Having your own spa business and a part time job in the field at the same time...dilemma?

Hey everybody, so this post is mainly for feedback for purposes. I'm having a little bit of a dilemma, and I would love to hear what other etsy's or business owners who have gone through this, or are going through this have to say...

As I've posted before, I am starting my own small spa business doing treatments on my own..I plan to gain more clientele and just really get this going so I can eventually make this business huge and own my own full upscale day spa, yes I'm a little girl with big dreams and determined to make them happen....however, as we all know making a business happen, and actually getting the income takes quite some time, I don't expect to start making the money as soon as I start having clients.

Now of course I have lots of other bills to pay too, I am 24 with my own apartment, car, food, phone, life etc etc....I definitely need a part time job again on the side right now. It's just time.
The thing is...I obviously want to find a job in my field, doesn't necessarily have to be a spa, but somewhere dealing with skincare or make up, whatever...but working at a spa for even more experience woulddd really be ideal, however.. at the same time I feel like I'd kind of being competing with myself? And I just wonder if I went for an interview at a spa, now that I have my own spa business, would they all not want to hear that I have my own spa business? Would that be a no-no? At the same time I don't want to be totally dishonest, what if they find out anyway? I obviously wouldn't go taking their clients back to my business, that's deff a no-no although it would be a little bit hard not to tell the clients I have my own thing, I just know that's a line I shouldn't cross, at least until I leave eventually, and THEY choose to come to me..but how would the spa owners know and believe that....I know my true intentions, but how could they know...

Same question even if I apply at a place like Saks Fifth Avenue, or Sephora, somewhere that doesn't offer facials but does skincare..where do I draw the line in the interviews when it comes to speaking about having a business? I'd figure in a setting like this, it would be a good thing for them to hear, but maybe not..

I had an interview at a spa over a year ago, when I was still in school, it was for a receptionist job with the possibility of eventually moving up and doing treatments once I finish school, I mentioned starting my own business eventually, and I knew after I said that, before they could even respond, it maybe wasn't a good idea. And sure enough, they didn't like hearing that, they said they don't like hiring people who have or are starting their own business because then I wouldnt be bringing any clientele in, That I'd want to bring people I know/clientele to me instead, when I should be referring everyone I know to them....do all spa owners think like that? I mean it does make sense but at the same time, I've heard of plenty of etsy's with spa businesses that work at another spa part time too, and it works just fine for both the etsy with their own spa business and the spa they work at...so I'm wondering what did they do that I should be doing when it comes to actually getting a part time job elsewhere in the field again...I might just be over thinking this all, however I feel like its an important topic that's not often discussed..

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True, but I have found that sadly, even that slim profit margin or manager salary can breed resentment.  

Really? What a downer.

I think we all want our owners and managers to make money too! I agree with the contracts and I also s o agree with Amy in knowing your state laws. I also think if you are having a high turnover rate, you need to look at why that is happening. Staff will leave if they don't feel valued.

We call that "The Money Game"

You don't need books, just a stack of $1 bills equal to the average service price.

Hand the stack to the first person and have them take out the "technician earnings", then have them pass what remains to the next person to deduct the next variable expense and so on and so on

Then you have a small stack to cover fixed costs -- Rent, utilities, advertising, build-out repayment etc.

Why are you even mentioning wanting your own business? Just say in five years you see yourself thriving in your role as an Esthetician and leave it there. That's all..  it's not a lie and you are not telling your true intentions. Of course we all need to start some where..you do not have to share that information! If you planned on being a lifer at your 1st spa job i'd be a little concerned....so don't worry!

It really depends on the place of employment. I have had an experience similar to yours where I was working for myself but didn't have enough of a clientele to support myself. and needed to get a second job. No one would hire me because I was already working somewhere and they assumed that I was going to try and steal their clientele. 

Some employers will be happy to hear that you plan to be independent, because it shows your ambition to progress. One the other hand it also means they have to worry about you taking their clients and is usually why noncompete clauses come into play. 

My experience is if it is a corporate spa, they usually want to hear someone plans to be a lifer. But also realize if you have seen the ad for help wanted multiple times, then perhaps they are not the best place to work. 

As far as mentioning your business... Why? You need certain days off, it is none of their business what you do on your personal time, and any time you are not working in their establishment is your personal time.

 if you have seen the ad for help wanted multiple times, then perhaps they are not the best place to work

Not if they keep hiring people who want to be their own boss and keep leaving them every time they think that is about to happen... 

You can't have the attitude of wanting the freedom to want to leave and look down at spas who hire such people and have high turnover!

