You've passed your course, you're full of excitement, and rightly so, but before you start your treatments we would like to share a simple guide to help you set up your business.
Your Business Name
It can feel daunting to be faced with a blank page when thinking about your business name.
Start with looking for something memorable that will stand out from the crowd. Including your name or possibly the location can help clients remember the name of your business. Steer clear of anything too generic such as; ‘The Brow Rooms’ as it could easily get confused with a competitor offering similar services. A good place to start is to check the names of nearby beauty businesses to try and rule out any confusion.
Speak with friends and family and bounce ideas around, ask them how they would perceive your business, your personality and what would attract them to booking a treatment with you. Keep the ideas process fun and enjoyable try not to get to bogged down in perfection.
Social Media Page
Social media is a great way to engage with your current and future clients. With it being such a large and ever growing business tool it's important to be visible and active across the relevant platforms. Set up accounts for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok ands twitter and see what works best for you.
Have a think about your social media strategy and how you are going to attract people to your pages. Whether this is beautiful images showing off your work, fun facts, useful hints and tips, invaluable advise for your clients, giveaways or testimonials theres so many snippets that will help grow your brand.
Insurance
Beauty therapy insurance helps whether you work from a salon or visit clients at home. It covers a wide range of treatments and, if something does go wrong, pays your legal costs and any damages you owe.
As a bare minimum, we’d suggest getting treatment and public liability insurance, and salon or portable equipment insurance. That way you’re covered for any mistakes you make, any unexpected accidents, and anything untoward happening to your kit.
Prices will vary It depends on which types of cover you want, and how much of each. But it stands to reason, the more beauty insurance you buy, the higher your premium will be.
Getting the word out
You want to be attracting YOUR ideal client so think about who that person is. They love the type of treatments you offer, book regularly and often, are easy and pleasant to service and are likely to refer you to friends. Focus your new client market on these type of people.
Get yourself listed on google so that if people are searching salons/therapists in a particular area your details will pop up. Ensure you have your opening times and contact details up to date to maximise on enquiries.
Try to entice some new customers with some simple specials. Try to add value instead of discounting. For example, post an image on Instagram advertising a daily special: a free tint with every brow wax for example.
Pricing
Do a competitive analysis of other therapists/salons in your area and compare prices. Work out the average price - you can then determine what you are comfortable with and base your prices on that.
Know your numbers and the physical costs of running the business, work out your cost per treatment so that you don't run at a loss. The more experience you gain ensure you reflect that in your pricing, you will be investing in your qualifications so be confident in charging your value.
Lastly enjoy the experience! It's easy to get bogged down in the administrative side of starting a business. Remember why you started and what you are giving to your clients.
At The London Brow Company we are always here to support you every step of the way so never hesitate to contact us for ongoing advice.
