Friends and Family

For me, friends and family, who are clients, seem to be my most challenging ones.  They don't listen to my rules, they don't take care of their nails and they don't care if I lecture them.  Why do I put up with them?  Because I love them!  However, there are a few things I would LOVE to say to them, but, obviously, I can't, so I will now.  Here.

Mother.  I love you, I know you gave birth to me after 26 hours of labor, but for the love of all things good, can you please wash your hands, without being told, before you sit down.  Please wash them right the first time, removing all the cookie dough, bread dough, hamburger and whatever the hell you were cooking or baking, before you came into the salon, that is under your nails.

I would like to continue to work for may more years, so please do not look at your nails while I am working on them.  You are putting constant pressure in an upward motion, causing me to put constant pressure in a downward motion.  This results in me having numb hands after we are finished.

It's been 18 years .  Do not try to pay.  I won't take your money.  You are the ONLY person who is given this luxury.  Enjoy it.

Sister.  Please be on time.  When you are late, you put me behind all day long and it stresses me out.  It's not like you have a job or anything.  There is no reason for you to be late.  Your Starbucks run can wait until after your appointment.  Since you are already late, you should know exactly what you want when you sit down.  I am going to start telling you your appointment is 30 minutes before it actually is and then I think we will both be in sync.

Best Friend Barb.  I love you, but you have to stop firing up all the other techs, and their clients, in the salon with your topics.  By the time you leave, everyone is all pissed off at their husbands.  We are angry and ready to go home and castrate them with our stiletto nails.  That is my only complaint about you.

The above things, are things I would never tolerate from clients.  I guess these three get away with these things because they are family and friends and I love them.  What things do your family and friends, who are clients, do to annoy the ever living crap out of you?

--Nancy

December Kicked My Ass

I don't know about the rest of you, but December kicked my ass, especially the last few weeks.  I have a few Reader Submissions to post, however, I would like to hold off on them and post something different this week.

What are your New Years Resolutions for this coming year?  For your business, career, etc?  Submit them to me at nailtechtalk@yahoo.com and I will post them.  You can send them to me on Facebook, or on the Nail Tech Talk Facebook Page if you don't want to post them anonymously.  I will compile a list and post them!

--Nancy

I Need My Lunch!

READER SUBMISSION
I am a human being.  As such, I like to eat in order to sustain obtainable energy throughout  the busy day.    When I say I want a lunch every day, I mean it.  I don't care if the whole damn industry books themselves up all day, every day.  I don't care if hairdressers can eat while their color processes.  I'm not a hair dresser.  I'm a nail tech.  If my lunch isn't physically on the books, I don't get to eat.  


What is so frigin hard to understand about that!?!  I'm not a machine here to work from start to finish because you won't support my decision to choose to take 30 minutes from my day to sit down and eat.  Threatening me that the receptionists won't like me if I keep getting mad because they took my lunch out, and therefore won't book appointments with me; is piss poor management on your part.  You should make it painfully clear to them that they are to respect me and my schedule, that they are not gods.  


And here's a tip: when you chew out an employee, don't act all high and mighty by saying how you do things so much better because you do them a different way.  You sound condescending and off-putting.  I'm all for making the client happy, but I'm not going to sacrifice my lunch just because they want in.  I'm sure given the option of a different time available, most would be completely ok.  You don't have to say yes to every thing.  I've never said I had to have lunch at the same time every day, just that I wanted one.  If I don't stand up for myself on this, who will?  


And to the receptionist who flat out told me there would be days that I wouldn't get a lunch because it would be too busy and clients would want in... FUCK YOU.  I just got done telling you that I want a lunch every day.  I didn't say, "if time allows."  I said every day.  The hours I work are to include 30 minutes every day.  You annoy me.  You are around 50, yet you act like a whiny brat teenager.  You annoy the other girls and because you are unhappy you like to stir the pot. 


I am ready to leave.  The only thing that keeps me motivated is job hunting and knowing that this BS is temporary.  I won't let people walk over me or put up with their crap. The more I take, the more they give. 
Life is too short to not have fun.


