Nail Biz Poorwork Segment

The Business of Nails
NAIL-BIZ by the Dragon

Discount Nail Shop. Let us begin by understanding that a discount nail shop is not the same as a PoorWork nail shop. A discount nail shop is one which offers the lowest prices in the industry and does the bulk of its services to walk-in business. Discount nail shops service customers, not clients. Some characteristics of the discount nail shop are shopping center and mall locations, open long hours, have two, three, four, or more employees...and of course ... those give away low prices.

PoorWork Nail Shop. A PoorWork nail shop is a place where certain laws, regulations, procedures are not being followed. A nail shop using MMA products would be PoorWork. A shop employing unlicensed nail workers would be a PoorWork. Other major characteristics of a PoorWork shop are unclean equipment, poor or non-existent sanitation, failure to follow accepted methods of sanitation, and lack of knowledge of basic health and safety principals practiced in the nail industry.
PoorWork nail shops are referred to by some as chop shops. This is not an acceptable term as some associate the phase chop shop with chop sticks and then follow the flow of the chop stick association to Asian and Vietnamese. It becomes stereotyping. And although you probably do not intend for it to be a racist comment ... it is received by many to be a racist comment. So just don't refer to chop shops, Asians or Vietnamese ...........

BECAUSE PoorWork is found in every segment of the nail industry. PoorWork can be found in a discount shop, or in a booth rental, or in a fancy high-priced day spa. PoorWork may be performed by any race; by anyone of any ethnic group; by anyone of any national origin.

NSS. A more recent term used to label PoorWork shops is NSS, non-standard shop. I prefer to use PoorWork. Because the problem I have with them is not that they are non-standard, it is that they do Poor Work.

A note about MMA. It is commonly believed that many shops and salons across the country use mma products. Although I am certain that mma is used by some, I do not believe that its use is as widespread as some assume. Think about it. Do you save that much money by using mma products? Non-mma products are available for $70 to $90 per gallon. How much more can you save buying the mma? Would you use mma products for no-lifting? Mma products have no special talent for no-lifting. The key to no-lifting is in your prep work, not your acrylic product.

AN UPDATE ON MMA. Okay, I am now going to alter what I said about you don't save that much
money buying MMA that people would use the MMA just to save money. SOME people are that stupid.
See, we can buy safe EMA liquid here for a mere $50 a gallon. Recently that price went up to $65 a gallon
for EMA liquid. The MMA liquid went up from $45 a gallon to $50 a gallon. And I observed some of the
discount shop owners that I know come out of the supply store carrying the MMA liquid... to save a lousy $15
dollars. It is so stupid.
That does not change that MMA products have no special talent for no-lifting.

So what do I think is the single most important cause of PoorWork. It is lack of LICENSE. A PoorWork nail worker is almost always not a nail technician. A PoorWork nail worker is almost always exactly that: a worker without a valid state issued nail technician license. If you did not earn the license then you did not study the textbook, did not learn procedures from a licensed instructor, did not pass an examination to prove that you are capable of performing nail services correctly, with sanitation and in a safe manner. (I recognize the exception of those few areas not requiring a state license)
I truly believe that if tomorrow morning the authorities locked shut the doors of all of the nail shops that employ unlicensed nail workers.... that 98% of the PoorWork would disappear. Poof, gone.

Now here is a side note about how I hear so many think that using cheap mma products and inexpensive nail supplies is why so many nail shops are able to offer those low low prices. If I came to you and I reduced what you pay for your products and supplies by 60%, could you make a good living pricing your manicures for $9 and pricing your fills for $14, while you are paying monthly rent of $1200, $1500, perhaps $2000? Believe me, throw away the idea that cheap supplies can enable you to price that low. The major reason for such low prices is not only cheap supplies and high volume, it is in how you handle the financial side of your business.
And do not attempt to compete with low prices. Compete with your license and experience and personal service. Compete with the fact that you enjoy being a nail tech and enjoy your relationship with your clients. And if your nail work is not as fast and as good looking as the discount crowd, then get cracking on improving your skills.

Do you want to educate your clients to the hazards of PoorWork? Concentrate on the License problem. In my state, I inform my clients that there are 9,000 businesses in the state where they can have there nails done ... but ... the state reports that only 3,000 people in the state have a valid nail technician license. So where ever you have your nails done, for your safety, just make certain that your nail tech has a state license.

THERE ARE 9,000 BUSINESSES IN NORTH CAROLINA

WHERE YOU CAN HAVE YOUR NAILS DONE

YET

THERE ARE ONLY 3,000 LICENSED NAIL TECHNICIANS IN NORTH CAROLINA

THE PROBLEM IS THAT THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF

LICENSED NAIL TECHNICIANS

SOME IN THE NAIL SHOPS ARE MERELY WORKERS, HAVING NO NAIL
EDUCATION AND NO STATE LICENSE TO WORK ON THE PUBLIC.

Unlicensed nail workers have not attended nail school, have not studied nail disorders and nail diseases, have not been trained in sanitation and the safe use of the toxic chemicals, have not been taught proper ways to drill, file, and cut so that your natural nails and nail beds will not be damaged. Unlicensed nail workers have not taken the state examinations to prove that they know what they are doing and that it is safe for them to work on the public.

A state license with a photo id, look for an original, don’t believe a photocopy

Your nail worker asking another for help? – that may indicate lack of experience

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