New Salon Advice

millertm · 04-25-2005, 07:18 PM

I am considering opening a tanning salon soon. However, I live in a considerably small town (15,000 population approx.) with several video/tanning "stores", not salons, that seem to do very well in business. I have considered body wraps along with the tanning and have hopes to expand into more of a spa if all goes well. Anyone out there have advise on a small town salon...financial aspect? Thumbs up or down??? Maybe 50k-60K to start with.

DWhite6872 · 04-25-2005, 08:03 PM

50k-60k to start with? What do you mean?

millertm · 04-26-2005, 12:18 PM

Unfortunately, 50-60k is approx. the finances I will have to work with to get things started. I plan to purchase some used beds and some new (different levels). The largest tanning facility in town has about 6 beds and is in the back of a video store, where the clerks seem to care less if the beds are clean or have blown bulbs. Yet all these places in town similar to the one in mention stay booked all the time. I have hopes to provide a clean, upgraded salon, and depending on the flow of things, hopefully more. I don't have the finances to do it all at once though.

kdv722 · 04-26-2005, 12:29 PM

LIFE IS ABOUT TAKING CHANCES! GO FOR IT!!!!

millertm · 04-26-2005, 12:36 PM

I appreciate the support!!!! Are you new to the business or an experienced owner?

TanCan · 04-26-2005, 12:41 PM

MillerTm - I would think very hard about what you are doing before jumping into the tanning business. I don't want to dicourage you but everyone thinks that tanning salons are making all kinds of money. In the past that was the case now with a salon on every block that is not. I can tell you from talking to several salon owners all across the country that a lot of salons are struggleing today to just make enough to pay the rent.
Also, be very carefully when buying used beds - make sure you do your homework on them. There are alot of used beds that are out on the market that I wouldn't pay $1 for because they prone to break down. You may ended up spending more fixing a used when then you could have bought a new one.

millertm · 04-26-2005, 01:04 PM

I will be going into this completely unexperienced and novice to the business. A new salon owner in a nearby town has been kind enough to share her knowledge and experiences with me, and her business has been proven a success just over the last 4 months. She also started big, with new upgraded beds and top of the line product. Her business is in a town with 50% more population though. Would it be wise to go for this in my small hometown? Word of mouth and a 5-6 pg newspaper is the biggest advertisement this town has going for them. And believe me, word of anything new travels fast.

DWhite6872 · 04-26-2005, 01:10 PM

I am the most optimistic person on the planet (or pretty close)...I do not see how you could afford even the build-out of the salon?....

kdv722 · 04-26-2005, 01:16 PM

I AM NEW TO THIS BUSINESS AND I HAVE DONE A LOT OF RESEARCH. DEPENDING ON WHAT BEDS YOU PICK I THINK YOU CAN START OFF SMALL AND CLEAN AND NICE AND WORK YOUR WAY UP. WE ARE STARTING WITH MORE MONEY THAT 50K, SO WE ARE BUYING ALL OUR BEDS NEW. OUR BUILD OUT WAS REALLY CHEAP. WE ARE DOING THINGS OUR SELVES THOUGH WHICH MIGHT HELP. WE COULD DO IT WITH 50K IF WE WANTED. GOTTA START SOMEWHERE. AS LONG AS YOUR COMPETITION ISNT A HUGE FRANCHISE THAT KEEPS UPGRADING, I THINK ITS WORTH A SHOT. PERSONALLY I THINK THE WHOLE VIDEO/TANNING THING IS GROSS. I WOULD NEVER GO IN A TANNING BED IN A VIDEO STORE. MAYBE YOULL GET NEW PEOPLE TO START TANNING WHO MIGHT THINK LIKE I DO AND YOULL DO GREAT EVEN IF YOURE SMALL.

_________________

[ This Message was edited by: kdv722 on 2005-04-26 12:17 ][ This Message was edited by: kdv722 on 2005-04-26 12:17 ]

millertm · 04-26-2005, 01:23 PM

Thank you very much for your advice. I appreciate the opinions and suggestions. I will be starting out small, but also we are doing much of the work ourselves. There are no franchised salons in the area. If you want a decent place to tan around my area you have to drive about 20 miles to the next town. For the general area that i'm in, 50k will go further than some people think.