--I Need My Lunch!

Things I Can't Say - Positive Edition

So most of the "Things I really want to say, but can't" are negative.  That's a no brainer.  How many positive things are there to say about life and business that you can't say, in fear of repercussions.  So, it got me thinking and I came up with some positive things about my business that I could NEVER say to anyone other than my spouse, children or close friends.  Why? you ask?  Well, because if I said these things to anyone, I would be accused of bragging.  I am not a bragger.  I am humble.  However, the Troll asked for it, so here it is - The Positive Stuff.

I have made entirely too much money this year.  I have paid off every debt I have ever had.  For the first time, in a long, long, time, I am totally debt free.  I never thought I would see this day.  I have started stockpiling money in different savings accounts.  I have tried to spend it, to get some tax write offs.  I did improvements at the salon.  I brought in new products, new retail and vamped up the furniture.  We are showering our clients with Christmas gifts.  The staff is getting BIG bonuses this year and we are having a formal party this year with spouses invited and entertainment.  I am considering a staff cruise as a reward.  Still, I have way too much money left in the bank.

We have too many clients.  I know that sounds like a good thing, but it really isn't.  We have so many clients, that if we worked non-stop, seven days a week, we would still be busy and have a waiting list.  We are working so much that our backs are hurting.  Our hands ache.  After working all of those hours, there's still the supply ordering, bookwork and cleaning that must be done.  Still, there is the disappointment when we have to turn clients away.  We have no more room in our books.

Our salon has the best technicians in the area.  Yes, they may be sloppy and sometimes be a little lax in their duties, but isn't everyone?  I can honestly say that our technicians are the best around to the point that our competition doesn't even hold a candle to our work.  I guess it's a good thing they charge $5 less than we do, they should charge even less considering the end result that they are putting out, that we end up fixing and thus earning even MORE clients, that we no longer have room for.

So finally, I am proud that I am a female business owner, in a business that I love and thrive at.  I am a successful one as well.  I employ a staff of  seven now.  Each and every one of my technicians is a trained professional, who was trained by me.  With all of the things I deal with each day from salon issues, to staffing issues to client issues, it's no wonder I have things to say.  Things to air out.  I mean really.  Who can I air these things out to?  My spouse doesn't understand.  My best friend is a teacher.  I can't complain about the staff to the staff.

So, I could vent to my peers.  Some of them, would see this as a sign of weakness.  Some like to see any form of it and they just go in for the kill, most of the time behind your back.  So, I and others, vent anonymously.  It gives us a way to get it off our chest.  Without the fear of ridicule.  It is quite cleansing.  You should try it.

--Nancy

Attitude is Everything and Yours Sucks

Today, I finally am going to use your wonderful blog to “Say what I really want to say but can’t”  Why can’t I say what I really want to say?  Because the truth hurts and people will have bruised egos and just up and quit on me.  However, these things need to be said.  Who knows, maybe they are readers of this blog and will see this and think, “Hey, I am being a jerk too” and straighten up.

DO YOUR JOB.  It’s that simple.  You were hired to do a job.  Nothing that is required of you are things that I, as your boss/salon owner, would not do and do not do.  Everything I expect of you, I do myself, and then some.  Why must you all be so lazy?

Why must I feel like a parent, reminding a child to do their chores?  You are adults.  You see me doing it, setting the example, why can’t you do it?  I have the answer for you.  You are lazy.

It is very important to keep accurate client record cards, especially when we all do services on the same person from time to time.  Why are you too lazy to pull the client’s card from the file and instead you make a new card.  So, one person has six cards in all different places.  How is this efficient?  You’ve been told over and over to not do this, yet your laziness wins out every time.

