cheernswthart07

I am looking to open a tanning salon along a busy road, it sits outside our local racetrack and casino. There are no tanning salons within 30 minutes of the city I would like to open in. I want to know how many beds I should start with and about how many sq ft I should also have. I want to have diff. level beds as well as a sunless booth.

delany

First, make sure you have at least 200k min to open. plus money saved away to pay bills for 2 years. Then do a search on here. There is tons of info on this site, if you spend the time to search for it.

movieking

You'll want at least 8000 sq ft and 47 beds. No base beds, just big vhr and high pressure beds.

sunsally

No tanning salons is a good start!

Now - before you dig in, also check on:

a. hair salons or gyms with beds
b. sunless spray tanning (maybe individual mobile operators)
c. any other businesses with beds - even apartment complexes.


At the same time - do some investigating into the demographics where you want to open. On average, expect about 10% of the population tans. So make sure there are enough in your target area to support your plan.

With that information, we could give you better advice on size, equipment etc.

Welcome!

kookyguy

Think all spray...47 spray units would make a great salon. But go with 20 x 20 rooms, so get arounf 20,000 sq ft that way you can have a nice big lobby.

Black Sun

If there are no salons within 30 minutes, there must be a reason.

You could be certain you are not the 1st to 'think about it'. Others.
before you may have done the 'investigation', deeming it unfeasible.

Not to say you should not look into it, but I believe, if you take all the steps and do your 'investigative homework', you will see why none exist.

Opening a salon today takes a minimum of 500K in a metropolitan city. If opening in a rual area, which I assume you are since none exist, consider at least 100K minimum. No bank will loan money today for such an endeavor. The SBA has black-listed tanning from its 'approved' list. Too many salons closed over the last few years, many leaving banks and the SBA responsible for loans.

Unless you have considerable cash on hand, it no longer can be done.

I know this is not what you want to hear, but the truth can be brutal at times

parrot head

Movieking is just playing with your head. You could likely get by with far less beds and sq. feet. 20-25 beds with 4000 sq. feet would be plenty. If you buy used, $200,000-$300,000 could get you started. Allow yourself another $200,000 for incedentals to get you through the first couple of years. I can think of many other ways to spend $500,000.

Black Sun

I just re-read your post...IMO, probably the worse place to put a tanning salon would be near a racetrack and casino.

Folks visiting those establishments would not be in a spending state of mind to spend expendable cash on a 'tan' after spending/losing at a racetrack/casino.

The other side of the coin, if they won at either the track and casino and had the cash, they would be heading to a tropical island...

Best place for a salon is outside a college campus..and even that comes with its 'cons'.

parrot head

^^^^I thought a college campus would be ideal too; now even that this location has gone sour. In a down market, even location, location, location, doesn't mean success. I did have a couple of real good years, this is why I'm still open. I saved for a sunny day.

Steve Underhill

Sometimes there is a reason for no salons in an area. I think we should take a look at the demographics and start from there. Send me an email with the address and i will send a demographic report that will help evaluate the market.

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