The plan is to hire more than one nail tech over the next year. But I don’t want to overcrowd the tiny, 300-square-foot salon.

I think it can be done well with staggered schedules and shared stations, and I’m looking forward to finding a tech or two who want to work mornings and weekends. Of course, I’m also looking forward to finding a tech or two who have the skills and experience to be trusted with the responsibility of working mornings and weekends without needing their hands held.

They’re out there. I know they are.

But before I can even think about new staff members and when they will work, I have to completely redesign the salon to give them a where to work.

Making space for a new staff member requires more than just setting up a desk and a couple of chairs for the tech and her (or his) client — it means making sure that station doesn’t interfere with access to the rest of the salon for anyone else who may happen to be here at any given time. From my mom, to one of my crazy neighbors, to my clients, to the boyfriends/husbands, friends, parents, and (adult) children of clients who may accompany them to their nail appointments. Not to mention the stuff that clients bring with them; purses, coats, beverages, shopping bags. People seriously show up with a lot of stuff that needs to be put somewhere.

And electrical cords! How do I run the power cords from the desks to the outlets in a manner that is not conducive to tripping either humans or Roomba?

And if I’m downsizing the desks, where will all the stuff that goes in them go?

People: This is why I HATE all those fancy promotional salon photos you keep taking of your salons and stations. Anyone can make a workstation look clean and neat and organized — when it isn’t in use! I want to see people working at those workstations. I want to see how your pedicure set-up actually works. I want to see how those sleek, clean nail bars look when there are three techs working elbow to elbow at them. What does your salon look like in the middle of a busy day when it’s covered in dust?

Oh my! That’s another thing on the list — dust collector units.

And how am I paying for it all?

This is getting complicated.

Maybe I’ll just move to Billings with Baby Bird.