Should I go self employed straight out of college or should I find another job outside the hairdressing field?

Posted by Loose_Avocado4670@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 4 comments

I'll try and explain my situation as best as a can to get the best answers.

I'm due to finish college in about 2 weeks, and I've been trying so hard to find a salon to work in

( I'm about to finish my level 3 in hairdressing) on an employed basis to build a clientelle before going self-employed, but I've had absolutely no luck at all. I think I've rang/enquired about 15 hairdressers that I could realistically get to ( I can't drive) and they're either not hiring or they are self employed only, so you pay the owner a set amount of money for a chair each day and you are 100% responsible for your own income, equipment, products, clients, etc.

A girl in my course who finished a few weeks ago is self employed ( like how I described chair renting) and said that she isn't liking how she only gets paid when she has a client, and because like me, she's straight out of college, so she's not got a clientelle and relies heavily on walk ins, so income is generally low and unpredictable.

I'm currently waiting on a full-time job interview at mcdonalds ( I've been applying to full-time starter jobs like fast food and retail in case I don't get a salon) but I'm not sure if I should take it ( if I get the job of course) or if I should just make the leap and go self employed.

If I did go self-employed, I think i would start off part-time and think of some sort of side hussle, maybe? Or if I did some mobile appointments, I would taxi it?

I just don't know if it would be a good idea I mean as I've said, I don't have a client base, I can't drive, so I would have to spend on taxis if I offerd mobile appointments, and income would be extremely unpredictable.

I did do an extra course alongside college about starting a business/being self-employed, but again a lot of these guest speakers who were businesses owners were employed beforehand so had time to build a client base, so I just don't know if its a good idea.

Let me know what you all think/what you believe is best that I do.

[-]

Breakwaterbot@reddit

I take it you still live at home?

I don't think it would be a bad idea to look at jobs outside the hairdressing field and use that money to get yourself set up to drive. That would open you up to more salons to work at and/or set you up to be mobile and go self employed.

When I was 19, my girlfriend at the time qualified as a hairdresser and went through a similar thing. She would cut friends/families hair for a bit of cash in hand, then she worked at the café in the village at the weekends. When she finally got her driving licence, she was able to get a job at a salon in town. She really liked her café job though so she also kept that.

Anyway, that was 15 years ago and she owns her own salon now.

TabularConferta@reddit

Weird question. What's your relationship with the teachers like? Can you get recommendations? Can you get any work at the college?

Getting a driving license sounds like a priority when you can.

Can you work a gig like McD and do home visits? Basically you want to not give up on your skills and you need to constantly practice them.

fotfddtodairsizr@reddit

You should consider working from home or doing mobile appointments if you are concerned about income while renting a chair.

If that is not possible then the next best thing is rent a chair in a salon part time - like Thursday to Saturday and then work at McDonalds or some other hospitality/retail store on Mondays-Wednesdays.

That way you have some guaranteed income, lower chair renting bill and you’ll be in the salon on the busiest days for walk ins. Also make sure you create a fresha page and IG page so you can get clients easily.