Mobile nails or home salon?

[Angelcakelover]

I'm training to do gel nails at the moment and I'm thinking ahead about what I should do after. Currently, I don't drive. I'm having lessons but even if I pass by the end of the year, I probably won't be able to get a car until next year. So offering a mobile nail service could be a little tricky unless a lot of my clients are in walking distance. However, transporting my kit could be another tricky factor.

A home salon could be an idea but I don't have a spare room I can work out of so it would have to be my dining table in the living room. I don't know if that would be unprofessional? Also, there's other factors I'd have to consider like getting permission from the landlord. Is there anything else I have to consider if I go down this route?

I don't know if there's a third option. Anyone have any ideas? I don't want to wait a year or two before I kick-start my business. I don't like my current job and I'm very keen to start doing something I actually enjoy. Thanks in advance!

Can’t you rent a space in a local salon?

You can’t do it at home due to no space and yes I imagine the landlord would be annoyed if you were running a business from the premises. The wear and tear on the property with people coming in and out all day needs to be considered.

But you can’t be mobile because you’re not, well, mobile.

Surely renting space is your only option?

I'd agree with @Moveoverdarlin

It's unlikely your LL would allow it but that aside if I went to get my nails done and it was at someone's dining room table I wouldn't go back

At the moment renting a room sounds like your only real option

Renting a chair/table at a salon would be the usual way to do it. You can't do mobile if you're not mobile. A girl in one of the villages just outside my town does "mobile" hairdressing but doesn't drive. Everyone who's tried to book her says it's a total waste of time as she can't actually get to appointments. And you can't generally do it at home if you're in a rental, I've never seen a tenancy contract that didn't specifically state that you can't run any kind of business from the premises, sorry.

Agree on renting a chair in a local salon!

For doing them at clients homes you're going to need a car realistically, otherwise taxis etc will cost a fortune.

A dining table isn't great for a home set up, it's going to be uncomfortable and all at weird angles for doing the nails.

I like the idea of renting a space, however some of them are crazy expensive. I've found one fairly local that is £50 a day, but in the beginning, it might be hard to even get a couple of clients a day surely? I'm just worried about losing money. Would it also be worth contacting some local salons to see if they have a room to rent or to see if they would take on a trainee? This is all a bit new to me, I work in childcare atm so very different.

When I was trying to set up in beauty I looked into all this and I found the best benefit to renting a chair is that the salon are basically advertising for you, you benefit from their footfall and existing client relationships, so you get more customers and can establish yourself quicker.

What DSis (hairdresser) did when she was getting re-established after 5 years of an office job was she rented a chair on a Saturday so she didn't have to leave her existing job, then when she'd got some regulars she rented through the week as well. Could you do something like that?

It's always going to be a big jump when you change career but once you actually get established you'll be fine.

That's a really good idea actually, as I only work Mon-Fri 15 hours a week, so could maybe do a few hours on a Saturday. Fab idea, thank you :)

Good luck, I hope it works out for you! 😊