Why must you spell the client’s name in the computer or on their card using your “Hooked on Phonics” method?  I mean I know some people spell their names differently, but come on, not every Linda is Lynda,  not every Kylie is kaileigh, not every Molly is Mollee, etc.  People love their name and it is an insult to them when you misspell their name.  How hard is it to say “Is that Carol with a C or K” or “How do you spell your name?”  Over and over again we go through this.  So in our computer, we have one client in there no less than six different ways.  How hard is it to figure out that one of the five already there that is spelled funky is HER and you don’t need to add another entry.

All of this laziness on your part is just creating more work for me and I am personally sick to death of it.  I don’t know what else to do.  I’ve asked over and over again for you to comply.  We are doing our client’s a disservice due to your laziness and lack of focus.

Quit acting like children and do you mother loving job.  I am tired of doing your job for you, however, I have no choice but to do it.  Keep it up, you will burn me out and I will close, then what will you do?  I am betting your next boss will not be as nice.

--Tired of Working With Inconsiderate Assholes

What is going on with our schools???

Reader Submission (Keep them coming!)

I just have to ask, "What the hell is going on in our schools?"  The students that they are putting out are PATHETIC.  As a salon owner, I realize that I need to train technicians that work in my salon, but OMG, these girls are pitiful even after doing 20 plus hours of one on one training with me.  They can't even polish a fingernail. Seriously.  I have proof.

Here is tech number one, who was let go after six months.  She never progressed.  These photos are from three months into her employment and after over 20 hours of training, constant communication on what she needs to do to be better and demonstrations on how to do things better.

Look at this lovely French polish.  Look at the wonderful shape of the nails.  Look at the ragged free edges and are you BLIND from the lack of cuticle care???

How would she even think that that was acceptable to let walk out the door?  So, we worked AGAIN on her French polish.  Still not better.

Finally, this photo was near the six month mark, right before she was let go.

So we take another new one on, because we all know that it's slim pickings out there.  My other two options were one girl with experience but that was 8 months pregnant and one that was 8 months pregnant with her FOURTH child.  I went with the new graduate because I needed someone now, not after maternity leave and I thought, once again, that I could mold this newbie.  Wrong.

I at least learned from past mistakes.  I was giving her 90 days.  Well 30 is all I needed.  I spent HOURS and  I mean HOURS working one on one with her.  I didn't have a day off in three weeks because my days off were spent working with this girl.  This is what I got.

No shape to the toenails, no trimming.  Polish isn't even to the cuticle.  When I showed her the pictures she said that the client wanted her nails that shape and didn't want them cut.  REALLY?  I explained to her that it is her job to advise the client that she needs her toe nails trimmed and shaped.

Now, over the past month I have preached over and over again, "If you get anything on the skin, remove it"  This is one of the last set of nails she did before she was let go.  HOLY product in the sidewalls and cuticle.  How can you even think this looks good?????

What the hell are they teaching them in school.  Obviously nothing.  This is pitiful.  These girls are LICENSED to do nails and hair too.  OMG I can't imagine what these two would do with hair!  I shudder to think.

I have taken it upon myself to contact the school and let them know how they are failing horribly in the nail department.  They just recently had a staff change and an "Old School" teacher finally retired.  I have been asked to sit on their advisory board and I have jumped at the chance.

Now I know that it's all about attitude too and that these two just weren't meant for the industry, however, they should NOT have been passed and shame on the state board for having such a lame test that these two actually hold a license!  Why should "I" have to be the one who suffers because I expect someone who graduated with a Cosmetology degree and passed our state board exam can actually polish nails.  I can't even imagine what the outcome would be when we tried enhancements.

So for now, I am going to continue to turn business away.  I am not going to subject myself to this torture again.  I will tell you one thing, the next person that applies for a job will have to go through a "try out" so to speak.  I am going to make them polish someone's nails and have them polish someone's toes and have them trim the nails.  If you can't do that, get the hell out of my salon.

--Signed - Why Can't I Clone Myself?

Sharing

Well it's been about a week since I've posted.  No, I haven't run out of material and NO, people haven't stopped sending me things to post for them.  I have been near death with the sickness that has been going around here.  So, this topic is sharing.  It's great to share, we are taught to do it at a very young age.  But there are some things that you shouldn't share.  Your sickness is one of them.

