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Comment by Margo Koeller on February 9, 2012 at 12:01am

I tried working at home also. I have a separtate building from my home with a separtate entrance. I did fine out that  Living Social, Groupon will NOT work with you if your in a home base disappointed me but then I thought about it and I wasn't so thrilled about having strangers comming to my house so I had to venture on too rent a room in a salon spa I now can use groupon. I was lucky to know the Lady that own the salon spa because she use to cut my hair and 10 years ago I helped her open her place. It was nice to meet back up with her and now I'm going to work with her ...Good luck with your home base (-:

Comment by Adrianne Couvé on February 8, 2012 at 5:14pm

I am a registered nurse, nail technician, and esthetician who opened my own practice right out of esthetics school. I currently rent space from a salon owner. The salon is very new and the decorations are beautiful but the stylist are not very professional and the owner brings her pomeranian to the salon everyday. My clients have commented on not liking the dog being in the salon. My rent is $700 a month and I still have my telephone bill and advertising cost. It's very stressful trying to keep afloat. I never wanted a business outside of my home but my husband and esthetics instructor thought I would get more business this way. I think that I may have gotten three clients from the salon and the rest from my advertising. I want to move my practice home with a separate entrance so that I can keep the profit that I make and not be stressed out paying my monthly expenses. Does anyone know how clients respond to home based practices and does anyone have any suggestions?

Comment by Deborah Bonjouklian on July 21, 2011 at 8:00am

My practice is out of my home so I understand the problem with no street cred.  I have a vinyl sign hanging from the arbor in front of my house - it is very attractive and lends some legitamacy to my home business.  I also put up another sign on a tripod in the front courtyard that is also professional looking.  Since my house is in a desirable Seattle neighborhood near a popular park, I promote the fact that when you come for a facial you can also go for a walk in this lovely area.  I was not able to get a Living Social (and I suspect Groupon is the same) coupon because I did not have a storefront but i have had success with Buy With Me and now I am trying Mamapedia.  I think the economy is also a huge factor - people do come in once but getting them back on a regular monthly schedule is just not practical right now for most.  Good luck!

Comment by Shardae Crabtree on July 17, 2011 at 10:56am

Wow! Thank you. That was really good advice from the both of you. Evelyne I have gone to different community centers ect. but i have never offered a Groupon. So i think they may help. And Susan, I have tried to team up with other Salons that dont offer the services and they dont seem to be interested at all. But there is one that I just recently came across that has not opened yet and I met him through another business owner I've been working with. Hopefully that helps. So again, thanks to both of you. I'll be sure to keep working at it.

Comment by Susan Choo on July 15, 2011 at 1:10pm

Hello, I've been working from home for about 4 years and I'm not a pro but I posted my business on websites that didn't charge like yelp.com. I also freelanced with other salons and started a referral program. If the salon doesn't offer the service you offer, create a referral program. Cross marketing is the best.

Hope this helps.

Comment by Evelyne Huegi on June 28, 2011 at 12:50pm

I have been in business for 15 years in the USA. I came from Switzerland in 1993 and during that time, I have started 2 businesses. My first business was a completely different industry but both took me over 2 years to build and have a full schedule.

I am also an Instructor for Facial Reflexology and Japanese Cosmo Face lift and TCM Foot reflexology. Many of my students have told me they have a difficult time with a home business. In the past I considered moving my business in to my home and asked my clientele how they felt about it. Many of them I have worked with for 15 years and they all said the same, that they would not like to go in a home based business if they don’t know the person even though the person is recommended. That may be why you are having a hard time getting your business going. Do you have a separate entrance for them to come thru?

If you are the entrepreneurial type, you should go and introduce your self to the community, Garden club, Charity, etc. Have a brochure with your services and maybe a discount coupon. Try Groupon to get people etc. Groupon has been beneficial for me recently and brought in some new customers.

Another suggestion is to think about what makes you different then others, why should they come to you and not go to someone else. Anything you can do to separate yourself from the competition will be good. Have you decided who is your target clientele? I worked on a business plan which helped me discover who I wanted to focus on and how I was going to develop my business. Hopefully these suggestions help, good luck!

I wish you all the best