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04-25-2005, 07:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
millertm Join Date: Apr 25 2005 Posts: 8 Rep Power: 0	I am considering opening a tanning salon soon. However, I live in a considerably small town (15,000 population approx.) with several video/tanning "stores", not salons, that seem to do very well in business. I have considered body wraps along with the tanning and have hopes to expand into more of a spa if all goes well. Anyone out there have advise on a small town salon...financial aspect? Thumbs up or down??? Maybe 50k-60K to start with.

04-25-2005, 08:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
DWhite6872 Waiting Confirmation Join Date: Apr 22 2004 Posts: 5,189 Rep Power: 0	50k-60k to start with? What do you mean?

04-26-2005, 12:29 PM	#4 (permalink)
kdv722 Join Date: Apr 3 2005 Posts: 41 Rep Power: 0	LIFE IS ABOUT TAKING CHANCES! GO FOR IT!!!!

04-26-2005, 12:36 PM	#5 (permalink)
millertm Join Date: Apr 25 2005 Posts: 8 Rep Power: 0	I appreciate the support!!!! Are you new to the business or an experienced owner?

04-26-2005, 12:41 PM	#6 (permalink)
TanCan Join Date: Mar 14 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 123 Rep Power: 4	MillerTm - I would think very hard about what you are doing before jumping into the tanning business. I don't want to dicourage you but everyone thinks that tanning salons are making all kinds of money. In the past that was the case now with a salon on every block that is not. I can tell you from talking to several salon owners all across the country that a lot of salons are struggleing today to just make enough to pay the rent. Also, be very carefully when buying used beds - make sure you do your homework on them. There are alot of used beds that are out on the market that I wouldn't pay $1 for because they prone to break down. You may ended up spending more fixing a used when then you could have bought a new one.

04-26-2005, 01:04 PM	#7 (permalink)
millertm Join Date: Apr 25 2005 Posts: 8 Rep Power: 0	I will be going into this completely unexperienced and novice to the business. A new salon owner in a nearby town has been kind enough to share her knowledge and experiences with me, and her business has been proven a success just over the last 4 months. She also started big, with new upgraded beds and top of the line product. Her business is in a town with 50% more population though. Would it be wise to go for this in my small hometown? Word of mouth and a 5-6 pg newspaper is the biggest advertisement this town has going for them. And believe me, word of anything new travels fast.

04-26-2005, 01:10 PM	#8 (permalink)
DWhite6872 Waiting Confirmation Join Date: Apr 22 2004 Posts: 5,189 Rep Power: 0	I am the most optimistic person on the planet (or pretty close)...I do not see how you could afford even the build-out of the salon?....

04-26-2005, 01:16 PM	#9 (permalink)
kdv722 Join Date: Apr 3 2005 Posts: 41 Rep Power: 0	I AM NEW TO THIS BUSINESS AND I HAVE DONE A LOT OF RESEARCH. DEPENDING ON WHAT BEDS YOU PICK I THINK YOU CAN START OFF SMALL AND CLEAN AND NICE AND WORK YOUR WAY UP. WE ARE STARTING WITH MORE MONEY THAT 50K, SO WE ARE BUYING ALL OUR BEDS NEW. OUR BUILD OUT WAS REALLY CHEAP. WE ARE DOING THINGS OUR SELVES THOUGH WHICH MIGHT HELP. WE COULD DO IT WITH 50K IF WE WANTED. GOTTA START SOMEWHERE. AS LONG AS YOUR COMPETITION ISNT A HUGE FRANCHISE THAT KEEPS UPGRADING, I THINK ITS WORTH A SHOT. PERSONALLY I THINK THE WHOLE VIDEO/TANNING THING IS GROSS. I WOULD NEVER GO IN A TANNING BED IN A VIDEO STORE. MAYBE YOULL GET NEW PEOPLE TO START TANNING WHO MIGHT THINK LIKE I DO AND YOULL DO GREAT EVEN IF YOURE SMALL. _________________ [ This Message was edited by: kdv722 on 2005-04-26 12:17 ][ This Message was edited by: kdv722 on 2005-04-26 12:17 ]

04-26-2005, 01:23 PM	#10 (permalink)
millertm Join Date: Apr 25 2005 Posts: 8 Rep Power: 0	Thank you very much for your advice. I appreciate the opinions and suggestions. I will be starting out small, but also we are doing much of the work ourselves. There are no franchised salons in the area. If you want a decent place to tan around my area you have to drive about 20 miles to the next town. For the general area that i'm in, 50k will go further than some people think.

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