If you are too sick to go to work, reschedule your appointment.  If you are too sick to go to school, reschedule your appointment.  Seriously, if you have to stop me three times, while I am doing your nails to go throw up, LEAVE and reschedule your appointment.  Really, we won't be upset.  We are totally repulsed that you are puking your guts 10 feet away from us and we can hear it.  We now have to go in and disinfect the bathroom so that your sick germs are not exposed to everyone.

Listen, we don't have sick days.  We don't get sick pay.  If we can't come to work, we don't get paid.  If we can't come to work, we have to work on our days off to make up what we missed and to fit everyone in again.  This results in no days off, which results in a cranky nail tech.

So, you can share your Starbuck's run with me, share your muffin with me, share your casino winnings with me, but for the love of everything great, keep your mother trucking flu, cold and sickness to yourself.  Really, I don't mind!

--Nancy

I’m Not Blondie……..

My name is not Blondie and you may NOT call me anytime.  You may call me during normal business hours.  I am still a little cranky, due to lack of sleep, due to an inconsiderate client calling my cell phone at 4:30 am on SUNDAY morning!

Imagine being awakened by a ringing cell phone at that hour on a Sunday morning, your first thought is “Who died?”  I run to my cell phone in the kitchen and see it is Patty PainInTheAss, a newer client.  SERIOUSLY??!??

Okay, Patty is one of “those” clients, a new one who is someone else’s Pain In The Ass aka PITA, who is now MY PITA.  I acquired her in July.  Sometime between now and then, I must have called her from my cell phone and she must have saved it.

We are closed Sunday and Monday.  What would make you think that it is appropriate to call someone on their personal cell phone on their day off?  What would make you think it’s appropriate to call at 4:30 in the morning on a Sunday?  Really?

Well, when Patty got my voicemail, I am sure she got the message loud and clear because it clearly states that you should only leave personal messages, if you leave salon messages, they WILL NOT be returned until they are left on the salon phone line.  Period.  I haven’t checked the salon messages yet, because IT’S STILL MY DAY OFF!

Now, Patty may have butt dialed me, I don’t know, but knowing Patty and the PITA that she is, she probably WAS calling.  See, Patty is a true PITA.  She breaks nails constantly.  She comes in with half of her cuticle area missing most of the time.  Patty tries to go 3-4 weeks between fills because she is cheap.  She doesn’t realize that she ends up paying more by going that long, because she ends up paying for multiple repairs.

Saturday, I was booked from 9 until 7, yes I am a glutton for punishment.  I had no breathing room in my schedule, as usual.  Patty came bounding in the door at noon and expected me to fix four nails that are approximately five days old.  Now these aren’t just a pink nail with polish, these nails have colored acrylic, glitter and extensive designs on them.  I explained to her that I don’t have time to do them that day and that the earliest I could do them is next Friday and since it is FOUR nails, it will be a fill, not a repair appointment.  She exclaimed “But this one is about to fall off!”  After repeating myself again and her repeating herself again I finally exclaimed “Well, then either rip it off or put a band-aid on it, because Friday is the best I can do unless I get a cancellation.”

Why do clients think they can come into the salon and demand to be repaired right this very second?  My schedule does not allow for repairs and for the most part, I don’t need to schedule repairs.  My clients usually don’t need them.  Yes a few break the occasional nail, but Patty, is a whole other ball game.  She is a train wreck, plain and simple.  Sorry, Patty, I will NOT extend my already long day to accommodate you, just because you don’t know how to take care of your nails.

So, either Patty butt dialed me on Sunday morning, or she called that early just so that she could leave me a message to cancel on Friday because she is going to become someone else’s PITA and didn’t want to tell me directly.  Personally, I hope it is the second option, since I would do the “Happy Dance of Joy” if she became someone else’s problem.  I am sick and tired of creating beautiful nails, with original artwork on them and having her trash them in sometimes four or less days, then expecting me to drop everything and repair them.

