You are opening your new nail business, and planning your treatment/service menu and the prices. How do you go about it?
a. Look around locally and see what others charge, and
1. put your prices a bit lower OR
2. put your prices higher
b. Come up with prices that seem reasonable and ask your social media groups
c. Work out your overheads (rent, heating, lighting, insurance, refreshments, laundry, car costs, etc.). Work out the ‘cost of products’ for each service, the time needed for each service, and decide how much you need to earn per hour. From all these figures work out what you need to charge per service so it covers what you are actually paying out PLUS what you need to earn.
Well, clearly, c is the right answer!
If you want to have a real business that can earn you a living, then this is the only way to make this happen.
For lots of reasons, the nail sector in many countries is undercharging for nail services. Much of it is based on the worry that they will get no clients, or that the salon down the road will get more.
What is the point of working hard for many hours a day and earning much less than a minimum wage? Often, it is clear by some prices that it is costing the nail pro to provide their services! That is NOT a business that is going anywhere.
Unless prices are calculated on the brief explanation above, there really is no point in being self-employed in a nail business.
Not even mentioned in the calculations is the money and time you have spent on learning your skills! If you have invested in yourself then you must ensure your investment pays you back! The bigger investment, in both your education and improving your skills, the more you are absolutely entitled to charge your worth.
Do not stop at the minimum in order to get a qualification. If you do, then you cannot expect any more than the minimum return on your investment.
❌ Don’t aim to be the cheapest
√ Aim to be the best
❌ Don’t guess your prices
√ Work out your prices so you earn a wage
❌ ‘Fully qualified’?
√ No one is ever ‘fully qualified’. It is a lifelong learning process. Keep learning.
❌ Scared to put prices up?
√ Put them up by a little each year rather than a lot in a couple of years
Work smarter not harder! 4 clients paying £40 = £160.
So much better than 8 clients paying £20!
Be the BEST you can be!
