Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbie S
This offer is open to SunSally as well, as her defense of my Company was very flattering and worthy of a big package :) She should also be commended for her brilliantly penned- 4 steps to opening a business as she covered every base. Very well written and great advice for readers in this forum.
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As I currently own two salons of my own and am located far from your closest market, I will respectfully and appreciatively ask Robbie S for the option to "trade" my big tanning package offer in exchange for a interview at some later date if/when I find Highline has tired of me and I'm looking for my next placement in the industry. Currently RDKJ is on my personal "short list" for that opportunity (and more proximate geographically at the moment), so in my "dream" the two of you can fight over the chance to add me to your team!
That said - the comments were not meant to be "flattery" but truth. There is a "frustration" expressed on these boards sometimes against those that are successful, as if a "chain" wasn't at one time a "Mom & Pop" (both terms I find somewhat lacking, and even disparaging). I bumped the "Leaving piles of money on the table Part II" thread and readers will see that Darque Tan started with $13K and an 8 bed salon in 1990. Times have changed, and you would be hard pressed to start for $13K anymore (time value of money though), but the point is that Darque Tan's success didn't just "happen" - it was cultivated through a series of successful business decisions.
All things equal, while other salons do and have continued to survive and even thrive in Darque Tan markets - as a newcomer my advice would be not that you can NOT open there - but don't underestimate the competition. Same reason I would look hard about opening in Sacramento. Or Louisville. Or Dallas (for a few reasons!). Or Oklahoma City. You CAN, but with strong regional players already established, you have to have your ducks WELL in a row and you may find another market has a lower "barrier to entry"!
And beyond that -- if you ARE going to open in markets that already have well established competitors -- SOME would recommend not trying to 'stir up the hornet's nest' in advance unless you have the means to back it up. With Tan Hopes' military background, I'm sure she will be able to think of many warfare equivalents that will translate to best business practices in this sort of scenario!