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A beauty therapist is professionally trained and specializes in offering beauty treatments to their clients within the ever-flourishing beauty industry. Trends in self-care can fluctuate, but the fundamental beauty treatments are consistently in-demand within salons and from mobile-therapists, varying from skin-softening facial massages to hassle-free hair-removal procedures.

Your daily tasks as a beauty therapist may include scheduling appointments, maintaining the hygiene and cleanliness of your equipment and building a rapport with potential customers to expand your client base. A beauty therapist may be employed within a salon, but there is also the option to work as a freelance beauty therapist, offering treatments from home or mobile, or opening your own fixed premises as a self-employed salon owner.

Due to the nature of the role, it is important that all beauty therapists are aware of the health and safety procedures, as well as hygienic requirements, before embarking on a role in this industry. The Beauty Academy offer a wide range of treatments to assist you in launching into this chosen career with confidence.

To embark on a career as a successful beauty therapist opening your own salon, it is important that you are able to make both your staff and clients to feel relaxed and welcome in your company. Excellent managerial skills are essential if you are looking to manage your business and maintain a reputable beauty brand, ensuring both staff and customer satisfaction within an efficiently run and sustainable business.

Interpersonal skills are necessary to successfully network potential clients, as well as a tactful and diplomatic manner in the company of clients to ensure repeat custom. It may be in your interest to look at our Starting a Business in Beauty Therapy home-study course if you are inexperienced in business know-how and looking to start your own, which includes important information such as self-employed business legalities.   

Both you and your staff will also benefit from having a business-orientated mindset whilst at work; being able to retail products whilst you are performing treatments could potentially generate further income and selling additional treatments can encourage repeat business; many salons work closely with brands for this purpose. Furthermore, being able to come up with sales-targeted ideas for the business, using your initiative and ensuring these ideas are refined with an excellent attention to detail are ways to ensure your salon stands out amongst the competition.   

You will develop all the appropriate technical skills for this career route during your training, covering the basics of hygiene in the workplace, health and safety factors, contraindications, as well as the specific treatments involved in becoming a nail technician, working to an industry-required standard.

If you are looking to open your own salon or fixed premises, you are required to gain a Level 2 or Level 3 qualification to obtain the appropriate license and insurance for your business.

As a self-employed salon owner, you may be required to work both in the evenings and over weekends, as this is when many people are likely to book in treatments, especially as your business is starting out and you are acquiring custom. Once you have maintained enough competent staff and your business is running smoothly, your own working hours may become more flexible.   

Many beauty therapists find their work rewarding for the reason that they are responsible for making their client’s feel good about themselves, and if they are happy with the service, you can generate a steady client base. Furthermore, it is often not just the treatment that client’s look forward to, but often client’s enjoy the overall experience and personal connection with their beauty therapist during the treatment.

As your salon expands in terms of generating income and clientele, you may choose to employ further therapists to work for you whilst in a managerial role, giving you more flexibility in working hours and consider further business opportunities, such as opening additional salons.    

With further progression and once teaching qualifications have been acquired, you may also want to advance into teaching students and becoming a Beauty Tutor for private and further education beauty colleges.

Book your training…     

It is important that if you are looking to work as a self-employed salon owner, you hold the required certificates and qualifications to obtain appropriate licenses and insurance. You will also need to be working to an appropriate level of practice, including hygiene requirements and health and safety factors and required practical skills to work as a beauty therapist yourself. The Beauty Academy can assist you in obtaining the appropriate qualification to be able to open your salon or nail bar. 

Build up your client base…     

As soon as you have begun your training, you will want to start building a client base to offer your treatments to. Advertising via social media, creating hand-outs for friends and family to spread around and even advertising in the local paper can all help encourage potential clients to book in for treatments with you. Once they have received and enjoyed their treatment, it is likely they will recommend you to their friends and thus building your client base. New salons often use start-up promotional offers to begin acquiring custom and getting their brand known around the area. 

Create your brand…    

To establish your business, you will need a memorable and appropriate brand to represent what you do. Elements to your brand, such as logo, website and social media pages are all important in ensuring your brand has the appropriate amount of exposure and accessibility to potential clients, and this will inevitably help you to get noticed and discover more clients. Our Starting a Business in Beauty Therapy home-study course will help you to acquire the required business know-how to do this successfully.

(You cannot open your own salon without a Level 2 and/or Level 3 qualification; diploma certificates will only enable you to offer treatments from home and/or mobile).

(Level 2 and/or Level 3 qualifications are required to open a salon/nail bar, teaching qualifications will allow you to offer training in-salon or work as a beauty tutor

  • Established 1990: the Original Private Beauty Training School

    Brilliant course. Tutor Leanne was so helpful and friendly and made me feel totally at ease. I was nervous as I have never done any beauty training before and she put me at ease straight away. Brilliant service and I will one hundred percent be using again. Thank you very much!!

    Ellie Hood

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  • Established 1990: the Original Private Beauty Training School

    I made a last minute decision to attend the ‘dry manicure and gel polish’ course and so glad I did! The tutor (Donnamarie) was so passionate and inspiring that she gave me the confidence I needed. Everything was well explained and the group was small enough get the best out of the day.

    Gemma Hacker

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  • Established 1990: the Original Private Beauty Training School

    I have done a few courses at the Cambridge and London venues and loved all of them. Staff is very friendly and professional at the same time which makes it easy to learn the theory and also the techniques. Teachers pay attention to each student and gives honest advises and support. I highly recommend The Beauty Academy for everyone.

    Ernesta Davailyte

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Our expert team of tutors based across our 10 Training Schools are all qualified to the highest levels, still practising in the industry keeping their skills up to date and with years of industry experience to share with their students. All tutors are friendly and welcoming, making you feel totally at ease whether attending for your very first course or your VTCT qualification assessment days.