pbeale24

I am opening an exclusively sunless spray tanning business in A college town in Maine (Orono). The College has about 12000 students in it. They are my target market. I have a good location as I am about a mile away from campus and I have moved into the 3rd floor of the only pub in the town. The owner is going to have the waitresses and bartenders promote for us, get tans, hand out marketing materials, etc... There are 20 tanning facilities within a 20 mile radius, 5 do spray tanning but 4 of those are booths. 1 lady does mobile spray tanning mostly as a hobby. Of those 20 places I will be closest to campus. I have arranged 2 promotions on campus including a bikini contest. I have also arranged a meet and greet with the towns largest appartment complex (600 units) where I will give out some food, take names for a drawing for an Iphone, and just intoduce my business to whoever comes around.

I am trying to finalize my plans for this business and despite the rosy picture above I was wondering what things are like for people who have already been in the sunless industry. I am reading posts about people doing 30 sunless tans a week, I need to do 15 a day to make it worth it. I know it is hard to say but is this at all realistic? Does anyone have a similar demographic to mine? Do any of you do exclusively sunless? Anyone do mobile tanning?

Another question, how much do you charge?

Last question, what other retail products do you guys offer that are the most popular? Soaps, moisturizers, body wash, etc...?


Thank You,

Patrick

Glowtanningctr

Ok, first of all, not to burst your bubble, 15 a DAY? 7 days a week? I am not sure that is so smart to get into something like that. 3rd floor? Not great visibiltiy. I have 6 salons and we have mystic tan and it is super popular but I also have tanning and other spa services. You may want to rethink the "sunless" only and add in some other amenities. Oh, and I charge between $25-$30 per session and mystic has a complete line of products.

Neon Beach

Good luck with that.

__________________

sundude

!2,000 students.
Let's say that ten percent get sprayed on a regular basis (far fetched)
You would have to capture every one of those to hit your minimum number.
Back the bus up and rethink this.

__________________


"When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach
your goal; you do not change your decision to get there."


www.sunbodiestanning.com

Are we having fun yet?

Mr Derf

Yes rethink everything.

uv-PaUL

LOL.

I missed the rosy part.

engfant

Oh god. SUNLESS IS ALL BUT OVER my friend. Only the braindead continue to fuel that nightmare....which is why it still exists. TOO MANY RETARDS.

gottaknow

not by my sales is sunless over.

Cali's Finest

College students ARE NOT your target market. Sorry. Women ages 13-18 and 28-65. College students are the only ones who CANT afford it. I charge 1-$30, 2-$45, 3-$60, 6-$90. On an averaged day I can do anywhere from 4-15... so your "average" is way off.

pbeale24

College students ARE my target market and if they can afford and Audi or a Land Rover, they can afford a sunless tan. The surrounding businesses are packed with college and high school kids, men and women. I also hope you understand that historically college kids make great consumers and spend a lot of money, that is why you see college towns booming with commerce.

Engfant you sound real nice, thank you for your courteous response. I disgaree with it and in fact I know it is downright ludicrous. Furthermore sunless especially isn't dead in Maine because it hasn't even begun here. We are always behind the curve. In fact, if you want to be a rich man just come to Maine, take a business iea that has been successful in the US, duplicate it here, and people will soon catch on and do business with you.

We will have great visibility because we will be located in a high traffic area of the most frequented building in the entire town.

Sundude, I plan on having repeat customers, especially with the promotions we are doing, our relationships with the local pub, and our relationships with the Fraternities and Sororities. There will be a lot of formals, dates, and events people need a quick even tan for.

Also the college is where I will focus on the most as they are so close and a high percentage of college kids tan, but there are still another 75,000 people in the surrounding area, lots of highs schools too.

The only other add on I will be doing will be temp tattooing on weekends. Within a year we are knocking down a wall and expanding into the space beside us to do mens haircuts by pretty girls that have graduated from the local cosmetology school.

Don't you think you could do more sunless business if that was all you were advertising?

I will keep an open mind, thank you for your input, keep it coming.