Would You All Do It Again

[tamimac]

I love my mobile nail job, but if I'd known just how much my husbands job was going to get in the way I would NEVER have gone down this path. I am not where I want to be, partly because we up sticks and move nearly every year, but also because I dont earn what I need to invest in my business.
Geeg mentioned funding/investment as a neccesary input (as well as training) and the funding is out of my reach. Looking back, if I knew what I knew now, I wouldnt be doing this.

 

[Jen Smith]

6 months ago I was worrying that I had made a huge financial mistake with beginning a new career at 43 year old. The effort and financial expense was starting to get me down as I couldnt see any financial gains and my work just didnt seem to be getting better.

Well something must have clicked over the last few months as I have much more confidence now, I am getting more and more new clients - who are returning! - so I presently feel it was the right choice and I now feel I would do it all over again for sure.

 

[joanne2005]

i would defo do it all again as i love nails but wish i had looked around abit more for training as would done it with Creative if i had looked into it a little more than i did! or if i had found this site b4.

 

[Susie H]

like so many others I wish I had started this years ago:lol:
I cant say I didn't know that setting up my own business wasn't going to be a long hard slog or expensive, coz I've been around the block a few times and I know there's no such thing as a free lunch, but I love it, its the first thing I've ever done that a year down the line is still challenging me and making me challenge myself. and it always seems that when I'm at my lowest someone comes in and either says, my mate says you do good nails, or they look really pleased when I've finished. But I do wish I was now at the point I want to be in 5 years time:lol:

 

[~shelley~]

I would do it all again.
Although I know i am only 24 but I wish i had gone straight from school & done an apprentiship or college course in nails & beauty when I was 16 & by now I would have had 8 years experience & training!! But saying that I do believe things happen for a reason & I did an apprentiship in Business Admin & have a good business head which is essential.
I love my job & dont regret a thing about my training, i started with Essential Nails & went on the do creative foundation & brisa induction aswell as courses in Beauty Therapy & tanning & will carry on with training as its such an important part of being a professional!!

 

[Snugglepuss]

I would also do it all again - but a lot earlier in my life :green: hoping one day I can do a 121 with one of the top geeks:green: :hug:

 

[Urban Geek]

Although I know i am only 24 but I wish i had gone straight from school & done an apprentiship or college course in nails & beauty when I was 16 & by now I would have had 8 years experience & training!!

Oh Shelley! You are such a young puppy - you lucky girl! You are at probably the ideal age to enter the nail industry - you know what you want to do, have the maturity to go for it and such youth to have a really long and rewarding career.

 

[ariaaland]

hi all hope you are all good... i would not change a thing about choosing this career path, my only regret is that i never starte out earlier when i was single without kids where it would have been so much easier for me to go on courses and attend shows stuff like that..with the kids, school, husband and all that..it really is not easy. right now i am contemplating attanding the new york show this month end but the kids have school and my hubby has his job so i am stumped as to what to do i hear also jess from washinton (the usa) is holding gel classes in ny in the 1st week of may she is a whiz at akentz gels the top of the class actually and i really wante dto go to her class but as usual what to do with my kids is what is stopping me. ah well just have to make the best of what i have on hand. but its been sometimes depressing for me when nails dont come out how you want them to or clients get on your case and sometimes the clientele is not as you would like (full booked 24/7) but i am hanging in there and i will never give it up..i eat sleep and breathe nails, wheni am not doing nails its like i am totally lost dont know what to do with myself

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Would I go back to a job working for someone else who doesn't appreciate my hard work and devotion to my job, wake up in the morning not wanting to go to work, having my sales targets continually increased because I was so successful, come home from work crying, feeling stressed, screaming at my children because I'm stressed, office politics, bitching and nastiness etc etc etc but earning mega bucks and loads of company perks???????

Or would I stay in a job that I love, that never stresses me, that the pay keeps me alive, that I have time and energy for my family, that I can grow my skillbase, that I get to meet lovely clients who are so interesting etc etc etc????????

Hmm tough call, but I think I'd have to say the latter.


I love my job!!!!

 

[scattyfox]

Do it all over again .

I think i would learn how to run a business first though and done my degree in that, somthing that was relevant, i would have gone straight to NVQ as well and got that out of the way first, wouldnt have wasted loads of money on useless items that i thought i needed but didnt, but however fed up i get with it all the underlying passion is still there and i refuse to ive up.

Have to say where i live the amrket is totally saturated with anil technicians some good and some not so good and lots of NSS, eventually one day my niche will appear.

