Menu
  • All Courses
    • Accounting
    • Administration
    • Animal Care
    • Arts
    • Beauty
    • Bookkeeping
    • Business
    • Business Administration
    • Child Care
    • Cloud Computing
    • Counselling
    • Culinary Arts
    • Dentistry
    • Education
    • Event Management
    • Finance
    • Graphic Design
    • Hairdressing
    • Health
    • Horticulture
    • Hospitality
    • Hospitality & Tourism
    • Human Resources
    • Interior Design
    • IT
    • Language
    • Leadership
    • Legal
    • Logistics
    • Management
    • Marketing
    • Massage
    • Mental Health
    • MYOB
    • Networking
    • Nursing
    • Outdoor and Adventure Education
    • Payroll
    • Photography
    • PRINCE2®
    • Project Management
    • Psychology
    • Sales
    • Security
    • Small Business
    • Sports & Fitness
    • Training Assessment
    • Travel
    • Veterinary
    • Web Design
    • Web Development
    • Xero
  • Search Courses
  • Fees Free Courses
  • Workforce Training
  • Education Providers
  • Advertise with Us
  • Affiliates
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
  1. Home
  2. Career Advice
  3. 7 Tips For Starting Your Own Beauty Therapy Business From Home
Career AdviceIndustry InsiderStudy TipsResources
Published 17 Dec 2020

7 Tips For Starting Your Own Beauty Therapy Business From Home

by Erin Stewart

It’s not uncommon in the beauty industry to find thriving at-home hairdressing and beauty businesses. Working from home offers greater flexibility and it allows you to get started in a job with your ideal hours and customers. That said, it also comes with some challenges.


beauty-home-NZ_Feature

A rewarding job and lifestyle

Running your own beauty therapy business is a top working from home job, and super-rewarding because:

  • It allows you to work flexible hours – you’re the boss, so you define when you want to work.
  • There’s zero commute, freeing up that time for family, hobbies, or to get in some extra sleep.
  • You can target customers you’d particularly like to service and decide what treatments you want to specialise in.
  • It’s a job that allows you to express yourself creatively, both through providing treatments as well as designing your décor and branding.

About the industry

Working as a self-employed beauty therapist can also be financially rewarding. In New Zealand, most people in the beauty industry with two years’ experience can earn between minimum wage and $60,000 a year, however, salaries tend to be higher among salon owners who run their own business.


Beauty therapists with more than two years' experience
$0,000
per year

Key responsibilities for beauty therapists include:

Offering beauty services such as:

  • manicures
  • pedicures
  • facials
  • massages
  • hair removal
  • applying make-up

Communicating with customers clearly and in a friendly manner when conducting services as well as booking appointments and answering queries.


Maintaining customer records and taking payments.


Upholding hygiene and safety requirements at all times.


Leaving customers looking and feeling their best.


Crucial skills for beauty therapists

The crucial skills you need for being a beauty therapist – such as good hygiene practices, customer service skills, and service techniques – can be honed as you gain qualifications and experience.

On top of those, as you prepare for starting your own business, you’ll also need to build great working from home know-how, including:

  • Good organisation skills and self-motivation.
  • Good knowledge of your industry and expertise on your chosen services.
  • An interest in taking on big challenges and problem-solving.
  • Tenacity as you go through peaks and troughs of running a business and the challenge of starting out.
  • Always looking to learn more, developing new product knowledge, and upskilling to offer more and specialised services.

What qualifications will you need?

Typically, beauticians require vocational training in beauty therapy or cosmetology with a TAFE Certificate II, Certificate III, Certificate IV, or Diploma of Beauty Therapy or Diploma of Salon Management. Advanced diplomas are also available.

They also need hands-on experience – you can gain this by choosing a course that has a practical placement component, or through apprenticeships or traineeships, or work experience.

7 Tips for working from home as a beauty therapist

Tip 1: Get some experience

After you get qualified as a beauty therapist, you’ll need to get confident in the job. When you go out on your own, you won’t have colleagues to guide you through anything you’re not sure of. It’s a good idea to have a few years of experience in the field before starting your own business so that you can develop your skills under the care and direction of a manager.

Tip 2: Get business savvy

Starting a business is heavy on the admin. It’s important to understand your obligations so that you can prepare to meet them.

Things like:

  • How to register as a business, consulting government information to make sure you’ve got the basics covered.
  • Public liability insurance, which protects you if someone gets injured on your property and protects against property damage.
  • Professional indemnity insurance, which safeguards you if clients take issue with a service you’ve provided.
  • Potentially other types of insurance such as small business insurance or income protection insurance, depending on what’s relevant to you.
  • Figuring out your bookkeeping system and tax obligations. You’ll need to know the basics of invoicing and recording expenses – it may help to hire an accountant for this.

