Where do you go with your business after 2 years of turning clients away? Michelle Nichols had not been taking new clients because her schedule was already overbooked in her nail business, “Nails By Michelle”. She knew she needed to make more money so she went back to school to learn esthetics. She had researched the industry and realized that she could potentially triple her income potential by doing skin care.

Going back to school part-time as a single mom was a difficult decision, to say the least. For a period of eight months she was a part time student, part time nail technician and full time single mother. After graduating from National Esthetics Academy in Charlotte NC, she relocated her nail business to downtown Rock Hill SC into Headquarters Salon. As Michelle plotted out her new skin care treatment room she had to count every penny she invested. She consulted with Tim Hamilton of Grace Medical Equipment, Inc as to the least expensive method to get started. The results are in the pictures and the pocketbook. Shopping for chairs, carts, lamps and cabinets ended up taking her to the local hardware stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot for a fraction of the cost of what it would have cost her through the normal channels in the salon and spa industry.

“I found through my research that the revenue generating procedures such as microdermabrasion and vascular blemish treatment needed to provide me with the proper service and training. There is no substitute for quality service, even though I may have purchased that equipment for a cheaper price elsewhere”, Michelle states. “Even when Tim was on vacation he called in to answer my questions!”

It took only a few weeks for Michelle’s nail clients to transition into her new skin care business. Another difficult decision she faced was cutting off her nail service.
“The skin part was fun – I finally got to do what I was trained to do.” Michelle said. “I brought in another nail tech and had her completely take over my nail business while I focused solely on skin care.” In the first month of doing skin care, Michelle had doubled her income. She is looking forward to not taking any new clients in skin care.