Stepping Out On Your Own: Setting Up A Freelance Or Mobile Hair & Beauty Business

Many stylists have forever dreamed of stepping out on their own and launching their very own freelance business, doing exactly what they love on their own clock. It can be a scary thought to move away from the safety and consistency of a full7-time salon job and it can also mean unconventional hours and super-long days. However, becoming a freelance barber, hair, beauty or nail professional can also be full of benefits. This week, we take a look at some of the essential steps to transitioning into your own full-time freelance and mobile beauty business.

But quickly, here’s a brief run-down of some of the major pros and cons to consider when looking at moving to freelance life.

Pros

• It’s an inexpensive way to launch your own business, which could then grow and expand into owning your own salon
• Flexibility in terms of timing schedule and choice of clientele
• You can target clients that otherwise would never come into a salon
• No-shows and last-minute cancellations are reduced
• No day is the same

Cons

• You miss the chance of walk-in appointments
• You might miss working with your colleagues and travelling alone from appointment to appointment
• You need all of your own equipment. If something breaks, you will instantly need to pay to replace it

If you feel ready to get out there on your own as a freelance or mobile beauty specialist, these are our top tips to get started.

You need to understand your audience

If you’ve previously worked in salons, your freelance customer is likely to be an entirely different kind of person. In a salon, people are there for the full experience, whereas at home, it’s a more personal, one-to-one interaction and the full emphasis on the experience will be the final result of the treatment. It’s important to fully understand the type of person you are targeting; who they are and what they like.

Get your credentials

Freelance life is hard; there’s no two ways about it. So, having the right qualifications in different areas will really help you to win over new clientele that don’t yet know how awesome you are. These credentials may also be necessary, or at the very least helpful, when it comes to getting your freelancer insurance.

Plan & acquire your equipment

As a freelancer, you are going to need a fully transportable kit for whichever niche you work in. This means all of your equipment and an easy and professional way to move it from appointment to appointment. You’ll need transport, preferably in the form of your own car and most importantly, you’ll need freelancer insurance to cover and protect you whilst on the job.

Advertise

Advertising your business will be one of the most important things you do to get it off the ground. Starting with social media, you can start to build a following for free and gain interested clients by consistently and regularly posting to your account. You should also consider targeted paid advertising through social media and Google, if you have your own website (which you should!).

Work hard

Once you’ve started to gain clients, you can learn how the service works for them and alter your offering to suit the people who you’re targeting. Going freelance is building your own business so expect the beginning to be very hard and there to be panicked times where you’re wondering where your next appointment is going to come from. However, with a lot of hard work, consistent advertising and perfect customer service, leading to recommendations, successful freelance life could be just around the corner.

What are your tips for starting up your own freelance or mobile hair, beauty or nails business? What do you wish you’d known when you were starting out? Share your thoughts with us in the comments on Facebook and Twitter.

Salon Saver also provides insurance for salons. For further information, please visit our Salon Insurance page.

Other Articles:

• Customer complaints for salon
• Patch testing
• Rent a chair
• Salon no-shows
• Insurance for beauticians
• Self employed beauty therapy insurance uk

Popular Blog Posts:

• Beauty app
• Self employed hairdresser rent a chair
• Mobile beauty services
• Salon patch testing

Kate Russell

All articles by Kate Russell