Question:
Hi,
When I left school I wanted to study beauty therapy but my parents said that I have to do A-Levels. When I finished my A-Levels I applied to a beauty therapy course and got accepted, my parents when mad, so I managed to get onto a business studies degree to make them happy. I am now in the last year of my degree. I enjoyed studying business studies and it made me think about self-employment as I would like to put what I have learnt into practice. I have thought about doing a beauty therapy or nail technology course when I graduate this summer. As I am now 22 I do not care what my parents want from me anymore, I just want to be happy. The thing is I am scared that when I finally get to live out my dream of going to learn beauty therapy, it might not live up to my expectations. When I finish my degree there are higher paid jobs I could apply for that are relevant to my degree, but I think I will enjoy beauty therapy more. But going into the world of beauty therapy would be a big step for me. So I have some questions to ask anyone that is willing to reply.
1. Is beauty therapy an enjoyable job?
2. Do you find it glamorous, or is it only glamorous for the clients?
3. Is the salary ok for someone renting a room in a hairdresser/gym..etc
4. Is it easy to set up as self-employed, does it take long to get clients?
5. Do you think it is possible to make a good salary in time (e.g. about £24,000 a year before tax)?
I would be so grateful of any replies as I am getting very stressed and confused as I do not know what to do with my life.
I am not sure whether to go for it, or to just take a job relevant to my degree. I am so confused.
Hi I'm not a beauty therapist, but the one I use tells me that she really enjoys her job 'and you've got to love it to make any money at it'. Shesays it is glamorous for her client's but hard work for her, but she loves it so much she doesn't mind. If you work for someone else you will be paid a pittance (often places charging £30-40 for a massage pay the therapist only min wage) so self employment is best. If you are good your clients will come - I used my therapist and now about 6 of my friends also use her - some regularly, some occasionally so if you get 20 clients who are happy that could potentially bring in at least 40 (i.e each one refers at least one friend to you) but depends on your area, who your initial clients are, your prices etc. It might take you more than a year to be earning £24k. You might never get to that level.
As someone who works in finance I would say that the experience of running your own business would be invaluable whether or not you stick at beauty therapy - the whole pricing, budgeting, customer service side will stand you in good stead for any other area you decide to work in - but I really hope you realise your dream - money isn't everything and if you are doing a job that you love it will be obvious to everyone you treat (especially if they have been to others who are only in it for the money) so that you will find your clients will become regular customers and they will do your advertising. If you are not getting your clients returning then you need to ask yourself if you are doing a good job/prices are right - if you are doing a good job people will return and you will build up a client base.
Good luck
Hi chole,
I got into massage therapist accidently i wanted to do an evening course, but not in computing which is so popular, so i thought i do body massage at least my husband and my children would benifit, i have never enjoyed a subject as much as i did.
my tutor said you are a natural, you'll do well when you finish, yes i did finish and i thought here we go bought everything, but to get people to come to my house was so difficult also i wasnt happy to let everybody in either.
so i did study more courses to get under my belt, always had so many people who wanted free massage, but not paying customer, went for job interviews and hourly pay was worse than working in Mcdonald.
so i shop around to rent room where i be pay £10 an hour and keep the rest, or if they get me a client i give them £15 an hour, so I would be earning between £20 to £25 to take home, i like this option better as it suits me better.
so what i try to do is a lot of pamper parties to basically sell my skills, and do a lot of flyers to hand out, with three different prices, if they come to my place i charge like £25, if they come to place where i rent room is £35 and if go to their places which i dont like too much, i charge £45. but once it gets going hopefully you can earn good money but trust me it isnt as easy as you might think.
so if you dont mind putting the hard work in it, yes you can earn good money but it does take a lot of time for making good money. hope you find this helpful.
farideh x
When I left school I wanted to study beauty therapy but my parents said that I have to do A-Levels. When I finished my A-Levels I applied to a beauty therapy course and got accepted, my parents when mad, so I managed to get onto a business studies degree to make them happy. I am now in the last year of my degree. I enjoyed studying business studies and it made me think about self-employment as I would like to put what I have learnt into practice. I have thought about doing a beauty therapy or nail technology course when I graduate this summer. As I am now 22 I do not care what my parents want from me anymore, I just want to be happy. The thing is I am scared that when I finally get to live out my dream of going to learn beauty therapy, it might not live up to my expectations. When I finish my degree there are higher paid jobs I could apply for that are relevant to my degree, but I think I will enjoy beauty therapy more. But going into the world of beauty therapy would be a big step for me. So I have some questions to ask anyone that is willing to reply.
1. Is beauty therapy an enjoyable job?
2. Do you find it glamorous, or is it only glamorous for the clients?
3. Is the salary ok for someone renting a room in a hairdresser/gym..etc
4. Is it easy to set up as self-employed, does it take long to get clients?
5. Do you think it is possible to make a good salary in time (e.g. about £24,000 a year before tax)?
I would be so grateful of any replies as I am getting very stressed and confused as I do not know what to do with my life.
I am not sure whether to go for it, or to just take a job relevant to my degree. I am so confused.
Answers:
Hi I'm not a beauty therapist, but the one I use tells me that she really enjoys her job 'and you've got to love it to make any money at it'. Shesays it is glamorous for her client's but hard work for her, but she loves it so much she doesn't mind. If you work for someone else you will be paid a pittance (often places charging £30-40 for a massage pay the therapist only min wage) so self employment is best. If you are good your clients will come - I used my therapist and now about 6 of my friends also use her - some regularly, some occasionally so if you get 20 clients who are happy that could potentially bring in at least 40 (i.e each one refers at least one friend to you) but depends on your area, who your initial clients are, your prices etc. It might take you more than a year to be earning £24k. You might never get to that level.
As someone who works in finance I would say that the experience of running your own business would be invaluable whether or not you stick at beauty therapy - the whole pricing, budgeting, customer service side will stand you in good stead for any other area you decide to work in - but I really hope you realise your dream - money isn't everything and if you are doing a job that you love it will be obvious to everyone you treat (especially if they have been to others who are only in it for the money) so that you will find your clients will become regular customers and they will do your advertising. If you are not getting your clients returning then you need to ask yourself if you are doing a good job/prices are right - if you are doing a good job people will return and you will build up a client base.
Good luck
Answers:
Hi chole,
I got into massage therapist accidently i wanted to do an evening course, but not in computing which is so popular, so i thought i do body massage at least my husband and my children would benifit, i have never enjoyed a subject as much as i did.
my tutor said you are a natural, you'll do well when you finish, yes i did finish and i thought here we go bought everything, but to get people to come to my house was so difficult also i wasnt happy to let everybody in either.
so i did study more courses to get under my belt, always had so many people who wanted free massage, but not paying customer, went for job interviews and hourly pay was worse than working in Mcdonald.
so i shop around to rent room where i be pay £10 an hour and keep the rest, or if they get me a client i give them £15 an hour, so I would be earning between £20 to £25 to take home, i like this option better as it suits me better.
so what i try to do is a lot of pamper parties to basically sell my skills, and do a lot of flyers to hand out, with three different prices, if they come to my place i charge like £25, if they come to place where i rent room is £35 and if go to their places which i dont like too much, i charge £45. but once it gets going hopefully you can earn good money but trust me it isnt as easy as you might think.
so if you dont mind putting the hard work in it, yes you can earn good money but it does take a lot of time for making good money. hope you find this helpful.
farideh x
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