Are you a qualified nail technician or about to graduate from college? Have you considered being your own boss instead of working for a salon or a spa? Establishing your own mobile manicure business gives you a lot more freedom. As your own boss, you can determine when you want to work and how much you want to work each week.

Financial Planning & Legalities

In the initial stages of putting together your business plan and sorting out the financial side of things, it's worth employing someone with a bit of background knowledge or attending free business consultancy meetings in places like your local library, the council or college.

If you're keen on developing more profound knowledge that will let you do your own accounting, taxes and the like set aside some money for attending a part or full time course at your nearest college or adult education centre.

You'll also need to ensure your documentation, any diplomas and licences are all up to date. Remember, clients have the right to see these as proof of your qualifications for the job so it's worth bringing these along in a folder. Imagine, in a salon these are usually hung on the wall behind reception.

Advertising

Be patient when it comes to establishing a name for yourself. You shouldn't expect to get flooded with bookings as soon as you launch the business. Invest some time and energy in developing an advertising campaign.

Start with the classics: word of mouth and flyers. Chat to your friends, relatives, local shop owners, ladies you go to aerobics with and others. If you do print flyers, hand these out in busy areas such as outside shopping centres, parks and town squares, but be sure to approach your target audience. Giving out flyers to the wrong groups of people is a waste of time and money as these will only end up as litter.

Social media is another excellent channel through which to get the word out. What helps greatly for new businesses is that it comes free! Some of the easiest platforms to master are also the most popular – Facebook and Twitter – so create your business profile and start engaging customers.

Ensure you have a logo and some photos to post on the profiles. Upload some pictures of yourself and the work you've done in the past too. And stay active online! These days, the most successful businesses are the ones that find time to engage with their existing and potential customers.

Think about deals and competitions you could offer in the first few months of working. For example, you could offer free treatments to the first 5 people who book.

At a later stage, you could give small giveaways to clients who submit feedback forms online or get a friend to try out your services.

Supplies

The most investment is probably going to go into stocking up on professional tools and nail varnish. Check and double check that you have every piece of equipment you might need to carry out the range of services you offer.

Find a specialist retailer with wholesale nail supplies for sale as these cost less than individual items from high street stores.

Try to have a big range of nail polishes on hand for your clients to choose from. If these are too heavy to carry around, leave a selection in your car and only get them if the client doesn't like any of the ones you've brought with you inside.