. I was able to get quite a bit of information by just asking people I would come into contact with on a daily basis. When I drop my daughter off at school I talk, when I'm getting my hair done, I talk...talk talk talk lol. Find your market and talk yourself up into you are blue in the face HA Good luck to both of us! xx

 

[The Beauty Shed]

I would definately up your prices hun, you probably won't lose clients but if you do you'll get some of that free time you want.

Also I would recommend that from now on you up your prices once a year slightly rather than by alot every few years. It is less likely to annoy your customers this way, plus you won't end up feeling like this again.

 

[jodie_glo]

you've been given some great advice hun! i would defo up your prices. if i was your client and i loved your work i would pay the extra without a second thought!

to me it seems the wholesalers puts there prices up slightly yearly so why should the tech!

good luck hun

Jodie x x

 

[wendy malley]

I agree you should put your prices up.Even if you lose a few clients this will give you room for the ones that will pay and time for yourself.You must be doing something right as they seem to be comming back. Good luck and i hope you feel more cheerfull soon and start to enjoy your nails again x

 

[_sabrina_]

I want to thank you all for your advice and support
For those just starting out mobile I would say to never give up because it takes time to build a clientele...
I must admit I do all these hours because I still live at home and I have my mother cook/wash clothes for me and find food ready as soon as I get home so I defo won't make it otherwise.
Big thanks for your advice...I will definately be upping my prices for new clients at least, and see from there. A word from you geeks means a lot Here there's the mentality that as mobile, prices should be cheaper, not the other way round as you're accomodating them. It's true maybe I lose a few clients but I would get some free time to be with my family and not dreading them as I'm so tired... so for those starting out I would give the advice not to undersell yourselves to get clients because you'll regret it later like I am!

 

[angel fingers]

I want to thank you all for your advice and support
For those just starting out mobile I would say to never give up because it takes time to build a clientele...
I must admit I do all these hours because I still live at home and I have my mother cook/wash clothes for me and find food ready as soon as I get home so I defo won't make it otherwise.
Big thanks for your advice...I will definately be upping my prices for new clients at least, and see from there. A word from you geeks means a lot Here there's the mentality that as mobile, prices should be cheaper, not the other way round as you're accomodating them. It's true maybe I lose a few clients but I would get some free time to be with my family and not dreading them as I'm so tired... so for those starting out I would give the advice not to undersell yourselves to get clients because you'll regret it later like I am!

glad you are feeling better about it all. what a lucky girl to have your mum looking after you, she must be proud of how hard you work.

funny how people think mobile should be cheaper. yes, you dont have salon overheads to pay but you do have car maintenance, petrol and travel time to think about. these costs make it sensible to be the same cost as a salon.

 

[marie111]

Sabrina, before even reading your post, I read the title and straight away thought,"put your prices up"
Thats all I have to say.

 

[_sabrina_]

Ah bless you ,I cant give you advice on raising your prices as its something I havent done yet..but seriously think I should with the price of petrol now a days, but its nice to know your busy but sometmes we do find it hard saying no ..or must say I do so myself..and we run ourselves in to the ground.

I worked an 11 hour shift last Wednesday, and that killed me,not something Im used to and that was just for one day , so god knows how you must be feeling.

I had had such a busy week ,Friday after my last appointment my phone was switched off (this is bank holiday weekend)...and I decided Im chilling for the weekend....Monday evening I thought Id just switch my phone on to see if anybody had called..at 5pm BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY...have you any appointments available today for some nail extensions please.. :grr:

Yep it's exactly like that it's so hard working 12hrs...then 10hrs, then another 10hrs, then Sunday, what a relief!!

 

[_sabrina_]

Hi,
You are so lucky! I have just started up in business myself, from home, but willing to do mobile work. I have done a website, which is fairly high in the listings, dropped leaflets through doors, handed out business cards, put signs up outside, been round to nearby hairdressers and left leaflets, and still no clients. Is it me? Am I doing something wrong? I realise these things take time, but I am getting so fed up now, with no enquiries etc. What are your secrets of success?:sad:

As you said you just started,...it took me almost 5years to have all this work so don't give up! The best ad is word of mouth! do your friends and family's nails and let them advertise you!

 

[_sabrina_]

Sabrina, before even reading your post, I read the title and straight away thought,"put your prices up"
Thats all I have to say.

Thanks Marie A word from someone else (all of you) really does help to sum up the courage to increase my prices!!