One thing’s for certain, if she calls my cell phone at that time again, on my day off, she is getting fired.  You don’t own me.  I am not your “Staff”.  I can and will refuse service to anyone at anytime.  I will put someone in my chair, in her spot, who respects my work and takes care of it.  See, my name is NANCY, not BLONDIE and NO, you CAN’T call me anytime, call me during normal business hours!

--Nancy

Thieves

In this industry we deal with all kinds of thieves.  It depends on the level that you are in your career, which determines what level of thieves you experience.

If you are a salon owner, you probably experience the most common thief.  Every salon has good employees and every salon has a thief.  Every. Single. Salon.  Sometimes the thieves are found out and fired, other times, the thievery isn’t found out until the thief leaves.

Techs steal product all of the time.  A busy salon owner will pull their hair out when they go to the really large jug of monomer that they just got a week ago and there are a few drops left in the jug.  “But we have been really busy”, the staff will explain.  Not THAT busy!  That’s a lot of monomer to use in a week.

Brushes that are supplied to staff members will be missing when the tech isn’t at work, along with other products.  They are obviously doing nails on their off days, most likely their own, more than likely others, being paid on the sly.  Most salons allow you to do your own nails in the salon for no charge and family members for a small supply fee.  There is no reason to take salon supplies home with you unless you are stealing them.  It is never a good idea to travel back and forth with supplies, if you live in a warm climate, you can really mess up the quality of the product if you allow them in a hot car for a period of time.  So, even if the thief didn’t steal these products, most likely they will be ruined and will cost the salon money in the end anyways. 

Techs within the salon will try to steal other techs clients.  You see it all of the time, another tech goes on vacation or is sick and the shady tech will try to make the other tech look bad and try to get the client to rebook with her instead.

All of these examples above, are written from a Salon Owner’s point of view.  There are a number of instances that a Salon Owner has stolen from their staff.  If this has happened to you, I would love for you to write to me and share your experiences, anonymously, of course.

Moving on, you have techs that use photos of other technician’s work that they have found on the Internet and use them as examples of their work.  They use those photos in ads for their business.  How flipping lazy or untalented are you that you can’t use a photo of your own work?  I can understand using a company photo with the brand of the product that you use, that’s what they are provided for, and everyone knows you did not do the nails.   I can’t tell you how many shady people I have seen over the years use OBVIOUS photos of work that they didn’t do.  What happens when someone sees one of those photos and asks them to recreate the nails.  I would LOVE to see a photo of THOSE nails!

My favorite kind of thief is the one that steals all of your ideas.  One that has a salon and tries so hard to be exactly like your salon.  Right now I know of at least six Salon Owners going through this.  Yes, the idea thief may have worked in your salon at one time and learned a lot from you and your salon.  Instead of coming up with their own style or signature, so to say, they just copy what you do.  The joke is on them, though, because people see this and realize this.  How sad to be so unimaginative that you have to use Other People’s Ideas to better yourself or your business.  (How many people just got that?  Gold star if you do!)

It’s time for the thievery to stop.  Stop stealing from your Salon Owner.  Stop stealing from your Staff.  Stop stealing from each other.  Theft is still a crime and it is just plain wrong and it makes you nothing more than a See You Next Tuesday (Platinum star if you get that one!)

--Nancy

Things I Have Learned as a Salon Owner

Yesterday, was the first day I actually considered throwing in the towel.  Closing the doors to my salon.  This was not because business is bad or we are losing money.  It is quite the opposite.  We are booming.  The reason for my feeling of defeat is due to employee problems.  A lack of good employees problem.

I have since shook it off, but I am not the same salon owner any more.  I have become one of “THOSE” salon owners now.  I am now not willing to want to give a chance to a new nail tech.  I am sick and tired of training them for months, only to have everything go in one ear and out the other.  I am sick and tired of them doing a crappy job, having to redo their work, having to give refunds, having to compensate clients for services they are unhappy with.

