When I first started my curiosity in nails, it started because I was buying all the things, and before I knew it, I had a little trolley cart in our apartment that I would haul around to whatever area I was going to work on my nails.
I learned the hard way that certain areas in our apartment were off-limits; if even the smallest possibilities existed, I could ruin our furniture. So then, well, you know, the thought of buying a designated manicuring table and then a proper light so that I can see properly all started creeping in, and before you know it, I had a home makeshift nail studio for myself, friends, and family…
Maybe you can relate??
Then one thing leads to another: you start inviting your friends, colleagues, and family, and then perhaps you start pondering if and how much you should start charging.
But here’s the thing…
What you built in your home up to this point that I’ve described is not a business in most cases; it’s simply a hobby area. And it really is not a matter of opinion, especially in the United States.
Your place of business has to be zoned. Meaning constructed and approved by local ordinances as a place for legal business that allows foot traffic to happen.
And here’s what I see happening a lot.
A lot of you will start your business on this foundation, the non-legit business situation, then go on to invest in all the things, whether that’s education, high-end products, equipment, furniture, and so on and so forth, and you may get exceptionally well at what you do. Like the best nails ever, right?
But you’ll begin to notice your business really not propelling forward. This brings me to what I want to discuss today: Why a home-based nail business will stunt your growth.
And I want to be clear:
Now, I did a video on the topic of a legal home-based nail business a couple of years ago.(Can I run a nail business from home? Video)
As far as I know, the law hasn’t changed much, so much of the information will still apply.
Now, if you’re not in a non-legit home-based situation and you’re struggling to fill your books, I want to invite you to join us inside the Client Booster Camp Course. This is a self-paced digital course where I share very actionable steps for you to attract loyal return clientele. In this course, I share the same strategies that helped one of my students book herself out within 6 months of nail school.
If you sign up for the waitlist, I’ll be sending some special bonuses your way in the coming days if you decide to join. Again, link for that is in the description below.
Today, I’m not here to be the home nail studio police. My whole-hearted intention is to help you build your nail business quickly, including filling your books with loyal return clientele that joyfully supports your premium specialty business. And I’m finding more and more that those struggling the most are those trying to operate a home-based nail studio.
So, I want to share:
that have been communicated to me by students or community members within the last 2 years or so.
I don’t want to share my opinion much because the law is the law, and also, it’s more beneficial for you to hear recent real-life stories, than opinion.
Fallout #1: No bookings at all
This one is probably the most common. When you run a home-based nail business, clients are just not comfortable with that. Especially a higher-end clientele, if and I assume you are, trying to make top-dollar doing this.
So, I know at least three nail techs who have shared with me that they’ve noticed reluctance with prospects coming to their homes for nail services.
And I mean, post 2020 especially, I get it.
Plus, People more than ever are willing to pay for the experience or feeling that their pampering session gives them. I mean, come on, this idea of self-care blew up like crazy.
The only way prospects are willing to compromise that experience is if they can get on the cheap, which you can then see how that would be a catch-22 where you want to charge premium. Still, your clients may be having a hard time accepting that working out of your home is a premium experience.
Fallout #2: Clients not tipping
So this is a new one for me. Again, it was shared by a community member.
This scenario went like this: a community member had her own nail suite, and yearned to be home with her toddler, which I can totally understand because I have one.
So she closed the studio, started working from home, then started noticing clients not tipping anymore, when they were apparently very generous tippers at the suite.
I’m trying to remember why I felt like clients stopped tipping when I was in the salon taking clients, and often, it had to do with raising my prices. But I thought it was fair. I’d rather them stop tipping, but they’re still coming, and I’m still making the same amount of money or more depending on how much I raised my prices.
So, in that scenario where my community member saw clients stop tipping, what may have happened is that, because they lost the premium experience and the tech, the expenditure of a designated nail suite, with prices that may not have dropped for them…
They gave themselves a cut, basically, by not tipping.
I could see that.
Fallout #3: Losing the majority of all of your clients
Again, this is not hypothetical, and this actually happened to a community member.
So, for whatever perceived valuable reason (I’m sure), this particular nail tech wanted to work from home. Seemed OK with clients at the beginning, but clients started dropping off, and before this nail tech knew it she didn’t have much of a clientele. Which is heartbreaking, considering how difficult it is to attract and keep just one client.
So again, that sort of confirms a bit of what we discussed in Fallout #2, where clients just lose the value of what you do or think that it should be offered “on the cheap” because it’s an under the table operation kind-of-thing.
So yeah, just wanted to share these 3 fallouts with you all, in case you are either currently in a home-based business but you’re struggling to grow your clientele or you’re struggling to charge on the high-end. This unfortunately may be the looming gray cloud hampering your business.
Again you do you. I’m just here to provide a little bit of insight on this.
Also if you’re currently in a professional environment and considering downgrading to a non-legit home-based business, again, take these real stories into consideration.
And listen, I get it things are tight, but I know that you can find a little space in a salon for anywhere from $400-600 per month of rent, or you can share a nail suite, or now certain states allow you to rent an office suite, so as long as there are obviously restroom facilities.
So again, if I can help you with really good actionable strategies to grow your clientele list, and you’re already in a proper business space, and you’ve also mastered product retention on your clients. I want to invite you into this special enrollment season for my Client Booster Camp course. You can find the link HERE for this waitlist and other helpful resources.
Thanks for spending this short time with me. I’ll see you next week, bye for now.
Content written by Paola Ponce
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