Help! Need some advice!

Hello,

I am very discouraged right now , and need some advice. I have been licensed for about 5years now, and I absolutely love what I do. I went into my new esthetics career a little backwards. After I graduated from esthetics school, I couldn't find a job so I stepped out on faith and opened up my own business in a individual suite. The first year I found a place where I was the only esthetician , but the only down fall was that I realized it was in a retirement community and they were just not getting facials or waxing done. So I moved into a prime location, and I ran a deal with groupon to generate business to my new location. I ended up selling over 400 deals which of course kept me busy for a good year. I had no idea at that time that no matter how great of a facial you provide that because there is so many other deals daily that people are not going to come back the way that you had intended. I did gain a few loyal clients, but I moved again to what seemed to be a better location for me to grow. As of today I have been on my own or 3 1/2 years now and my lease is about to be up again. I ended up taking a part time job in order to help support my business, but honestly it is not enough. I was offered a position from one of my clients a few days ago, that makes very good money , but I just don't know what to do. It is sad because I feel like I have too many clients to leave, but not enough to stay. I have done all I know how to do in order to grow my business, and it just breaks my heart to think that I may have to close my business down due to the fact that I a struggling to keep it open. I would love to get some advice from some of my fellow veteran's estheticians. I just feel like a failure if I walk away from what took me so long to get too, but I am drowning in debt trying to keep it open. Thank you in advance!!

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Permalink Reply by Lottye Covington on October 9, 2013 at 11:21pm

LaToya,
Business is slow for me too, so I decides to change my dynamics and step out of the box. This is the time of year for new make overs a new season, yes continue to focus on facials but offer make up classes for every day application. Start out with 10 faithful customers and have them invite one person. Make goodie bags nothing expensive charge for the class, book facials while they are there and gain new clients and amp up your business. I know you can do it. Be encouraged!

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Permalink Reply by Aundra on October 10, 2013 at 4:07am

Hi! I just had this experience. I am a teacher by profession and was doing my business part time. I too am in debt trying to keep my location open. I am looking to re-establish myself inside a location that has a flow of clients on commission to rebuild a client base. Groupon only gets you so far. I was listed on YP and other sites. I still struggled with getting business. Nothing is guaranteed but you have to keep pushing love. Marketing is everything!

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Permalink Reply by Samantha Jeffries on October 12, 2013 at 10:05am

Don't give up, have faith and get networking! From my experience the best place to start is with hairdressers. Find one or a few with a loyal clientelle, they could be your clients too! Hairdressers talk to lost of people everyday so get them talking about you. Give them a free treatment, so they can talk from experience, so they can fall in love with your treatments as much as you love doing them. Keep them sweet so the only things they have to say about you is positive.
I have been an Esthetician for 17yrs and have moved countries and states and a good hairdresser with a loyal client list has been a crucial part of my success every time I have rebuilt.

Have referral cards and hand them out to the clients you do have and reward them for sending their friends and family to you. Maybe give them $5 off or complementary add on treatment and give their referal the same.
Don't spend much money on advertising, that will put you into debt quickly and will little reward. Maximize your free online listings ie. CitySearch, Google, Yahoo. They all have a free basic listing. Yes they will call and ask you to upgrade but don't yet.
Do you do eyelash extensions? I know people who's business has survived the recession because of them.
Keep yourself educated and share your knowledge but only with the clients who want to hear it. People don't want preaching at.
Always find something great about each client's skin, they want to feel special and nurtured not small and ugly. Ask them something they love about their face and something they'd like to work on. I learnt fairly early on that just because I think they have moustache for example, it doesn't mean that they do or that that's their focus. You removing it might make you feel better and them feel worse about themselves. Laying on the esthetics bed is a vulnerable place, give them a nurturing experience so they'll feel better about themselves and seek out that feeling again and again.
Don't lose your passion, just find the right ways to channel it.
Best wishes for a successful business and career LaToya.

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Permalink Reply by Marty Glenn on October 13, 2013 at 9:42pm

LaToya

I am sorry to hear your story and read others who are in the same boat. But here is the best advice I can give and others said the same:

Take the job. Pay down your debt. Keep your most loyal clients and rebuild with loyalty and quality. Remember it is not the job we take that makes us smile but the job that we love to do which makes us smile. Do both and live with less stress and look forward to the clients and the skin you are changing.

As I tell my boys and I am sure you have heard this before but the ending I added since I believe there is the right to quit:

A WINNER NEVER QUITS, AND A QUITTER NEVER WINS....BUT A 'TRUE' WINNER KNOWS WHEN TO QUIT.

Marty

SkinCareScience.com

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Permalink Reply by shawnee bowman on October 22, 2013 at 7:54pm

How is this going? I'm just about ready to start a little business in my home too! I have a beautiful room set up and I'm in the process of getting zoning approval and getting an establishment license. Can I ask what types of services do you offer and how did you determine your pricing? I feel so nervous and unsure of myself. I am in WI. What state are you in?

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Permalink Reply by LaToya Rochelle Williams on October 28, 2013 at 7:49pm

Hello All!

I just want to say thank you so much for all the advice, and feedback. I just wanted to give an update. The client that I met at my part time works for a major skincare company, and she was the one that recommended me for an position as a lead Esthetician for their spa inside of one of the biggest malls in Dallas! The wonderful thing about it is that it is similar to me having my own suite accept not all the over head that it takes to maintain it. I had a great interview with the store manager, and just found out today that I got the job!!!! I am so excited because a good portion of my clients are going to follow which means I get to continue to grow, plus being in a mall gives me so much opportunity to build more clients. The only part that I am struggling with is closing my suite because I get to set my own hours and use products that I enjoy, but I know this is going to relieve so much of the everyday stress of maintaining a business. I am just going to trust that this is going to be a wonderful chance too one day reopen my own , but being able to manage it without the financial stress. So my advice to all is build your clientele(if you can) first before you invest in a suite. It is great to say you have your own, but not at the expense of being stressed both financially and emotionally. I am grateful for this site because it has encouraged me so much during one of the hardest seasons of my life. Again thank you all!!

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Permalink Reply by Angela Brill on October 29, 2013 at 5:05am

Congrats and that is great that you will still be able to do what you love while easing stress! :)