Hello and welcome to another blog. Hope you are all well and trying to stay safe. We are in the throws of November already, I can’t quite believe it somehow, where has the year gone I wander? it seems like it has been a complete right off, I expect a large majority of the population will be glad to see the back of 2020!
Can you think of any positives that have come out of 2020, well I know for sure that we have become stronger more resilient and if we can get through the last little hurdle of this year, we should celebrate! We now need to be planning for the New Year, one that I suspect will be much better for everyone, more prosperous, maybe change careers, more focused in what we want out of our lives, more work life balance, more time with our families, whatever you want out of 2020, make it happen, we need goals right at this moment in time to keep us going.
Coronavirus Lockdown & December 10% off offer.
We are currently closed again at the academy due to the national lockdown, apparently we can remain open due to being education, however due to close contact services we have been informed by our local Birmingham council that we cannot open, mixed messages, our Insurance company have stated that we would not be insured if we opened due to the local council stipulating, therefore it is very frustrating indeed. However, we will be back open on 3rdDecember providing the government will allow it.
If you are thinking of doing any courses/training with us in December we always have the 10% DISCOUNT OFFER on all short courses taken in December, meaning your training has to be carried out in December, we only ever put on a discount offer once a year, so please start booking now. The only stipulation is you need to sign up to our newsletter to get the code, this code will go out in a mailshot newsletter so if you are on our newsletter mailing list you will get this exclusive offer. If you aren’t signed up you won’t qualify. Therefore get signing up now. The mailing list is on the front of our website.
Therefore if you were thinking of learning a new skill, December is the time to learn as we all love a discount when we can, every little helps.
What qualifications do I need to work self employed or in a salon?
I get asked this question a lot when we get course enquiries, therefore I wanted to give you the correct advice if you phone up about courses. We always ask what you want to use your qualification for? Is it to re train and go employed working in a salon or do you wish to become self employed in a salon ie, renting out a beauty room or work from a home salon, which we are seeing such a lot just lately pre and post covid, trends are changing within the beauty industry.
We are seeing salons closing down right now due to Covid and consumer behaviour and therapists deciding to set up from home, Why? Because of low overheads etc, Is setting up from home easy Well firstly, you need to contact your local council/authority to find out if you need a business licence to set up from home, some boroughs you do some boroughs you don’t, so please do your research. When studying with our academy we will always ask you when you train on a course with us, we will give you this information on what you should research etc we don’t want you getting caught out, because there are so many things/tasks to sort out setting up a new business. Preparation is key. Fail to plan, plan to fail this is a very accurate statement indeed.
We train a lot of students, some who own their own salons, some who own their own home salons, we hear about the pitfalls that some of the therapists who train with us encounter when they are new to business, we get to hear their stories, this can be very distressing at times the things that they have been through due to not researching thoroughly before setting up a business.
NVQ Beauty Qualifications
You will need these qualifications if you wish to work in a salon as an employee, this is a minimum requirement, some salon owners will employ you with a NVQ level 2 with the premise of learning or enrolling on to a level 3 qualification, however most salons will require you to have a level 3, why? Do you ask? Well for insurance purposes and the fact that you will be more knowledgeable in your skills, so that you can perform every treatment in their salon, so that the salon owner isn’t losing money as to all comes down to profit, also they expect when you have studied a level 3 beauty qual your commercial timings will be spot on, you will be more salon ready, more professional etc the list goes on.
Self Employed Option
Do you wish to work from home setting up a home salon if so what are your options? it could be converting your garage, setting up a beauty room in your conservatory, in a bedroom in the garden in a log cabin (very popular indeed), so what type of qualifications do you need then?
Well you could do short accredited courses, which will allow you to gain insurance or NVQ level 2 and level 3 courses therefore you could do either. However, we always do recommend the NVQ’s why? Because you are more knowledgeable with practical and with theory, yes, they do take longer to complete, but they do look great on your home salon wall displayed.
The short accredited courses are great and can always be used for mobile beauty too, however please bear in mind that once you have completed these short courses, you need plenty of models to practice on before your skills are to a competent standard, but if time is your issue and money then these are the options to go for, it all depends on budget, I always compare it to cars, if you want a budget car then great but if you want something more prestige like an Audi or a BMW then the NVQ’s are the best option, gosh I have never compared qualifications or courses to cars before, a first time for everything. Just to point out the short accredited courses are a great add on to any NVQ course that you may have studied and wish to upskill in new beauty courses, so they are versatile, I hope this is helping in deciding which courses you get qualified in. The NVQ courses give you more options for employment and for self employment so it is suitable for both.
At the academy we teach both, so you have the different options, we are always available to give you the right career advice, we won’t try and sell you a course because it costs more money and we want more money out of you, we will give you good honest advice, sometimes it may not be the advice you wish to hear, however, I feel honesty is the best policy but we genuinely care about you making the right decision, as it is your future we are talking about, there are so many academies out in the market place nowadays and sometimes you don’t always get the right advice if any advice at all for that matter, we have seen it first hand when students have attended our academy, the horror stories we have heard.
Another Award Nomination
We are so excited to announce we have been nominated for another beauty award, we are a finalist again. The British Hair & Beauty Talent Awards we feel very honoured and humble. Watch this space the finals are towards the end of November, wish us the best of luck, it would be so lovely to win this after the year we have had it has been a roller coaster ride, but positivity is around the corner, not far away now. Therefore you will find that training at multiple award nominations academy you are getting the correct advice and great training with one of the best academies in the uK, quality is our trade mark and we won’t compromise on this at any cost.
So I will wish you all a very positive November and December and look forward to some Xmas festivities, lots of mince pies, prosecco, mistletoe and Xmas decorations and hopefully seeing our family for Christmas. In the meantime we are enrolling for January for our NVQ courses, please give us a call on 0121 794 0612 or email info@westmidlandsnailandbeautyacademy.co.ukfor career advice and for course information. Stay safe everyone and take care.
Kind regards. Lyndsey (Academy Director) xx