Happy New Year to all my lash ladies! With the new year comes new goals and new ideas. Here at Judith Blanco Lashes we have been working tirelessly training future lash artists and keeping our clients feeling beautiful and bright eyed. I decided to start 2019 off with a new post that will hopefully inspire and help navigate any lash artists in the making. Entrepreneurship seems to be an individual effort, but I hope to prove this thought wrong. I want to be a resource in the lash community by providing pertinent information in the field of lashing. Let’s get to it.

Lashing is a tough job. Properly prepping the eye, carefully installing each individual lash to one natural lash at a time and creating a look that will compliment your client’s eye is hard work. The only way to make the work easier for you is to practice and in order to practice you need clients. For many people this can be a difficult step because in the beginning stages you will require an extended amount of time to apply lashes. This can be intimidating because you don’t want your client to grow frustrated with you taking your sweet time, but this is a crucial and necessary step. No online courses or mannequins will help you speed up your application of lashes, so make a great playlist and make sure your client is comfortable enough and start lashing.

The next question is, how do I get clients to practice on? Advertise. There are so many social media outlets you can post on to acquire clients. You can post on local Facebook groups, Instagram, Twitter, or go old school and use word-of-mouth. Family and friends are great prospective clients, but be sure to state that you are just starting out and looking to improve your speed application. Being open and honest with your clients will gain their trust and will surely bring you loyal clients for years to come. When posting on social media, be creative. There are many apps you can use to create flyers or posts for your new business. Canva is a popular app among many other apps that offer free services. So, do your research.

When you obtain a few clients to practice your speed application on, offer sets that cover materials and not your time. Ideally, you should do two to three sets daily for the first two weeks. The more sets you apply, the more you will improve. You know the saying, “practice makes perfect,” well they were referring to lashing! Your first two years of lashing should go as follows;

First thirty days: Practice, practice, practice. Get your name out in public, experimental learning is important step that we all must take, so don’t worry you are not the only lash artist spending 2.5 hours on one set.

Months 2-4: Introduce a price that you think is fair, keeping in mind that you are a beginner and speed is not your strong suit, but you are a business so free is not an option. As you begin honing your skills, your price can increase.

Months 5-8: This is where your introductory price ends (Hallelujah!) and you will start to gain repeat clients!

First year: Your skills should have improved dramatically. Your loyal clients will be pleased and surely won’t mind a price increase because this means your skills have developed. By this time, you should be attaining a solid client base.

Second year: You have come a long way as a lash artist. Remember your first day? You have been exposed to many different eye shapes, your application is flawless, and you are ready to learn new techniques to expand your business. Don’t forget to invest in yourself. If that means hiring a graphic designer for your new chic logo or building a website – do it. Putting money back into your business will only make it better, just spend wisely and plan out a budget.

Everyone’s journey is different, but this business experience model should help everyone in some way. Remember to set monthly goals for your business. What do you want to accomplish this month? What are some things in your business that need improvement? How do you increase your engagement or attract new clients? How much money do you want to make this month? I will be sharing more tips on lashing and the lashing industry, make sure to check back to my blog for more information. If you have questions, feel free to ask. In the coming months, I plan to publish a few lash workbooks as well as add one-on-one virtual coaching for lash artists to my services. Stay tuned! Be well and keep lashing, ladies.

Have a fabuLASH day!

XO,

Judith B.

Transition from Student to Entrepreneur Business Model