Nails On Wheels is a mobile business that offers manicures and pedicures as well as waxing and massages at a customer’s preferred location.
PETALING JAYA: When Sharina Manmohan started her mobile nail salon business at the age of 28, she turned to a powerful marketing tool to help spread the word – social media.
Her salon does not have a permanent address. Instead, this enterprising nail technician brings her “salon” to a customer’s preferred location.
And just like any other business, marketing is key. Sharina, now 34, said Instagram helped propel her business, aptly called Nails on Wheels, from an obscure operation, to what it is today.
“As we do not have a shop, because I wanted the business to be mobile and different, it was challenging at first to gain awareness about what we do,” she said.
With the intention of cutting costs, Sharina and her friends initially took the traditional path and tried to spread the word about her salon with flyers.
“Eventually, we got some celebrities to use our services, and they started posting pictures of us and our finished products on Instagram.”That nailed it and her brand took off. Today, Nails On Wheels has an Instagram following of over 20,000, and is popular among local celebrities and social media influencers.
Founder of Nails On Wheels, Sharina Manmohan says social media apps like Instagram is key to marketing her brand of mobile services.
Her clients, who have their own large following on social media, often post and repost shots of their manicures, resulting in a constant cycle of viral social media marketing for her company, Sharina explained.
She also said social media had helped clarify her business concept to potential clients who were unsure in the beginning of what Nails On Wheels offered.
“People were often confused when I first started the business,” she said, adding that it was understandable since no nail salon ever took its services to the home of a client.
“Five or six years ago, people didn’t come to your house unless you were getting a post-natal massage. So potential clients were a little apprehensive at first.”
Instagram however, proved to be an innovative way to help her advertise the services of Nails On Wheels.
Sharina’s mobile business is built around the concept of offering customers comfort and convenience.
“Instagram is a really good platform in the sense that people can now see and understand what we do because when we tell them we’re mobile, they still don’t quite understand,” she said, adding that a well-curated page on the social media app was a powerful tool for new entrepreneurs.
Apart form Instagram, her salon, which provides other cosmetic services such as waxing and massages, also relies heavily on WhatsApp for its daily operations.
Sharina’s success is an example of how local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can utilise digital technologies for faster economic growth.
According to an SME digitalisation survey conducted by SME Corp Malaysia, together with Huawei Technologies, SMEs that utilised social media initiatives increased productivity by about 26%.
The survey also found around 70.5% of total respondents utilising social media for their businesses, with WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram being the most used.
“With the immense opportunities that come with having a reliable online presence, the usage of social media can be seen as important business tools to expand SMEs’ businesses through innovative strategies,” a report on the survey stated.
