Top tips for making your nail business stand out
By Scratch Staff | 13 February 2019 | Expert Advice, Feature
Tammy Koslowski, founder of award-winning NAF! Salon in Glasgow, reveals her advice for making your business stand out from the rest…
In any given town, you can bet that there will be multiple beauty salons or mobile technicians, so how can you ensure that you stand out and get a good share of the clientele? My advice is to just be you – and harness that into building a brand.
When you run a business, it’s hard to decide whether to follow your gut or the norm. There is a pre-disposed idea of a nail salon/service experience in the average person’s mind but it’s definitely OK to shake it up if you want to. Whether it’s a little or a lot, staying true to yourself in business will not only make you happier, but it will differentiate you from your competitors.
When it comes to legal obligations, health & safety, sanitisation and product usage you should always follow regulation, but once you have the foundations in place and you can provide a comfortable, safe and welcoming client experience then you can dress the rest up.
As RuPaul of RuPaul’s Drag Race says, ‘We’re all born naked and the rest is drag!’ – and it’s your ‘drag’ that clients buy into.
Actively branding yourself and your work is such a personal thing. It may sound scary, but if you have a name, a website and social media accounts then you’re half way there! Logos can just be your name in a nice font; there’s no need to spend hundreds of pounds on one if you don’t want to. I called my salon NAF! because it’s easy to say, type and remember and it stands for ‘Nails and Face’. I like the word play on ‘naff’ and people imagining it’s an acronym for something a lot cooler. It advertises that we’re not too serious.
Our website is www.nafsalon.com, social accounts are all @nafsalon and our products are NAF! Stuff which makes us easy to find online. The salon itself is quirky and colourful and our marketing materials reflect that. Our team is made up of typical millennials that are inspired by pop culture, the internet and music. Naturally, our social media voice reflects this and we write captions like ‘YES MAMA SLAY’ and reply to clients with ‘Hey gurl’ and ‘Love ya!’. This is natural to us but can you imagine a luxury destination writing comments like that? Exactly!
So basically, if you dream of painting your salon or studio black, decorating it with skulls and sticking on some Black Sabbath, then absolutely go for it.
Call your business ‘Coffin Tips’, make sure your Instagram feed and social voice are both dark and brooding and name your services after song lyrics. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but your vibe attracts your tribe and I can bet, that through being active on social media, word of mouth and even a little bit of press that you’ll attract people who will love it. You may even provide a safe space for people who don’t feel comfortable going to a regular salon to get their nails done.
That was just an example to get your attention and you don’t need to go for a full on theme but I hope it’s made branding sound less intimidating. You might be thinking, ‘I’ve done all this, my business is true to me’ – and that’s fantastic! Now shout about it.
I challenge you to spend more time building your brand over the next few months by doing simple things like making sure your trading name is consistent through your online platforms, adding even more personal touches to your workspace then posting pictures of you working in it on social media every now and again and letting your personality shine through your online ‘voice’ via captions and replies. Not so scary now, huh?
