in

England

Set up a business and I REGRET it!

Guys I’m in need of a huge rant I need it to be private as you’ll understand as I explain.

So I had my first baby just over a year ago. I’m a self employed hair dresser and when I took a year off from my clients I knew it was a risk. I thought coming back bigger and stronger would help me engaged back with my lost clients and some did return to me as they are my ride or dies bless em! But I knew I’d have to do something huge to create excitement and a buzz. So I opened my own hair salon. I big step up after just renting a chair in another salon. It looks impressive and on paper it was my next step up anyway. Everyone always expected this is what I’d do one day.

However it’s no way near gone to plan unfortunately.

A lot less of my clients have come back to me.
I’ve spent a fortune doing the place up. It’s costing me an arm and a leg to run the salon as my rent is sky high (it is a very beautiful salon but who gives A F when there’s hardly no clients in it 😢).

It’s costing me so much that I also now don’t have the budget to advertise to try promote myself. Every penny goes on my childcare nursery bills or running the building.

I’ve tried renting chairs out to other hairdressers but nobody’s wanting to move or change salons right now. What with the cost of living crisis it has hugely affected how oftenclients can come for their hair doing and I’m not even the most expensive. So I also get why other hairdressers also aren’t looking to rock the boat and risk moving salons.

Before I had my baby I was fully booked for months. Now week by week I don’t know if I’ll be able to pay the bills.

On paper this should have worked. I’ve been a hair dresser for 12 years.
I took a step back to have my baby and during that time I didn’t appreciate how hard it would be to lure my clients back over to me.

I’ve spent probably way too much and I feel like I’ve well and truly messed up my life.

I don’t even know what the point of telling this to strangers on the internet is except this is like a huge secret. I’m so ashamed that my business has been a failure that I dare not admit it to my friends or family who are none the wiser. Only my husband knows the truth. I’m having to fake it to make it. I’ve lost 2 stone with the stress and worry and bottling it up inside.

I’m not even a silly business woman, everything was done with financial planning and was thoughtfully planned out. But that was all well and good when I thought the clients would return. I’m wanting to try to promote myself through social media as it’s free but it’s just not working that well.

Im devastated. This is the biggest secret I’ve ever held in.