Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've never liked fake fingernails and decorations. It's tacky and garish. One of my managers at work is currently wearing fake fingernails and they are in fluorescent colours. Most of her nails are in green, but a two of them are in orange. They do not enhance her looks in a good way.
I keep my nails short and plain because I enjoy working with my hands. Even with gloves on, fancy nail treatments would just get wrecked while gardening or wrenching on my car. IMO the nail salon industry is all about tacky useless bling. And maybe the customers think that it beautifies them, but I know of no man that is impressed by seeing them on a woman.
"Our main concern is that Durham's population is 15,000 (20,000 with college students) whereas Anchorage is about 300,000 so we are not sure how the huge difference in population will affect our business."
You have answered your own question.
Do you have any college level education in business?
When I took small business management - it was stated that 90% of small businesses fail within the first year. Poor management, no market studies, no business plan, and underfunded.
Do you have a written business plan?
The grass is always greener. New Hampshire is mostly a rural state. It might be a good idea to take a trip out to New Hampshire and drive around. You can drive the entire state in a day or two.
Most like Thai food but making a living with a Thai restaurant is daunting. And if you are not ethnic Thai it may be quite difficult. And the restaurant business is over represented in New Hampshire. Too many restaurants fail in New Hampshire. Not enough customers.
Hanover is a small town and would be nothing except for the college. And I don't see the college kids spending much for either.
You could potentially ruin everything - by attempting to fulfill some "dream" about New Hampshire.
I appreciate all the warning. We do have a lot of experience in our field and we have opened, owned and operated numerous salons and other business successfully in three states on both coasts. All the statistics in the world is not as valuable as getting first hand feedback from the local population and their attitudes, hence my questions on this forum. No, the grass is not always greener but I promise that we prefer NH grass to Alaska's grass as ours is frozen most of the year. Thank you for your the input.
OP - not that I want to discourage anyone from moving to NH, but what has stopped you from seriously considering relocating to Massachusetts? They have the diversity you want, and a much larger population which will want your services.
Hanover is a nice town. It's more remote than the other areas in which you've expressed interest, but it's about 3 hours to Montreal (very diverse international city, despite the image many have of it only being a French city), an hour and a half to Burlington, VT (another thriving college town) and 2 hours to Boston. Hanover attracts people from all over, so I'm sure you'll find some people interested in your services. But, will you find enough people to keep you in business? Maybe not. It's also an extremely expensive town, by New Hampshire standards. Space right downtown would definitely rent at a premium.
I also had some doubts when I read that your business is a nail salon. It's not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of a business which will thrive in NH. I second what miu said... women in New England (especially northern New England) are pretty low maintenance. Most never get their nails done, don't wear much makeup, and older women don't usually color their hair when it goes grey. (I'm in my 30s and have never had my nails done.) Of course there are SOME people who will want cosmetology services - I see salons in strip malls and such, but I never see any clients. They do seem to stay in business, though, at least for a time.
I guess strictly from the standpoint of finding clients... if you must move to NH, places like Nashua and Manchester might be best. But as we have covered in other threads, they're not the best for the quality of life you want.
By the way, even in the Boston metro area, most women - even professional women - don't get their nails done on any regular basis. You will find high interest in certain suburbs like Newton and I think you might be able to find enough general interest anywhere in the city to keep you afloat for awhile, but it's just not a big thing in the New England culture the way it is in certain other regions of the country.
Thanks for your "on the ground" insight. Our business would be better suited for the areas you mentioned but we like small town living and don't care too much about diversity. I appreciate the feedback.
To be honest, I cringed when reading that the OP has a nail salon business. I was fine with the clothing business, but nail salons run by Asians is just not something I am proud of being a part of as an Asian American woman. No matter how trendy their products. Asian nail salons are just a negative stereotype for me.
Maybe the college girls will want their nails done. But from what I see in NH is that the adult women don't get all gussied up like they do in the Boston Metro area... and actually I hope that the simple NH style will never change. So I hope that the OP eventually finds some other type of business to do in NH. Anyway, I recommend Manchester, or Nashua and the Southern NH area where it's populated by people working in the Boston area.