If it all sounds overwhelming, there are lots of resources out there. You could take a short course on running a new business, find a startup coach, find professional mentors, or even ask questions of people in your local area who’ve made the transition to self-employment.

Tip 3: Consider your space

Setting up an at-home business involves asking important questions about how well your home will facilitate clients. Firstly, it’s important to check whether you’re allowed to set up a business from where you live: you may have to check local zoning laws, and if you rent, you may need permission from your landlord, depending on your tenancy agreement.

As well, ask yourself whether your space is good for running a business:


Have you done your market research? Do you have good evidence that there is demand for your services in the area you live?

Although not necessary, it’s ideal to have a separate space for work. Having a space dedicated to work, and a space dedicated to personal time can help you relax and get out of work mode. It also means you don’t have to pack up/unpack your equipment every day.


Do you have a separate entrance so people aren’t walking through your house when they come for treatments? If not, can you make sure areas of your house are kept private?

Do you have an area where people can wait when you’re with another client?


If your space is unsuitable, another option is to become a mobile beauty therapist where you offer to travel to customers’ homes to deliver your services.

Tip 4: Hone your set-up

It’s important to consider what kinds of beauty therapy treatments you want to offer and are qualified to offer, and then the equipment you’ll need to carry out those services. Do your research on costs, whether you can buy it new or used, what the best brands are, and what equipment is required for you to comply with government regulations.

Equipment may include things like:

  • Beds for body massage and other body treatments

  • Chairs

  • Spray tanning, waxing, skincare, eyelash, or other kits

  • An electrolysis or skin analysis machine

  • Ear, nose, or dermal piercing equipment

  • A nail desk, polish, LED lamps, and other nail technology

  • Towels and robes

  • Essential oils for aromatherapy

You also need to select what brands and cosmetic products to use to best serve your client’s needs. You may already have favourites, or certain products you’re comfortable with or have specific training to use. If not, you can research what’s out there and find ones you like. As a business-owner, you may be able to get wholesale prices or bulk deals.

All businesses also need computers, appointments systems and business software (including specialised beauty or salon software), and a way of accepting payments like a credit card or EFTPOS machine.


Creating a calming space

Beauty salons also offer clients a feeling of luxury and relaxation alongside spa treatments, which you can achieve through décor.

Think about how you want people to feel when you’re offering them services, and then think about how your space could support that – without breaking your budget.


Upholding health and safety

Finally, it’s really important to have a plan to uphold you and your customers’ health and safety. Make sure the space is well-ventilated, and that you have an evacuation procedure in case something goes wrong. It’s important to sterilise equipment, for which an autoclave is a very useful piece of equipment. You may also need to set up clinical waste disposal, for instance for used wax strips or other single-use items.

Tip 5: Make a business plan

When you have a good idea about what work is involved in setting up a business and what you need, you can start to make a thorough plan about what your business is going to do, and what your costs and expected income are likely to be.

You’ll need to decide on:

  • A business name
  • The services you want to offer
  • Who your target market is
  • Whether you need a business loan
  • Your basic business structure (for example, if you’ll have any employees)
  • What your salary is going to be
  • Your marketing plan
  • Your plans for growing your client base.

Talk through your plan with people you know and get feedback.

Tip 6: Identify challenges and prepare for dealing with them

Think about what aspects of running a business sound most difficult, or that you need to learn about. Make a list of those things and ask for advice on how to overcome them.

Here are some common challenges to starting a business, and ideas for dealing with them:


  • Problems with cashflow

    Often when you’re running a business there are peaks and troughs in income. Make sure you’re putting enough aside to stay afloat when business is a little slower.

  • Work/life balance

    Especially when you’re just starting out, it’s hard to say ‘no’ to new customers, working later then you’d like, or taking on too much. Remember to keep time for yourself and set boundaries.

  • Not saving up

    Running your own business means not getting sick pay and annual leave, it also means that you need to save money to meet your tax obligations.

  • Not valuing yourself enough

    Often people just starting out make the mistake of offering low cost services to the point of undervaluing their business – make sure you’re charging a price that’s fair to your labour, skills, and knowledge, and that allows you to make a good profit.

  • Not researching enough

    At a certain point, starting your own business involves jumping into the deep end, but you’ll give yourself the best start if you know all about your industry, have a solid plan, and have sorted out your strategies for success. One way of testing your business model is to start your at-home business as a part-time side-hustle as you continue working in your day-job before you commit to running your business full-time.

Tip 7: Prepare for customers

Finally, you need to let people know that you’re about to open for business!

There’s a range of potential marketing strategies such as:

  • Building word-of-mouth
  • Making a website
  • Having a strong social media presence
  • Listing your business on platforms like Google Maps, the Yellow Pages, or listings of local businesses in your area.

