Lanie2051

A new business in my area started up offering the same service ( airbrush tans) and named their business extremely close to my name which is causing confusion in my market. I have spoken to an attorney but nothing can be legally done bc the name is general. Now they are trolling my FB and Twitter followers and following them. I am all for a person starting a company and bustin their butt like I did making a name for themselves but I cannot get over them doing it off my back. What would you do?

Cobella

This is tough, really tough. I am so sorry that's happening to you, people really suck sometimes. Maybe you could try just appealing to them? Saying "Look, I know we are suppose to be competition, but I know there are enough people to go around and these tactics are really affecting me....". I don't know if that would work, since these people seem to lack empathy in the first place, but you never know.

There was a similiar situation in my town, not with sunless tanning though. It was an ice cream shop (a VERY popular ice cream shop, think lines out the door on a regular basis, literally) that had been around foreverrrrr, it was family owned and there was a riff between the two sides. One side decided to open up their own ice cream place with a very similar name, which was confusing ALOT of people. They just started posting signs that they were not affiliated with them on their social media outlets and in-store. That seemed to help with the confusion, but I'm not sure if it helped regain their lost customers.

You could maybe send out an email to your clients making them aware of what is going on? I mean this is pretty shady (the other business, not you) so hopefully your clientele will want to support you through this ordeal. I think this is probably what I would do. I would be very careful NOT to bash the other business, because you always want to look like the better person, but just a very casual "hey, this business has a name similar to ours, but isn't us, fyi..."

Have you thought about maybe changing your name? I know that's not fair to you at all, but could be a last resort option. Maybe adding "The Original...." to it?

Good luck with everything though. I hate hearing things like this, I know how hard it is to build up a business. Some people are just opportunists and have no professional courtesy, but just know that they will get theirs one day, karma's a *****.

angelina

That's pretty harsh. We have a saying in the UK "What goes round, comes round" and it will come back and bite them on the butt. I would try not to dwell too much on this, it happens all the time. Just re-double your efforts in social media, make sure you post informative stuff to your clients and I'm sure they wont desert you for the other business. Take it as a form of flattery and I would actually make a post on your Twitter and Facebook pages naming them and saying they appear to have copied your business model and that you're flattered. There's nothing to stop you following their followers as well, companies do this all the time. Just concentrate on what you're doing in your business and not what they are doing. Stick at it, you'll win through.

eileen

Make sure they are operating with a proper business license if not turn them in. More importantly have you created your brand image? Your logo should be everywhere you put
your business name when possible. Same with your social media pages your logo should be be with your name.

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"under exposure to UV rays is as dangerous as overexposure....this is D life" eileen

peach

Hang in there. People who do these types of things, usually have other negative attributes that cause them to eventually fail. I have dealt with it all- employees who buy my competitor out and competed with me, you name it. They all fail in the end because they have no ideas of their own.

Paradise Bronze

This is a harsh industry we are in and at times companies will do some nasty stuff to others in order to make themselves grow. Write a Facebook post and let your clients know whats going on. I've had this happen to my company and then worse. But my clients know who we are and how we tan.

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Taryn Luquin
Paradise Airbrush Tanning
Since 2005

suncitypembroke

Do your own email marketing from your own customer , this way you can send out a discount and see who coming in.