How to Start a Nail Business at Home

22 Jul 2024

In this guide:

Acquire Licences and Permits
Write a Business Plan
Conduct Market Research
Invest in Equipment and Products
Work Out Your Prices
Promote Your Small Home Nail Salon
Home Nail Salon Ideas

The way we work is constantly changing, and for many entrepreneurs thinking about taking the plunge into a new business it’s all about figuring out what works best for them.

The health and beauty industry is surging in a big way. In particular, the nail salon market is predicted to grow an average of 3.8% per year through 2026¹. If you’re interested in a career in health and beauty, opening a nail salon might be the opportunity you’re looking for.

The costs of leasing premises to run your new nail business might be prohibitively expensive. But according to a global survey, almost one-fifth of respondents say they don’t ever expect to return to the office five days a week². This uprooting of the workplace means huge changes to the way workers use their local services — not just when grabbing lunch around the corner, but also stopping by the salon.

All of which means one of your largest outlays – paying the rent – could be moot from the get-go. But there is an alternative.

Starting your nail business at home is a great opportunity to hit the ground running, with reduced overheads and the potential to grow an expansive client list. Once you’ve consolidated a customer base you could even think about setting up shop in a dedicated store.

But until then, focus on how to start a nail business at home. We’ve put together these tips and guidance to help you succeed, with some home nail salon ideas carving a clear-cut path towards achieving business success.

Acquire Licences and Permits

You’ll need to register your salon and apply for your premises license. You should also be able to show evidence of a nail certification. You may also require several other licenses depending on the type of services you wish to offer. You can find out about any further licensing that might be required with this tool on the government website: https://www.gov.uk/find-licences.

Nail technicians should consider gaining a VTCT Level 3 Diploma in Nail Technology. This specific qualification is fully insurable and recognised by the UK government.

Once you’ve gained your qualification and have made sure your home business meets the requirements, you can get on with the specifics of starting up your own nail business at home.

Do you wan to attract more loyal customers and increase your brand awareness? Find out how.

Write a Business Plan

You don’t need to reel off reams of charts and graphs to clearly illustrate your plans for your business. But writing a business plan does mean highlighting the most important things to consider when you’re launching a new career. Think about things like:

Costs – How much do you expect to spend as an initial investment, and what of the regular payments going forward? This will have a bearing on the prices you’ll charge so that you aren’t spending more than you earn. Think about employee salaries and maintenance/repair too.
Competition – Are there other businesses competing for your customer base? What do they offer, and how can you diversify your own offering enough to attract new clients looking for something different?
Customers – What will a typical customer spend with you, and how often? Is there something you can offer that will keep them around, like a discount for booking several sessions in advance?

Your business plan doesn’t need to be War and Peace, but it should give a detailed outline of your plans for the future, and how you intend to make a living from your salon.

Conduct Market Research

Without market research, you can’t be sure that there are customers who are willing to buy what you’re selling. But the costs of an average consumer research campaign can be staggering. Even a very small 10-person focus group might incur up to £700 for a 60 to 90 minute session³. Due to the small sample size, that’s actually one of the cheapest ways to conduct official market research.

Luckily, there are simpler, much cheaper ways to get a taste of customer culture for yourself. Do your research online and find the stats that are most relevant to your customers. The Federation of Small Businesses is a great source of consumer resources and profiles. You’ll find information on different demographics divided by region, so you can localise your search and see what your average customer is made of.

You might find some on-the-fly testing helps you determine where the money is. If you’re already up and running with a website or a social media presence, try out different modes of messaging to see what response you get from prospective clients.

Invest in Equipment and Products

As well as the costs of licensing and permits, you should expect to make other significant outlays before you’re ready to welcome your first customer.

Signage
Website
Equipment
Uniforms
Computer and POS system

Although not all these spends are vital when establishing your business, in terms of branding things like signage and uniforms are an important part of establishing your brand.

Also think about any ongoing costs your business faces. Licences and permits may need annual renewal, while there’s also the cost of supplies and inventory to consider. Then there’s the equipment you’ll need to provide your services, like seating, manicure stations and drying lamps. Consider the cost of maintaining these pieces and replacing if, and when necessary.

Work Out Your Prices

In your business plan you’ll have established what sort of costs you’re looking at incurring on a regular basis, which means you’ll now need a price list for customers that you can use as the foundation of raising the money to pay them.

Consider what you’ll need to charge to cover your costs on an ongoing basis, as well as which services you offer that could conceivably make more money and appeal to a certain portion of customers. It helps to know what the average customer is prepared to spend, so look back at your market research and take the opportunity to look up competitors’ prices to see if you’re in the same ballpark.

Promote Your Small Home Nail Salon

Now consider how you plan to market your services to attract new customers. See what other nail salon businesses further afield are doing, as well as competitors close to home. Think about a mix of online and offline marketing – partnering with other local businesses to combine promotions or setting up a new website complete with offers and discounts for new customers. Work with influencers to get your business noticed by a larger audience – but make sure their values align with yours so you can be sure you’re reaching the right people.

Home Nail Salon Ideas

You may be running your business from home, but there’s no reason you can’t work towards turning your nail salon into an environment that’s a health and beauty haven for your customers. Some simple stylistic touches can really make your place of business stand out among the competitors. Let’s look at some small home nail salon ideas.

Use every square inch

You might have limited space, but with some clever storage ideas you can still give customers a great service while maintaining a clean and tidy workspace.

Store supplies and equipment in wall organisers and hanging cabinets that don’t take up valuable floor space. Always maintain a tidy workspace and put up some shelves to store the equipment you’ll need access to the most.

Create the illusion of space

Make your nail salon appear even bigger with a few deceiving decorative touches.

Hang or shelve attractive pieces just above eye level, subconsciously giving the impression the ceiling is higher than it really is.
Choose leggy pieces of furniture to increase the perception of floor space, rather than furniture which sits on the ground.
Coordinate colours around the room to make everything blend and soften focus, making it slightly more difficult to notice the dimensions of the space.

A designer’s social media dream

Interior design is one of the most popular shares on social media. Especially Instagram, a decorista’s dream. Make your customers fall in love with their surroundings and they might just be tempted to share their moment of inspiration with followers.

Running a successful social media account for your business is one thing but owning a place that inspires interior décor fans everywhere could boost your profile too. See what other salons are doing with their spaces, and what tips you can take home.

Love your lighting

Like most traditional workspaces, nail salons benefit from the natural light that floods in through storefront windows. Unless you’re setting up your home salon in the sunroom, you may not have that advantage. That’s why lighting is key when designing your workspace. Use warm-temperature LED light bulbs and make sure they’re the same Kelvin value throughout your salon. Warm temperatures make the room more natural without appearing artificial, unlike cooler temperatures which would wash out walls and give the place a sterile, clinical look which clients may not go for.

Check out the Groupon Merchant resources for more home nail salon ideas and tips on running a small business. Become a Groupon Merchant and connect with customers and other small business owners, share tips, and get the support you need.

References