I have just experienced having a young tech in my salon for nearly six months.  We tried to mold her into a nail professional like the rest of our awesome staff.  We took her to classes, spent countless hours mentoring her, teaching her.  Still, she wasn’t getting it, applying product and polish with the hand flat on the table.

After six months, numerous complaints and requests from clients to not ever be rebooked with her again, a line was drawn with her.  Shape up or ship out.  The choice is yours.  YOU are in charge of your destiny.

Well, long story short, she decided to ship out.  She saw the writing on the wall.  She gave some lame excuse about school being so demanding this semester.  She is a collage student.  It was okay, I had my out.  I didn’t have to fire her and she could leave with some dignity.  She gave a two week notice.  It was very easy to reschedule the few appointments in her column after those two weeks.  We didn’t really schedule anything new for her.

Week one came and you could tell she was doing an even crappier job than normal.  She just didn’t care.   She works two days a week.   Final week comes and she is on day one of her final two days and announces to me that she can’t work the following day, her last day, due to school.  We have no where to put her few people.  She has left me high and dry.

I will now alter how I do things as a salon owner.  I will no longer employ someone who is going to college.  Period.  You are either in this profession or you are not.  You are not going to work for me while you go to college.  I want committed nail techs that want to make a career out of this.

I will never again honor a two week notice.  I am going to be one of those salon owners,  who tell you to get your things and go when you give two weeks notice.  A lot of people diss salon owners for this, but I NOW understand.  I will not allow you to do a crappy, bang up job for two weeks because you just don’t care any longer and you will never see these clients again.  I will not allow you to leave me high and dry at the last minute.

It is a sad state of affairs when a really good, compassionate salon owner is turned into a cold hearted bitch.  Future techs can thank the sins of irresponsible techs of times past.  As a salon owner, I have lived and I have learned. 

Signed – Live and Learn, Crash and Burn

Dear Abby Says You Don’t Tip a Salon Owner

A lot of people still, to this day, go by Dear Abby’s advicethat you don’t tip a salon owner.  Her reasoning is that the salon owner gets all of the service money brought in as opposed to her staff members, who usually receive an hourly rate or a percentage of the service amounts.  If you are a salon owner, you know how much this is nothing but bullshit.

First, let’s define what a tip is.  It was originally coined to mean “To Insure Prompt Service.”  It is a gratuity.  It is a way for a client to say, that was a job well done!  Where on Earth did someone get the idea that a salon owner, who is providing the same exact service as her staff member, at the station next to her, doesn’t deserve to be tipped?

Let’s think about this.  A staff member will usually get a percentage of the service, customarily 50-60 percent in an employee situation.  Yes, the salon owner, providing the same service gets 100%, but what people forget is that she also gets 100% of all of the bills.  So when the day is done, the staff member actually makes more than the salon owner, even once you factor in the amount the 40-50% that the salon keeps of the staff member’s service.

The salon owner pays things like rent, utilities, advertising, insurance, supplies to do all services, paper towels, toilet paper, coffee, cups, creamer, snacks for the break room, cleaning supplies, office supplies, TAXES, licenses, magazine subscriptions, trade subscriptions, CLASSES, shows, and the list goes on and on and on.  Some think that salon owners get rich off of what they earn off of their staff.  Think again.  When you add staff members, your expenses increase.  Your utilities go up, your supplies go up, and on and on and on.  So, in most cases, it is safe to assume that even though a salon owner adds another staff member, they are NOT earning much more than they were before they hired the new staff member.

Why hire anyone then, you may ask.  Well, salon owners can only do so many clients.  By adding staff members, the salon owner can keep up with the calls for appointments that they can’t take.

Now that I have given you this little history and my opinions on this subject, I would like to tell you a story.  I had a client, who was very wealthy, who would never tip me.  No problem, tips are not an entitlement.  I get it.  So after a break from getting her nails done, she wanted to start again.  I no longer had an opening in my book, so she was booked with a staff member.  Each and every appointment, she would tip this girl $20.  Sometimes this was a $20 tip on a $25 service.  This reinforced to me that she didn’t tip me because I was the salon owner, because my service was just as good as the staff member’s service, if not better.

