Should I just give up?

[m2nb]

Im slowly getting to breaking point and really don't know what else to do. Ive been trying to get my business up and running for about 2 years now. In that time i have changed direction from a beauty studio in a small country town to a mobile beauty business in a larger country town. In this whole time ive only had a handful of clients most of which only wanted make up done for special occassions and so they're not repeat clients, well not often anyway.

I've had to go from working a casual job to pay the bills to taking up a part time job, so i work 4 days a week. I was offered full time at my job but i wanted to work on my business so i declined thier offer and kept Mondays off for a 'business day' where i could concentrate solely on the business the whole day, trying to get clients etc.. Over the 6 months ive been doing this i never once had a booking on a Monday. Last week my boss asked me to change my days so that i now work Mondays and have Fridays off which i thought was great as Fridays could possibly be a better day for make up clients. That started this week and what do you know, Monday morning i had someone call up to see if i could do thier nails! ARGH!! It feels like i cant catch a break. When i had the studio i felt like giving up a few times and everytime i did some one would call to book an appointment which made me think i should keep going.

Ive tried so many different things to get this going. I believe i offer affordable prices, I travel to people and don't charge a mobile fee at all. All nail clients recieve thier on 'nail kit' which includes a nail file, cuticle stick and buffer that they get to keep so they can maintain thier manicures between appointments and know that the equipment is solely used on them. I use natural Australian made skin care and quality Australian nail polishes.

Ive tried advertising in the paper, doing letter box drops, Ive put business cards in some shops, I have a website and a facebook page, I advertise in the yellow pages, what else can i do?

The other big problem i now have is money.. I really want to do all i can to not get in debit im only young (22) and i spent majority of my savings etc to get this going but with having no clients ive got nothing left to keep it going. Im also getting married later this year so all the money i make from my job seems to just go on bills and the wedding.

Im really passionate about this and i really want to have my own business but im stuck on ideas of what to do!

[TrishF]

Have you thought of setting up inside a busy hairdressing salon? That's very popular around my area.
Trish

[Couple It]

If you've been going for six months without a booking, I'd be looking at your target market.

A "larger country town" is how many people? Are half of them women? And of those women, how many would fit into your target market? Is there any competition in the town?

Wendy

[CondorCreative]

Perhaps try hooking up with businesses that offer similar (but not the same) services. Such as a hair dressing salon, you could ask them to refer customers to you or have your business cards on their counter in exchange for you doing the same for them; I know you don't have a counter since you're mobile though, but I'm sure there are ways you can refer customers to them when you get them.