Quick answer: Open with your base services priced clearly, then add one named custom-art line that clients can book. Don't wait until freehand requests start eating chair time. A print add-on lets a new team quote custom work from a timed test instead of guessing.
What opened
Alexander EDC covered a ribbon cutting on October 5 for Glamorous Duo Nail Salon at 67 Ruritan Park Road in Stony Point, N.C. Owners Karla Martinez and Samantha Crouch offer dip, acrylic, builder gel, Gel-X, manicures, pedicures, and paraffin, with appointments Tuesday through Sunday.
The lesson for new operators: menu discipline on day one
Basic and enhancement services fill the book. Custom art shows up the moment a client asks for a logo or a photo on a nail. If that work isn't named and priced, it turns into unpaid overtime.
Checklist: adding a priced print add-on to an opening menu
- Name it. Give custom print its own short line on the menu, next to gel and acrylic.
- Time it once. Run the print step in your own chair and note how long it takes.
- Set the price from that test. Quote from real minutes, not a guess.
- Put it on the ticket. Keep the consult to "base service plus this named add-on."
- Launch it with the menu. Have it ready before the first busy Saturday, not after.
Update, October 2026: script the add-on at the front desk
A named add-on still has to be offered every time. In the 2026 SALON TODAY 200 Business Builders honorees, The Langmore Salon in Mullica Hill, N.J., a 13-person hair salon, described front-desk scripts that help guests rebook, add on services and close retail. The salon reported that its average service ticket rose from $84 to $110, and it tied front-desk rewards to a goal tracker. A nail salon can apply the same idea to print: give the desk one sentence it says at booking and check-in, such as "Want your logo or your team colors printed on two accent nails for [your price]?", and track how often clients say yes.
Takeaway
A new salon needs a priced custom line as early as gel and acrylic. Print keeps that line bookable.
Book a NailPrinter demo to see how print fits on an opening menu as a named add-on.
Sources: Alexander EDC; SALON TODAY.
