timeout888

Pipes - These dudes love to smash Ergo. The 400 is awesome. Don't buy any Sundash until after the Orlando show. New things will be there.
Don't underestimate a college kids' funding. I'm in a college town and 80% of my big spenders are students. It's the wealthy ones who try and bargain with you.

Studio - He mentioned one Ergoline Bed, the 400 which is one of the new ones.... not underpowered. The sundash are made in America and use a totally different setup.

Neon Beach

You have great ideas, but don't let you're enthusiam get the better of you. In your mind you're gonna be the best and people will have to tan with you, that's a bit of an illusion. It's not as easy as you are imagining, and don't plan on paying off all your debts in a year. Best of luck!

sizzlestan

Pipe, Listen up and respect what these people are saying! They are trying to save you YOUR money and YOUR credit rating.

Specials are just that = special. If you are going to run an ongoing special make it a long term deal like $29.99 a month for unlimited tanning. Get them coming day in and day out. Put up things that college students can relate to. Tests and papers got your down?? Come in and relax your cares away for X dollars.

Be creative. Remember - you need these college kids, they dont need you. Also, if you are going to be very close to the campus and DEPEND on these bodies as your paycheck you better have a HUGE ON CAMPUS PRESENCE.

As always, Good Luck to you!

TanningEmporium

The beds you are using will do fine, my concern is you have 2 large Planet Tan salons with Gyms in Springfield, just because they are 10 miles from you doesnt mean they wont travel to them, or already do. They are near the Mall, and college folks like to shop. Like I said, I used the same analysis, it hasnt changed much and the bank doesnt really look at the numbers from that, and another thing to keep in mind, if the banker has seen or already has a salon with him, he will know the numbers, and from experience,,,,most banks wont touch a salon.

sizzlestan

Yeah, I know a major loan broker for Wachovia. They WILL NEVER loan money to a salon. They will loan $ to a salon owner if that owner uses their home or personal credit line to secure the loan but a straight up salon and salon equipment as collateral - NO WAY JOSE!

tanu01

Thats not true. Banks will loan money to salons. You have to grow with a bank,They may not want to help a start-up
But work with one bank,keep good records,Start off with a small loan for somthing,pay it off in a timly fashion and sooner or later that bank will finance your first BIG unit.
Bob

Get Tan!

Ergo or TanAmerica are the best. Do not use PC Marketing!

angelcat04

I'm a 22 year old business owner and doing better than anyone in my area...we're also across the street from a college! I wish you all the luck...it can be done! By the way...I give a 10% student discount and that's IT. I don't need to discount my prices because we have so much more to offer than the other salons. New Beds, awesome customer service, etc. They will come!

sbtanning

You are not going to fool any banker. They will not believe the numbers Ergo has provided. It is very difficult to gain financing from a bank to open a salon. My husband and I have an OUTSTANDING credit rating, many assets, good connections and we could see that we were not going to score financing through a business loan. I would personally wait until you have completed college before pursuing something like this. Work in a salon for a while and see if you really like it. You have plently of time to pursue your dream, make sure you are well prepared to do it!

ALOHATANCA

Well good luck Mr. Pipline!!! You are young enough to recover from what ever this future has to offer to ya....

PS....Forget the break-even analysis because it will never work, maybe if you use 25% of it as figures....