I think you are confusing the issue relax and rejuvenate. Nobody's looking down at spas. It would concern me if I went to an interview at a spa and when asked about their turnover, find they have had four edgy' s in two years says something about either management or income. To value an employee is as simple as "good job".

Nobody's looking down at spas.

When someone says "perhaps they are not the best place to work" it sounds like a negative judgement to me

Lots of factors drive turnover -- not just income or bad management. 

  • Employees don't meet their sales goals / aren't comfortable selling
  • Employees have poor retention because they don't connect with their clients on a professional level
  • Employees have attendance issues for a variety of reasons -- child care, family issues, get tired of working weekends...

According to a study by the Canadian government, the average career is just around 3 years and this is a high-turnover career.

In an age when checking a reference has become a joke -- all they can legally tell you is dates of employment and ending rate of pay -- lots of people look good on paper and can say the right things in the interview, but fail to meet performance standards

Or as Preston so thoroughly put it:

ask yourself these basic questions about your estheticians before carving off a larger piece of the revenue pie:

• Do my estheticians generate all the service sales they possibly can with their clients?

• Do some of them frequently complain of having too little time to perform work others easily complete in the allotted time?

• Do my estheticians take advantage of their retail opportunity as a means of making more money at work?

• Would some of my employees prefer to shorten their work shift and go home rather than contact past clients when their schedules are spotty?

• Is my raise-demanding employee also one who frequently misses work due to illness, personal emergencies, or lateness?

The point I’m raising here is that if you have employees who are “leaving money on the table” while at work, then you have no obligation to pay more money for less than satisfactory job performance.

Why are you taking this so personally? I didn't attack you, and I didn't say that all spas are that way. There are employees who don't do the job to the absolute best of their ability, and finding the people who will is a difficult and long process. 

However, there is a point in which you have to consider that maybe it isn't the employees who are not doing their job well, it is the establishment that has the problem. I am not saying that all spas are like that.


Suggesting that a business would not be the best place to work, it not a judgment, it is an observation based on evidence presented. Seeing an ad frequently can mean a number of things, both positive and negative. Seeing an as constantly gives the impression that the business has a problem keeping employees. 

My comments are written based on my experiences, as I stated when I made the post that sparked this discussion. Your experiences are different than mine, good for you! If you run a spa, it must be a good one because you are so quick to defend spas in general. Unfortunately, not all are worthy of your defense. Some places are simply scam traps that don't respect their employees and their licenses, or their clients. Those places have a high turnover rate, not because their employees are falling short, but because they can't run a business properly and the employees they manage to hire, quit  ASAP so they they don't end up in a position that will compromise their reputation. Those places have their help wanted ads out constantly. 

There is an old saying -  if you try to draw a trend line from a single data point, you can make it go anywhere

In your case -- the data point is "constantly hiring" and where you make it go is "Bad management"

How do you know they ever hired anyone for the job? You assume that techncians were hired and they fled because of bad management. 

Your "evidence" is no evidence at all

 I have been running the same ad in our Mid-Atlantic market for over a year for our regional manager's position.  I have never filled the job because I would rather do it myself than hire any of the applicants I have interviewed.  Having no one is better than having the wrong person. 

What I am pointing out -- whether you consider it personal or not is immaterial -- is the anti-business bias most technicians have, which is fairly well echoed in the comments of this thread.

We are both business owners, not techncians. We have different perspectives on things.  I am trying to bring that perspective to this forum so that technicians understand there is another side to the story.

I am here to learn about the technicians side of things -- in case there is something I have not seen in the past 12 years.

I don't believe all businesses are saints or even run legally (currently tearing my hair out of trying to compete in South FL where you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a competitor that is in violation of at least 2 state or federal labor practices).

But I don't presume the worst of any of them -- or of my employees or potential employees or technicians in general.

I think that you are picking at the little things, a bit much, and stretching what we say into something it's just not, and by doing that, you are actually making assumptions, and completely missing the main points. I'm just saying.. It's good to be open minded, and by already making up your mind that we are bashing allll employers, and that our share on experiences with certain* employers aren't valid and not quite what we say, you're taking a basic conversation about experiences, good feedback and personal views and turning into a negative, argumentative conversation.

I'm going to use a little simple analogy that just popped up in my mind. Its just as if we would be sharing our views, experiences, and some facts about skincare lines. If a skincare line isn't cutting it (we all know there many skincare lines out there that are complete BS) and we share our experience and thoughts about this line in particular, it doesn't mean we are bashing ALL skincare lines. So if you're not using that skincare line that we were referring to in particular, then there is absolutely no need to get defensive about it. And if you haven't had any experience with that skincare line in particular either, then you really can't defend it and argue for it? Right?

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