Fast forward a few years, the staff member decided to go out on her own and become a salon owner.  Wealthy client went with her.  Still, to this day, I wonder what wealthy client does now.  Did she continue to tip the girl $20?  Or, did she stop since she is now a salon owner?  If she did stop, how did she explain it.

Bottom line, don’t rely on tips.  Set your prices so that you don’t need tips.  Tips are then just a bonus.  If you are of the Dear Abby mindset, I hope you rethink that mindset and realize that it is just plain ridiculous.  Tip based on the service you receive, not who owns what or who pays who.

New Clients – Someone Else’s PITA

Don’t you just love some of these new clients that you get from other salons?  The best are the ones that come from the Discount Salons.  You know, the dirty salons, using MMA, cheap, fast, no appointment, churning out ugly, fugly nails all day long.

They arrive at your table with yellowed product.  Their nails look like a Chiclet.  The smile line is almost to the cuticle.  It’s a white tip with clear product over it.  It is, on that day, the worst set of nails you have ever seen in your career.  You think, this is going to be easy!  I am going to WOW her!  Think again.

These are by far, the pickiest clients.  They will tell you to take off a millimeter of length to make them even (even though they are already even).  They will fuss over the placement of one spec of glitter.  They fuss and muss about EVERY. SINGLE. THING. 

Really?  Seriously??  Did you take a look at your nails when you walked in the door?  Were you that picky when you got that set put on????  Oh, right, you couldn’t express yourself because your technician DIDN’T SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE.  I really doubt that you would have said anything anyway, so why be so picky now?  Your nails already look one million times better and I am not even half way finished!

Sometimes you get new clients from a neighboring salon that is not a Discount Salon.  You get bombarded with things like “That’s not how my other tech did it”.  Well, if you were so happy with that other tech, why are you not sitting in her chair?  Why are you in mine?  Seems to me you are looking for something new.  Something better.  Why not allow me to do that?  Why not allow me to do my job?  I promise you I will do the best job that you will allow me to do.

Sometimes you get rid of a Pain In The Ass (aka PITA)  Sometimes, you end up with someone else’s PITA.  The only PITAs I like have cheese in them.

Things I’ve Always Wanted to Say to Clients

Through the years, I have just wanted to scream at some clients.  Most clients are awesome, but you always have those few that really push your buttons and until you finally can’t take any more and fire them, you are screaming at them in your head.  Here are just a few things I would LOVE to say to some clients both current and past.   

Come at your appointment time.  Don’t come 10 minutes late because you put me behind the rest of the day.  For goodness sakes do not come 30 minutes early either!  Some of you come so early, then sit in the waiting chair and stare at me like I am late.  Um, you are early.  Also, if I don’t have a client when you arrive, do not expect me to start you early unless you have called and made arrangements before to start earlier.  We schedule time to eat, return phone calls and run errands.  Oh sure, I could eat after I am finished with you, but what usually ends up happening is the next person is early and so on and so on and I never get my break.  So just show up on time, it’s not too much to ask.

If you are one of these people who like to be really, really early, for the love of God, when you sit in my chair, you better have made a decision of what color you want, what design you are going with.  You just sat there for how long, you had plenty of time to make those decisions.

When you do arrive early, DO NOT try to monopolize my time.  My attention is given to the paying client sitting in my chair.  Your time starts at your scheduled time.  Do not ask me to help you pick out colors or answer questions.  I am with another client.  Would you like it if someone came in and barges in on your appointment?  Well don’t do it to someone else.

