Some of you may want to start a home business, some of you in a salon. Whatever your choice, having a little knowledge of business will help you prepare for your career as nail technician.
Keep up to date with trends, you can use a number of sources, e.g.
Advertise your business and services through social media, take images of nails you have completed and write about them! (with your client’s permission first).
If you are going to work for yourself having an understanding a little of what you need to do goes a long way. There is lots of great information on the IRD website about small businesses, what you need to do, how to register a small business and so on.
Make a plan of what you are hoping your business will look like, start small and build this as you get new clients and see regular returning clients, things to think about are
- How many hours will you work per day/week?
- How many clients do you expect to see per week?
- What type of service will they have?
- Manicure
- Pedicure
- Nail enhancement
- Nail art
- How much product will you need?
- Will you order monthly?
Look at other businesses, what are their prices? It is important not to undersell yourself. A promotion to attract new clients is a great thing, but make sure you are making enough to cover your time, product and service. Always put a portion of your takings aside to ensure you have funds available to pay for
- Replacement products
- Tax
- Insurance
- Electricity
- Laundry
- Phone
Make a list of what your goals are, where do you want to be in 6 months, 12 months, 2 years, 5 years. These goals give you a starting point to work from.
Remember goals can and will change – this is absolutely normal, you can revisit them at any time, making changes that suit you
Part of client care is recommendation of treatments and products. Having the confidence to recommend and sell a product and treatment is very different to a ‘HARD SELL’. Nobody likes having something in their face. Learning the art of retailing a product without retailing takes practice and time. One of the biggest hurdles you will need to overcome is
‘BELIEVING IN YOURSELF’
You must believe in your abilities, love your job and enjoy your products. Clients see this as confidence, confidence gives clients trust, and trust gives you the ability to do your job confidently.
Your treatment should be client focussed from start to finish. Have products ready to show your client, something they have talked about, e.g. dry cuticles, by the end of your treatment you should know what, if anything, your client is using, how much product she has left.
Make sure you allocate enough time in the booking.
If a client is having more than one treatment, e.g. manicure and a pedicure, with gel polish, you will need to allocate time for each treatment.
Manicure with gel polish 45 minutes
Pedicure with gel polish 60 minutes