Want to start a home or mobile nail business? Here’s what you need to know

Session nail stylist, salon owner & educator, Marie-Louise Coster, shares her experiences working from home and on a mobile basis…

We are in a cost of living crisis: everything is more expensive than it was and people aren’t spending as much money. So is now a good time to start a business? Absolutely! I started my first, very successful business in a recession – which I later sold. I then started my current, very successful business in a recession. If you wait for the perfect time, it will never come.

There have been shifts in the nail industry over the years, and one positive is that opinions that home salons and mobile businesses aren’t the same quality as high street salons have almost disappeared. These days, there are more home-based and mobile beauty businesses than high street salons.

Starting a home nail business

There are many advantages of being home-based, such as no travelling costs or time, reduced overheads, less hustle and bustle than the high street, parking is generally easy and free and working hours can flexible. However, the main downside is that your home becomes a little less personal, and sometimes you may feel isolated.

I pride myself in the standard, service and setup of my home salon. It runs exactly the same as my high street salon did: the only difference being that I have one large room rather than two, plus my high street salon had  a reception/waiting area. My treatment room is set out like any other, with aspects like calming music, point of sale material and a retail area, and clients receive the same service but in a more peaceful environment.

Home salons should have a designated room that is easily accessible without having to walk through the house. Nobody needs to be paraded to their service past your husband watching The Traitors.

You are required to inform your local council, home insurer and mortgage provider to ensure you are permitted to work from your home. If you are renting, working from home is generally not an option unless your landlord gives permission. In addition to this, you need public and product liability insurance, as well as professional indemnity insurance. You should also have money in the bank to see you through the first 12 months at least. It generally takes three years to see any profit, so make sure your business can support itself.

You must work out the treatments you will offer, and your product and consumable costs per treatment. Don’t forget the cost of laundry, heating, lighting and so on. Start as you mean to go on and charge what you are worth – read my previous column about this here. Be prepared to work hard, because ultimately no one will know your business is there in the same way that they would see a high street salon.

Starting a mobile nail business

There are many similarities between owning a home-based salon and working mobile. You still need to ensure that you have a business plan and finances, work to high professional standards and have the same insurances. You must inform your car insurance company that you are using your car for business, so you can be correctly insured.

While your overheads will seem lower, you will have wear and tear on your car and a lot of lost time, as you will be travelling between clients and setting and packing up. This lost time is lost money. You should also set an area to cover and have an extra travel charge for locations beyond this, for example £5 for a further five miles.

I will admit, going mobile is hard work: there is lifting, travelling, loading and unloading, setting up in confined spaces and not having control of noise or temperature in someone else’s house, so do your best to create as tranquil and professional an environment as possible. For example, take music, cosy blankets and towels with you and dress professionally.

With a home-based and mobile business, you must consider your safety. With one, you have strangers coming to your home, and with the other you are going to their homes.

I would be mindful of putting yourself in awkward situations, so have specific policies. I have a rule that I only treat female clients, unless a male client is a relative or close friend of another client. It is a matter of safeguarding, and when working alone you must take precautions. If you are mobile, ensure that someone knows where you are at all times, and perhaps have a system where you ring someone when you finish and if you haven’t called by a certain time, they must raise the alarm.

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