Q&A: Mobile Motivation
Creating a mobile beauty business with a team of therapists has its challenges. Perfect 10 owner Claire Aggarwal shares her tips with Jade Burke
Perfect 10 launched during 2011. What was the inspiration for the mobile beauty service?
Truthfully, it wasn’t my idea. I was doing a few mobile treatments to earn some extra money and a client said I should set it up as my own business. Through word of mouth and networking I was able to build up my client base and get enough therapists.
What challenges did you face when setting up?
Our main challenge was working out when to do treatments, as we are based in London and the traffic is mental. So at the moment we are open from 10:30am to 10:30pm, seven days a week.
In terms of payment, to begin with we only took cash, which is simple but it can be a pain for the client and it’s a bit scary that a therapist could run off with £1,000. So now we mainly use Paypal chip machines, which are so easy. It’s capped our costs on time and looks more professional, plus it’s safer for clients and us and we get the money in our account within just a few hours, which means our cash flow is much better.
Which beauty services do you offer?
We do pedicures, Shellac manicures, waxing, massages, Sienna X tans and facials including specialist Elemental Herbology ones. However, we can’t do things with heavy machines or lasers. We don’t do any treatments with exfoliating salt scrubs, although I know a lot of mobile companies do this. But the salt ends up all over the client’s floor, and when we have such high-end clients with expensive carpet it’s not worth it. We leave their home exactly the way we found it.
You have some celebrity clients. What are your tips for treating famous faces?
Firstly, don’t be shocked or ask any intrusive questions. You must treat them as a normal person, because as the end of the day they are. Also you need to be very careful to maintain client confidentiality.
What other tips for success would you give to mobile therapists?
Ensure treatments are carried out properly. It’s amazing the details clients notice when you’re offering a service, so the service always has to be five star.
Check to see how the treatment was for the client. Many salons don’t do that; I can’t understand why. We speak to every single client after their treatment. It takes a lot of time but it’s worth it because there might be one thing we could change. Clients are then more likely to stay loyal. The beauty industry is so fickle people can easily go elsewhere, so you’ve got to maintain that relationship for your business to thrive, as well as focusing on getting new clients.
What’s next for Perfect 10?
The plan is to expand within London and then throughout the UK. We want to widen our team and get up to about 20 girls in London and then look at starting up in other areas of the country.