When you think about your advertising and branding, think about how you want customers to feel when they go to your business, and try to reflect that in your design choices. For additional marketing ideas, it may be a good idea to consult with small business branding or web design professionals, however existing, free website templates for salon businesses or beauty businesses may work for you.

Regardless of what marketing options you choose, it’s useful to make available a list of what services you plan to provide and your pricing so that potential clients can easily see if they’re relevant to them.

When you’re just starting out, an online portfolio of your nail art or brow treatments, or whatever examples of your work you’re particularly proud of can show new clients your skills.

Setting up an at-home beauty therapy business can be challenging and can take a lot of time, with lots of elements to consider from bookkeeping, marketing, interior decorating, and procuring equipment. However, the rewards of a satisfying, self-led career can be amazing, and having a successful business is in reach.

WFH-refresh-TRNZ_Feature

GO BACK TO THE GUIDE

The 10 Best Working From Home Jobs That Will Earn You a Living

Not sold on beauty therapy as a career? Check out 9 other jobs that are perfect for working from home.

Learn More
013f1ef0b63536b2ac89b9aa83fa0f74?s=96&d=mm&r=g
Erin Stewart

Erin is a freelance writer based in Canberra. She constantly collects new hobbies and often gets stuck in Wikipedia research holes.

Want to read more?

Here's some more articles similar to this one.

Career Advice

Then And Now: The Job Market in New Zealand Over 50 Years

Family life in the 1960s was much the same as it had been in the previous decades. The man still went out to tend to the properties, whilst the wife would stay…

29f823678c12d29d1f8f36447b0bd964?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Caitlin George 23 Jan 2019
Resources

Understanding Education in New Zealand: What are your options?

After secondary school, the idea of tertiary education can be daunting. But let’s face it, in this day and age, increasing competition and demand for skilled employees has made tertiary study an…

b7b64c2eb58c180d7bcec9a9d2e3393b?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Ava Collins 12 Jun 2020
Study Tips

7 Reasons Why You Should Study in New Zealand

About New Zealand There is so much more to New Zealand than meets the eye and this beautiful and adventure-rich country offers more than just an amazing lifestyle. As for education, Auckland…

7b54b32249d519821f44a84e7b281ce9?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Amber Kirkwood 13 Apr 2017

Latest Articles

Career Advice

How to Start Your Career as an Esthetician

Esthetics is an exciting part of the beauty industry. In this deep dive, learn about the job description, what training is needed and how to get started. A career change can be…

b98f3ef384ecd95e24ca7e9a2e0e87e4?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Laura Squair 14 Jan 2021
Career Advice

The 11 Highest Paying Jobs in New Zealand [2021 Edition]

As a jobseeker, one thing you’ll want to bear in mind is the payoff you might expect from a given role. By having a good idea of the highest paying jobs in…

8bb6865db1df3b8706cfed5f7e9f6b3f?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Hania Syed 11 Jan 2021
Career Advice

How to Write a Killer CV in 2021 [+ Free Resume Template]

Looking to enter the job market, change jobs or start a new career in 2021? Stand out to hiring managers with this guide on crafting a perfect New Zealand-style CV in 2021….

8bb6865db1df3b8706cfed5f7e9f6b3f?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Hania Syed 5 Jan 2021

More from Blog

Career AdviceIndustry InsiderStudy TipsResources

Newsletter Sign Up

We'll email you updates on job trends, career advice, study tips, news and more.

Popular Subjects

  • Accounting
  • Administration
  • Animal Care
  • Arts
  • Beauty
  • Bookkeeping
  • Business
  • Business Administration
  • Child Care
  • Cloud Computing
  • Counselling
  • Culinary Arts
  • Dentistry
  • Education
  • Event Management
  • Finance
  • Graphic Design
  • Hairdressing
  • Health
  • Horticulture
  • Hospitality
  • Hospitality & Tourism
  • Human Resources
  • Interior Design
  • IT
  • Language
  • Leadership
  • Legal
  • Logistics
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Massage
  • Mental Health
  • MYOB
  • Networking
  • Nursing
  • Outdoor and Adventure Education
  • Payroll
  • Photography
  • PRINCE2®
  • Project Management
  • Psychology
  • Sales
  • Security
  • Small Business
  • Sports & Fitness
  • Training Assessment
  • Travel
  • Veterinary
  • Web Design
  • Web Development
  • Xero
Copyright © 2018 Training.co.nz About Contact Privacy Advertise Affiliates Terms Candlefox.com Training.com.au Tafecourses.com.au Coursesonline.co.uk

This website uses cookies to provide you with the best browsing experience.

Find out more or adjust your settings.

Training.co.nz
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Additional Cookies

This website uses the following additional cookies:

(List the cookies that you are using on the website here.)

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!