 

[Klassy Klaws]

I voted yes yes yes!!! The only thing that i would change is that I would start as soon as I left school and not waited until I was 34 I feel I have missed out on loads

 

[1999judy]

Yes I would definately do it again but wish I'd found the site earlier and got some Ez Flow training sooner instead of wasting money on poor quality products.

 

[geeg]

I was 35 when I started my nail career. I do not wish I had started earlier ... I think the time was right. Nails were in their infancy in the UK too which gave me the honour of having a real influence on how the industry was initially shaped in the UK.

I had the privilege of staying at home raising my children during their formative years .... my clients took me more seriously because of my age ... I had the experience that gave me a business head and a good rapport with people ... I think it all came together at the right time for me. I find things usually happen for a reason and in the appropriate time.

 

[izzidoll]

Absolutely!!

And I do not think that nail technicians are badly paid or that the market is saturated or that training is too expensive.


I think most enter the business completely underfunded and are totally unrealistic about exactly what is involved in the nail business.

The attitude of so many is, "Oh nails!! That sounds nice. A salon!! That sounds fun." and have no conception of what is really involved or how serious a business it is.

I totally agree with Geeg.....I absolutely would do the same again.....AND YET I am one of the ones who probably entered this business as a self employed technician TOTALLY underfunded and unrealistic...I just rented space and opened up......and clients appeared!!!....AND STAYED FOR 6/7 YEARS!!!!.....Obviously as I went on I got serious...nothing makes you more serious than taking on an employee and being responsible for their livelihood!

I wish I had done this as a career 20 years ago....AND YET were their such opportunities 20 years ago???...
If I was 20 years younger I would be aiming so high in my career...Team Creative ...Session work....Nail Technician of the Year...the world would be my oyster....but I am not 20 years younger ....
But there is nothing to stop the students I train to achieve these goals....and that is what I love about being an Educator in this industry....I already now have students who are training because they love the work and success their own technician is having...and I trained THEM!!...This is a fantastic industry to make a good living...and a great career depending what path you want to follow you just have to get the best out of your training and GO FOR IT!!!............

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

I was 35 when I started my nail career. I do not wish I had started earlier ... I think the time was right. Nails were in their infancy in the UK too which gave me the honour of having a real influence on how the industry was initially shaped in the UK.

I had the privilege of staying at home raising my children during their formative years .... my clients took me more seriously because of my age ... I had the experience that gave me a business head and a good rapport with people ... I think it all came together at the right time for me. I find things usually happen for a reason and in the appropriate time.

Absolutly spot on there Huni,
I entered the industry at the same age 35 in 1992 and the only thing I would change is being a Creative Technician much sooner and not waiting till 2003 to get my CND Education, thanks Geeg.....
Do I wish I had done it all earlier, yes and no..... yes because I probably would have it all sussed by now and had a fab salon and education centre.... but would I ??? Would I have been as passionate about nails then as I am now ??? I think Nails found me when the time was right,my personal situation ment that I had to succeed or else I wouldn't eat lol...Self employed from day one Mobile and then Salon.. So I had to be a success and had to make sure that all the lessons that life threw at me where being put to good use....I would have to thank my ex husband for this one.... oh sucess is the best revenge one can have lol....
I never dread going to work, I never dread the day ahead... I love what I do and it is never to late to start something new....

So would I do it all again..... Oh yes, I would!!!!!

 

[dids]

Yes, I would do it all again but in a different way. I would pay for good reliable, informative training with a respected and well known company right from the start. I initially wasted my money doing what many if us do by doing a 2 day course which in the end cost me as much as decent training would have done and meant I had to pay again for better training with CND.

Ditto

 

[Northern Nails]

yep i'd definately do it all again although it's still early days for me as far as what i am wanting to achieve. but i'd do it all again and change nothing, except to toughen up a little.

 

[nailzoo]

I'd do it all again, but perhaps this time I'd go for money instead of honor (cause honor hasn't paid me much), but them again maybe i wouldn't/couldn't ..... damn it, now i'm having a dilemma

 

[Urban Geek]

Thanks to everyone who participated in this thread. It is great to get everyones thoughts on things. I learned a lot from the responses and it is a great result that nail technicians have a genuine passion for nails, are not solely motivated by money, are very happy to belong to the industry and would do it all again. Hurray! (I wonder if we are happier than beauticians and hairdressers?)

 

[Lily]

Deffo.....i wouldnt want to be part of any other industry, i love it so much and because of my age i am taken much more seriously, not just a bimbo which is what we are seen as sometimes (unfortunitley)

I love my job

Amanda