Nail Salon/Nail Bar Owner

A nail technician is a trained professional, specializing in offering a range of nail treatments to clients and working to improve both the condition, health and appearance of their client’s nails. A nail technician typically works in a salon or nail bar, but there is also the option to work self-employed as a freelance nail technician, working from home and/or mobile, or starting your own nail business in a fixed premises. Requested treatments for your clients could range from a basic manicure treatment to a bespoke decorative design, including nail art or extension processes; requested treatments typically correlate with the latest nail trends. Nail repair is also popularly requested, especially for clients with extensions.

Due to the nature of the job, it is important that nail technicians 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 the appropriate knowledge.   

To embark on a career as a successful nail technician opening your own salon or nail bar, 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 nail 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 and mobile nail technicians’ work closely with brands for this purpose. Furthermore, being able to come up with creative ideas, use initiative and ensure these ideas are refined with an excellent attention to detail are skills you will develop as you train in nail technology, and 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, nail bar or fixed premises, you are required to gain a Level 2 qualification to obtain the appropriate license and insurance for your business.

As a self-employed nail bar or 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 nail technicians 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 reliable 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 nail technician. 

As your nail bar or salon expands in terms of generating income and clientele, you may choose to employ further nail technicians 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 become a self-employed nail salon or nail bar 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 nail technician 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 and nail bars 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 course will help you to acquire the required business know-how to do this successfully.