Put your flipping cell phone in your purse and turn it OFF.  You are not Donald Trump or the President of the United States.  You are not so important that you have to be reached every second of the day.  Instruct family members to call the salon if there is an emergency.  It is nearly impossible to do your nails while you are yakking on the phone, making your other hand stiff as a board, never mind that one of those hands has to go into the UV light (Hair prints in the gel and all).  It’s even worse when you are trying to text.  Your appointment is 60 minutes.  You can put your sucky woo woo blankie down for 60 seconds.  From now on, I am going to stop working until I have both of your hands in my possession.  At the end of your allotted time, if I am not finished, tough shit.  Turn your phone off and put it away next time.

Leave the brats at home.  Seriously this is a nail salon, not a day care.  We have never had one child that behaved in the salon.  Do you really think I can do intricate artwork while you have a baby on your lap and you are BOUNCING it to pacify it?  Really?  Also, do you really want file dust and chemicals blowing in YOUR BABY’S FACE?   That is exactly where it is going.  Do you think it is easy to work on you while you are squirming in your chair trying to keep an eye on your kid, who is doing cartwheels in the salon?  Do you think we enjoy hearing you scream at your child?  Do you think we enjoy watching your child out of the corner of our eye because you aren’t?  How good do you think your nails will look after all that?  Leave them at home.  Get a sitter.  This should be YOU time.

These are just a few things, I am sure more will be added by our readers soon.  Coming up next, we have a message for all of you clients who are coming from the Discount Nail Salons………..

So You Want to Own a Nail Salon?

So now that you are a superstar Nail Tech, or at least you think you are, you want to open your own salon.  It's amazing how many people with absolutely no business sense think that they can open and run a business.  First thing is first.  Do you have a business plan?  It's amazing how many Nail Techs open a salon without a plan.

Owning a salon is hard work and no one is going to do it for you.  The clean up fairy doesn't visit, you are the janitor.  You pay all of the bills, do all of the advertising and marketing, supply ordering.  You are the receptionist, the complaint department, the bookkeeper, you name it.  As a small business owner, you do it all.

Now, when you add staff it gets even better.  They will use the last of supplies and not tell anyone and when you go to get something, you are out.  They will break things and just bring it to you and tell you it's broke, or worse yet, they won't tell you at all, they will let you find out on your own.  They will make messes and leave it for you to clean up.  They will abuse the furniture and leave it for you to repair.  They will sometimes do a really shitty job and YOU are the one that gets the complaint from the client and they expect YOU to fix their messes.

Staff members flying in the door, sitting down and starting their client, who is waiting for them.  They will take a lot of time off, working very minimal times, then complain that they aren't making any money. 

So, if you are going to own your own Nail Salon, are you willing to work your business each and every day?  To be successful, you have to do this.  You can't just show up a couple of hours a week. 

So You Want to be a Nail Tech?

You are bright eyed and bushy tail, right out of beauty school.  You think you are going to take the world by storm and be successful right away.  Think. Again.

You have dues to pay and a clientele to build.  Do you have what it takes to make it?  Most do not.

Most new techs are arrogant and think that they will be successful right out of the gate.  They think this is EASY.  They quickly find out that it is not.

They are lazy.  They are sloppy.  They don’t pay attention to detail.  Guess what?  No one wants to come back to them.

They don’t want to put in the extra effort.  They don’t practice.  Hell, most of them don’t even shape the nail.  So many of then CAN’T POLISH A NAIL.  I mean really????  Polishing a nail is the basic staple of manicuring.  If you can’t polish a freaking nail – YOU FAIL!

These newbies show up to work ten minutes before they are to start.  They run out of the door ten minutes after they finish their last client.  During down times, they don’t line up warm bodies to practice on.

They ignore the fact that people, who rebooked at their last appointment are now cancelling.  They ignore the fact that when these people do return, they are booked with other technicians.  They ignore the fact that they did a piss poor job the first time and the client obviously asked to be booked with someone else.

So many new Nail Techs fail because they don’t want to put the effort into being successful.  If success was that easy, we would ALL be successful.  Since this is not the case, those who are willing to pay their dues and put in their time are successes.  The lazy ones are not and leave the industry.  Which one are you?