Being able to make beautiful nails, and at the same time having the opportunity to receive a good financial reward for your work, is one of the most tempting prospects for a modern girl.
It doesn’t matter whether you are considering this opportunity as a replacement for a boring job, or because this is what you firmly want to do with all seriousness, you will definitely be interested to know how much a manicurist earns, and whether this profession can change your life for the better.
Assessing your own competitiveness
In order to ensure your idea’s future success in its infancy, activities related to the provision of nail services at home, you need to start with an adequate assessment of your competitiveness, since you already have a lot of competitors on the market, and in the future their number will only grow. Therefore, it is necessary to understand what qualities make you more attractive to potential clients than your possible competitors.
Several points will be key factors for assessment:
- Convenient location and/or willingness to travel to the client’s home.
- Your professionalism in the field (preferably have certificates of training completed).
- High level of quality of services provided.
- Adequate pricing policy.
- High-quality working materials and equipment.
If you have given yourself advantages in most points, then you can safely begin your journey in the field of nail services.
If, according to some indicators, you are in the red, but are not ready to give up your idea, all is not lost. It all depends on your motivation and determination.
How and where to start doing manicure at home?
First of all, many people think about registration. How to register an individual entrepreneur?
- The process of organizing almost any business of your own begins with this step. The manicure salon, officially, is no exception. It is registered in the same way as a hairdresser - the same codes must be specified.
- Next, we will decide on the taxation system - you need to choose the simplified tax system or UTII. Everything here is at your discretion, but let’s say that the simplified version in many cases turns out to be more convenient.
Photo from Weise Master Studio website
- After registration has been completed, you must purchase a cash register. They buy it from the tax office; this cannot be done anywhere else. Therefore, you will have to wait about 20 days. This is quite a long period of time, especially when you are ready to work and earn money. Therefore, there are special services that, for a fee, can take care of this matter and provide you with the device within three days.
- During the registration process of an individual entrepreneur, a stamp must be made. This rule works for any business, including manicure. Many masters nevertheless ignore this point - but in vain. Most foreign suppliers refuse to deal with such companies.
Photo from the site https://xn--80adetbltib4b8c.xn--p1ai/
- You don’t need a license - this is a positive thing, but you will still have to provide a certificate. As you can see, the legal organization of a business can only be carried out by those who have undergone special training and have a document confirming completion of the courses.
And most importantly, documents that will confirm the legal conduct of business.
- Lease agreement or document confirming ownership. The first option is necessary for those who open a salon, and the second for craftsmen working from home.
- Help from RosPotrebNadkho.
Photo from the site www.securitylab.ru
- Conclusion from the SES that the inspection was passed and sanitary standards were met.
- Invoices for all goods that you intend to use.
- Price list for your services.
The question arises: is it necessary to collect all these documents and bother with SES checks? Let's look at the pros and cons of registration.
Required knowledge and skills
One of the fundamental factors that allows you to develop in the field of nail services is your level of competence . Of course, you can get basic knowledge yourself from articles on the Internet and master classes on YouTube, fortunately there are plenty of them, but if you are counting on a target audience wider than your relatives and friends, it is highly recommended to undergo professional training in manicurist courses. You will find the average pricing policy for such courses at the end of the article.
So, for average audience coverage you need to know the technology:
- sterilization of instruments and treatment of the work area;
- edged, hardware, combi manicure;
- applying a single-color coating and simple designs, French manicure, gradient;
- performing simple and medium-complex designs;
- pedicure basics.
These skills will be enough for you to serve a client with “ordinary” needs, but if you want to reach the widest possible and are ready to work with a client with increased needs, you will need to learn:
- extend nails;
- apply complex designs to the coating;
- carry out highly complex designs;
- work with problematic fingernails and toenails.
Having completed training on all of the above points, you will be able to satisfy the desires of even the most demanding client.
How to write a business plan?
To attract investment or simply open your own beauty salon, you will need to write a business plan. It usually includes the following sections:
- Indication of your place of work - where exactly you are going to provide your services (at home, coming to a client, opening a separate salon). If this is a home service, then determine which room, balcony or area in the room will be reserved for the workplace. In cases of travel, it is required to indicate the geographical scope (within a city, microdistrict, region, etc.).
- Schedule - the time spent on clients needs to be somehow calculated in order to display the total working hours, as well as standardize your day.
- Payment method - cash, credit cards, bank accounts or transfers, mobile acquiring.
- The services you provide to clients are hardware or manual manicures, pedicures, nail extensions using various techniques, nail plate decoration, medical procedures, etc.
You also first need to conduct a market analysis, find out consumer preferences, study the work of competitors, calculate all costs and their payback, think over the cost of your services and much more. This is the only way to understand whether what you want to offer is profitable. Let us describe the important details in more detail.
Equipment and materials
First of all, you cannot do without a work area that is comfortable for you and the client. The room in which the work will be carried out must be well lit and ventilated. Make sure you have comfortable chairs/chairs. Think about the background music.
As for the work itself, here you will need a whole shopping list. There are some things you can save on at first, but some you need to buy right away. Some materials and equipment can be ordered from a well-known Chinese online store, having first studied the reviews (carefully so that an “expectation/reality” situation does not occur), but certain items are strongly recommended to be purchased only from trusted brands in specialized stores.
Let's start with materials and equipment, which there is no point in buying in the city, since stores buy these goods in China and mark up up to 70%.
Why pay an intermediary 1.5 times more when you can order directly yourself? You will have to wait a little (delivery time depends on the specific seller), but you will save a lot.
So, you can order from a Chinese online store:
- UV+LED lamp.
- Sterilizer for instruments (dry heat oven).
- Electric milling machine (mid price category).
- Sets of files of various abrasiveness.
- Colored gel polishes.