I really appreciate your insight and I am sorry about your views on Asians and nail salons. While the industry is plaque with the stereotypical poorly operated "chop shops" especially in densely populated urban areas, the nail salon industry have worked hard to dispel that stereo type and a lot are adding luxury services and phasing out artificial nails opting for natural nail care only in a "spa" environment. I must say that as an educator in the field, I take great offense to what you said. It's like saying all white people are racist or all black people that you walk by on the streets are going to rob you. And while I do see, in my case, few salons that fit into your description, I caution the public to not paint all nail salons with one stroke of the same paint brush. We are a 48 billion dollar industry with and annual growth rate of 2.1 % so we are "hard working Americans" that also contribute to our economy, pay our taxes and support our local communities. I donate gift certificates for services to PTA groups, raffles for non-profits, donate to breast cancer awareness, walk for leukemia etc. every single year. I hope after knowing more, you will relax on your cringing. In the end, we are all entitled to our opinions.
Last edited by Need4Seasons; 10-01-2013 at 04:09 PM..
Reason: grammar
I appreciate all the warning. We do have a lot of experience in our field and we have opened, owned and operated numerous salons and other business successfully in three states on both coasts. All the statistics in the world is not as valuable as getting first hand feedback from the local population and their attitudes, hence my questions on this forum. No, the grass is not always greener but I promise that we prefer NH grass to Alaska's grass as ours is frozen most of the year. Thank you for your the input.
I'm gonna guess that you have dreams that will not be fulfilled in New Hampshire.
If you are making a living and paying your bills with what you have now - then stay put.
You seem to be successful where you are presently. Too much of a gamble dumping all with:
No business education.
No marketing studies.
No written business plan.
In a state that is mostly rural. The state capital city of Concord only has a population of about 34,000.
Gamble it all away if you wish. I have seen too many relationships - too many marriages - gone.
Right here in New Hampshire. In attempts at starting small businesses.
To be honest, I cringed when reading that the OP has a nail salon business. I was fine with the clothing business, but nail salons run by Asians is just not something I am proud of being a part of as an Asian American woman. No matter how trendy their products. Asian nail salons are just a negative stereotype for me.
Maybe the college girls will want their nails done. But from what I see in NH is that the adult women don't get all gussied up like they do in the Boston Metro area... and actually I hope that the simple NH style will never change. So I hope that the OP eventually finds some other type of business to do in NH. Anyway, I recommend Manchester, or Nashua and the Southern NH area where it's populated by people working in the Boston area.
The girls in Hanover get nails done all the time. Most woman also color their hair....have people ever been to Hanover?
The girls in Hanover get nails done all the time. Most woman also color their hair....have people ever been to Hanover?
What age group and education level are these "girls"?
And the hair colouring thing is much more common, after all most blonde women aren't natural blondes. And many women colour their greys. But the OP didn't mention opening a hair salon did he? I thought that he only did nail treatments.
Need4Seasons - Are you actually one of the nail technicians? Or is it just your wife working on the customers' nails? I've never noticed a man working on the customers' hands at a nail salon.
What age group and education level are these "girls"?
And the hair colouring thing is much more common, after all most blonde women aren't natural blondes. And many women colour their greys. But the OP didn't mention opening a hair salon did he? I thought that he only did nail treatments.
Need4Seasons - Are you actually one of the nail technicians? Or is it just your wife working on the customers' nails? I've never noticed a man working on the customers' hands at a nail salon.
Age group from 14 to 60 and education level ranges from high school to graduate school degrees.
What age group and education level are these "girls"?
And the hair colouring thing is much more common, after all most blonde women aren't natural blondes. And many women colour their greys. But the OP didn't mention opening a hair salon did he? I thought that he only did nail treatments.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Need4Seasons
...don't care too much about diversity. I appreciate the feedback.
I don't see a lot of blondes around, actually. Those I do see appear to have done it themselves at home. But I never said NOBODY colors their hair. Just that as a life-long New Englander, with most of my time in northern New England, it is apparent that the majority of women over a certain age do not color their hair. Look at all the greyheads in contrast to what you see in major cities. My only reason for mentioning hair color was to help illustrate the fact that the typical New England woman is not as high maintenance as women in many other regions. My mother in law is 80 and lives in a different region of the country, and dyes her hair red. It's shocking and seems foreign to me.
OP - I mentioned diversity because in your other threads you explicitly said you wanted to exposure to an Asian community, and easy access to your Asian "sundries."
Last edited by cowbell76; 10-01-2013 at 09:32 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
dreary outcome
small town living vs diversity
