Maria G. Soriano 

Research Project 

Introduction– The nail industry has been a huge industry for years. For so many people self-care is extremely important to them. Some people like to get their nails done every 3-4 weeks as maintenance and others like to get their nails done for special occasions. Here in Queens New York, there are a bunch of nail salons minutes away from each other or even a couple of store fronts away. 

  But what are the positive and negative effects of this? Having a variety of options in the community gives the people the opportunity to look at different pricing, how good and what type of services they provide. Doing this people can choose a nail shop they like the most and stick to them. You basically get to test out which shops work best for you. But having too many nail salons nearby can also have its downfalls. It can lead to not having enough clients for competition. They most likely try to keep their price range the same so they don’t scare clients by going to their competition which can cause these salons to not increase their revenue. Nail salons don’t only have to compete with other nail salons now they have to compete with independent nail artists. 

 One thing is for sure: independent nail artists are much more talented than people who work in nail salons. These artists can keep up with trends, their nail art is unique and offer a variety of updated designs. Business for independent nail artists has increased these past few years. But for the most part these independent artists don’t have a variety of services they can offer. 

Study Methodology 

For my research I decided to do qualitative research. For the most part nail salons here in Queens are mostly small businesses. These businesses for the most part offer a variety of services like acrylic nails, manicure, pedicure, gel nails and there are some salons that offer more services like hair and waxing. Most of their clients started off by being walk-ins or because someone suggested they go, and they all have become loyal customers. This nail salon I chose to talk to is a family-owned business. The business is run by 3 sisters. One who does nails and the other two do hair. Some of the people they hired are family or close friends.  When I talked to the owners one of the questions that I asked was why don’t they promote their business on social media? She had told me that she doesn’t know how to promote her business and social media since it’s a platform she doesn’t use and as of right now she doesn’t find any need to hire someone to help grow their business since she feels like at this exact moment her business is doing completely fine and in the later future she will definitely use social media to promote her business just not at this exact moment. I asked her what makes her salon different from the others? She said that they offer a variety of services. They offer nail services, hair services for both male and female and waxing services. Everyone who works there is licensed and is good at their job. Not only that but as a customer you can get multiple services done in just one place instead of going to different places throughout the day. So, people find this convenient for them. They also stated that as a business they try to provide the best customer services, so customers tend to come back. For the most part everyone has their own clientele at the business. People tend to call them personally to make an appointment, so each person individually handles their appointment. Unless you call the store, number and don’t ask for some you will be placed with the next person who is available this also goes with walk-ins. They also said they feel like their prices are reasonable and aren’t as expensive as other places that don’t provide the best services. They stated cleanliness is something they take pride in; they keep up to date with all the health and safety regulations. They often disinfect the tools they use and throw out all the tools that aren’t meant to be reused. When talking to them they said they don’t often think about their competition because they are in a very comfortable place right now. 

Although these nail salons can provide a variety of services should they still be worried about independent nail artists? I decided to talk to an independent nail artist about her business. Just overall I wanted to know how she runs her business and how her business differs from nail salons. For the most part many of these independent nail artists started off being home-based. For the most part these artists learned on their own and later got their licenses. Being an independent nail artist has many perks, for example you can set up your own schedule to your own liking. You can work how many days you and you can choose how many clients you want to see in a day. From what I have seen independent artists are much more creative when it comes to their work. They can constantly keep up with trends or they can recreate a design you would like them to do. Vs in the nail salon you are very limited. Another great thing about being an independent artist is you get to set your prices. Yes, although sometimes these prices may be a little high the work speaks for itself, you will rarely be disappointed. And the greatest thing of all is that you are your own boss, you get to run your business how you want, you choose the services you get to do, you choose whether you want to take in new clients etc. When talking to my nail artist, one of my questions to her was how many years she has been in the industry since she is still young. She had told me she has been in the industry for about 4 years. The first 3 years of her journey she was strictly home based, going into her 4th year she had decided to move into a brick and mortar. What can be some of the downfalls of being a home-based operation? Your home is something very personal and letting random clients come in for services can be very hard because there are just some people who don’t simply respect any boundaries. Although brick and mortar can sometimes be expensive it is totally worth it since you can increase your business since you won’t have any limited space and your privacy is protected. Her business is by appointment only, people can book an appointment through her website and must leave a 50% deposit to book. People tend to ask for a deposit just to hold down the appointment and this can be good for the nail artist to have a deposit just in case someone doesn’t show up since again she is an appointment only type of business. How does she introduce price increase? Since this is her first year in a brick and mortar it’s not something she is comfortable with but for the most part she must investigate the industry, her location, and the supplies to make the best price for her business. Do you use social media for your business? Yes, she does, she uses Instagram, Facebook and TikTok to market her business. But she also gets clients by word of mouth. But for the most part she mostly got her client by word of mouth. How often do you get new clients? For the most part she gets the highest number of new clients during spring, summer and of course on special occasions. How do you keep up with trends? She uses social media to get creativity, to learn the new nail trends that are happening. She is a fast learner, so she tends to recreate them fast but of course practice makes perfect. Before your clients started coming to you did, they go to nail salons, or did they go with an independent nail artist? Most of her clients went to nail salons before coming to her. But the ones that get their nails done as a lifestyle tend to go more with private nail tech like her clients. What is something you will change about the industry? She feels like most of the nail shops here in New York aren’t updated to cater to talented artists. There are also some nailshops that use some supplies that aren’t as safe. What makes you different? She stated that she used high quality products, high quality tools, her prices are reasonable, and does unique designs that not many artists can do or can offer.

Discussion 

Although the nail industry is a huge industry, how can nail salons keep up with independent nail artists?  Yes, nail salons can offer a variety of services, but their acrylic work isn’t updated, or they simply can’t keep up with trends. This causes them to lose some clients just in the specific services. Either nail salons should consider hiring a private nail artist or they should have their staff practice all these new trends and designs. They must get more creative so they can still attract more customers. For the salon that I interview, acrylic nails aren’t their top service. Why is that? They can only offer basic nail design. Basic design mostly caters to older people, so they don’t really cater to their younger audience. As a small business they should think about promoting their business through social media. It’s a great way to give your business more exposure. These outcomes can bring them to new clients.

References