- Orange sticks.
- Silicone caps for removing coating.
- Design materials (brushes, stickers, rhinestones, stamps, sliders, rubs).
- Place a pillow under the client's arms.
- Apron, set of disposable masks.
- Palettes for painting flowers.
Now it’s time for items that you need to approach the purchase of very responsibly and not save on what you simply cannot . In specialized stores you need to purchase:
- Branded top and base coats.
- Metal pushers, tweezers and nail scissors (you need to carefully inspect the edges of the tools for the absence of “burrs” and irregularities).
- Milling cutters for the machine (the complete Chinese ones can be thrown away).
- There should also be branded products that interact with the skin and directly the nail plate: degreaser, primer, cuticle gel, remover.
Work in a specialized salon
In every city or town in Russia there are several nail salons. Accordingly, in such institutions it is possible for a novice specialist to officially find employment. How much does a manicurist earn in a salon? If you just completed the course, don't expect big dividends. Newcomers to good salons, as a rule, undergo an initial internship, during which you will earn 15-20 thousand rubles.
Masters who have completed an internship receive official employment and a salary increase - up to 30,000 - 35,000 rubles per month. You won’t earn much money in the average salon. The master’s working time in the salon is 7-8 hours a day.
The advantage of such employment is that you do not need to purchase all the materials yourself. Minus - from one manicure or pedicure done, the master earns only 55-60 percent of the cost that the client paid to the salon.
Price policy
Due to the fact that pricing for services varies in all cities, you should study the market specifically in your city yourself. Analyze the prices offered by manicure studios and independent artists. The final cost of your work should be based on the cost and quantity of materials used, as well as the complexity of the work itself. Just so that your price list looks more attractive than that of competitors, but does not negatively affect the final profit, do not be lazy and look for the best prices for consumables and equipment.
At first, it is not recommended to “bend” the price too high, but you shouldn’t work at a loss either. To begin with, develop a stable client base, attracting consumers with a pleasant price, and then gradually increase the prices for your services, maintaining the initial cost for regular customers.
Is it profitable to do manicure at home?
Is it profitable to do a manicure at home? What is the difference between salon service and home beauty workshop?
Photo from YouTube
There are pros and cons to both options. Why do many clients choose a salon?
- They know for sure that their rights are protected.
- We are confident that the premises and all devices have been tested by the SES, and therefore comply with hygiene standards.
- They know that every employee is qualified and has undergone the necessary training.
Many people are even willing to overpay a little for this. But those who choose to visit a manicurist at home value the budget cost of the service more. And yet, the second category of people, who will become your client base, also want to be sure that their health is not in danger.
If many may not even look at your certification with an official diploma, paying attention only to practical skills and previous work, then you will have to comply with sanitary standards. In addition to all the necessary equipment directly for manicure, you will have to purchase a disinfectant and maintain sterile cleanliness in the work room and especially on the table. This is the only way your guests can trust you.
Be sure to devote time to sanitary cleaning of the work area - there should be no dust, used accessories or dirty files!
A detailed and extensive business plan for a manicure business will have to be written by those who open their own salon with hired workers - craftsmen, administrators and cleaners. And for those who will work for themselves, this point is much simpler.
Marketing strategy
a portfolio on social networks . It is recommended to place a watermark on the photo to avoid theft and misappropriation of your designs by other artists. Periodically organize giveaways through reposts and about - this will help you “promote” and stir up the interest of potential clients. Give discounts before holidays and on birthdays. The “bring a friend - get a discount” promotion works effectively. If the services you provide are truly high-quality, clients will recommend you to their friends and relatives.
Prospect for opening a studio
If your business goes uphill and you manage to develop a stable, large client base; When all the costs are paid off and you understand that you are ready to develop this business and move to a new level, you may be faced with the prospect of opening your own manicure salon.
Of course, investments in such a business will be much more serious than purchasing gel polishes and nail files, but the income from running your own salon will significantly exceed the figure with which you started. But more on that in the next article.
What does a master’s earnings depend on?
The income of specialists depends on the following factors:
- qualifications (clients trust professionals who can present certificates and diplomas of completed courses more);
- practical experience (beginners do not inflate the price);
- place of work and region (working in a salon, a specialist receives only part of the profit, 25-50%);
- number of clients (the bulk of the income comes from regular visitors).
To earn more, you need to constantly improve your skills and expand your client base by advertising. To get hired at a prestigious salon, it is better to prepare a portfolio in advance - photos of successful works, customer reviews.
Table with calculations
To compile the table, average prices for Aliexpress.ru and city nail stores were taken.
| Basic course "Manicurist" | 13000 rub. |
| or Advanced course | 17000 rub. |
| optional course Extension | 12000 rub. |
| UV+LED lamp from China | 1500 rub. |
| High-quality top+base (Kodi/Oxxi) | 1200 rub. |
| 20 colored gel polishes from China (Bluesky, Rosalind, Elite99) | 2700 rub. |
| Degreaser + remover + cuticle remover gel + primer | 900 rub. |
| Desk lamp | 1500 rub. |
| Sterilizer tendon | 3700 rub. |
| Milling device | 2500 rub. |
| Set of cutters | From 1000 rub. |
| Pusher, forceps, scissors | From 1500 rub. |
| Other small consumables and decorations for design | From 1000 rub. |
Total : investments to start your own manicure business start at 30,500 rubles. It is not necessary to invest the entire amount at once; you can buy everything you need gradually , and then you will practically not feel any special expenses.
In any business, dedication and the willingness to give 100% are important. Invest your time, money, emotions. Develop smart strategies and think carefully about all decisions. Only in this case can a real profitable business grow from scratch, no matter whether you are a woman or a man. Every person is capable of success, the only thing that matters is how much you are willing to devote yourself to your work.
