Beach Club Tans

I'm writing a detailed business plan and looking for some input into possible answers. Here are the demographics for the area I'm starting my business: 2003 retail sales - 324mil, 2004 retail sales - 363mil. 12% Growth. Avg household income $63,500. Traffic count in front of location 30,000 cars per day. Traffic count of highway beside store 60,000 per day. Location is in retail outlet in Home Depot parking lot, Walmart, Lowes and Super Target are within 1/8th mile on same road. Major apt complex going in behind Home Depot. Lease will be apx $18.00/sq ft for the year. 1,700 square foot facility. I'm considering 8-12 beds, at least 4 levels of tanning, 3 lotion suppliers with lotion also available by the cup for $3.75 - $5.00 depending on brand (buying gallons and using the ketchup cups). Not sure on whether to build one or two restrooms (for the ladies convenience). I do also know we'll have mirrors, chairs, clothes hangers and spray deodorant avail in each room. For the build out of the new facility, I plan on using stained concrete (looks good and easy maintenance) I'm planning on selling EFT's and session pricing. Closest salon in 1 mile away and is as much high end salon (Facials, dermabrasion etc as tanning) I'm also planning on leasing my equipment. My questions are: 1)Pricing Structure - competitive sure, but where to start. 2) % of revenues to figure that are lotion/accessory based. 3) Advertising budget? How much and when should it be spent? 4) Modular walls or build out? 5) Bed manufacturer... leaning towards Puretan... any suggestions, pros, cons or rants? 6) Product mix of beds?

I've been reading everything I can get my hands on for the past 2 months, but I'm a sponge, gimme more gimme more...lol. Any other tips or recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, y'all seem to be a great group.

Neon Beach

Huh?

DWhite6872

Retail spending is fine...but what is the population in your 1,3 and 5 mile radius?

Beach Club Tans

14000 in 1 mile, 22,000 in 3 miles and 38,000 in 5 miles. Sorry the questions were so long with so much extraneous info. Sometimes my enthusiasm jumps in front of my brain...lol.

DWhite6872

I do not have experience in smaller markets, if anyone would like to chime in with the same demos...if not wait until you see Dennis on here and PM him with questions.

engfant

Suburbs and metropolitans are 2 totally different monsters. People LIVE in the suburbs and work in the metropolitan area. In a metro, you are gunna need a "million dollar" tanning salon cause you need to be pulling HUGE numbers cause costs are HUGE. In the burbs, no one is even in town till after they get out of work. You can get away with a smaller salon (depending on what's available in the area already) and you can use less flashy tanning beds cause the costs of running the place will be much lower.

Neon Beach

Entrepreneurs are a busy bunch. This is a fact and with good reason, starting a new business venture takes a lot of time and effort.


If your expanding your business venture, chances are that you and your managers simply don’t have the necessary time to devote to completing a full expansion business plan.


Although the business planning process is necessary, you might be a little too busy to be bothered with the details.


I know, you want to get started sooner than later on your business and couldn’t be bothered learning the business planning process. Hey, that’s ok because some people are more hands on.

On the other side, some businesses will need the expertise of a business plan writer.


Imagine a huge operation that requires multi faceted manufacturing plans or operational plans. Larger operations will require a professional touch because the size of the operation is just too huge for one person to undertake.

If you don’t want to complete the business plan yourself, there is an option you might want to consider and that’s to use professional business plan writers.


Good plan writers can be a huge asset when your starting your business or expanding your business. Professional plan writers can possibly save you hours of wasted time.


If your looking for outside financing, professional plan writers can possibly save you months of wasted time and get your business plan in for a review a lot sooner.


Investors and funding agencies expect certain things in a business plan and if your plan doesn’t contain exactly what their looking for, they will simply send it back.


This process will keep going until you either get it right, which can take months, or you give up in frustration, whichever comes first.


Experienced plan writers know this and will more than likely get it right the first time. This can save you months of wasted time so you can get your business up and running sooner rather than later. Plan writers can certainly be a benefit.

However, I will tell you right now that...

“It’s Hard To Find Good Business Plan Writers”

Yes, it’s true, finding good business plan writers can be very difficult. I deal with plan writers on a daily basis and let me tell you, business plan writers are not all created the same.


Sadly, it’s been my experience that there are more bad plan writers and consultants out there than there are good ones.

You see, anyone can call themselves a business plan writer or business consultant without any prior experience whatsoever in business or plan writing.


It’s downright frustrating to deal with a plan writers who charge big bucks for a job that any Joe off the street could have done . Let me give you an example of a recent business plan that I finished reviewing.

I received this business plan from a client who paid $10,000 for it’s completion. I took one look at this plan and shook my head. I didn’t even have to look past page one to know that this plan was a complete joke and that this client got ripped off.

The first three pages were absolute rubbish with no coherent meaning whatsoever. After page three it jumped right into the appendixes.


There was no executive summary, product description, marketing plan or strategy, operational plan, management plan or anything else that makes a good business plan.

The financial plan was a complete mess. The statement included a quasi cash flow and income statement combination with no balance sheets. The numbers were meaningless with no background work whatsoever.


The plan writer thought he would spice up the presentation by “colouring” the financial sections with a bright yellow and blue background.

I sincerely felt bad for this client because there was no way this plan would be funded. The business plan would have to undergo some serious reconstructive work and not to mention the $10,000 that the client was out. This money could have been spent on the business.

I asked the client how he got this joke of a plan writer to complete the business plan and he mentioned that his friend recommended him.


He went in completely blind without doing any background checks on the consultant. In the end, he paid out $10,000 (up front) for a business plan that wasn’t worth $10.

Sadly, this is not the first plan that has come across my desk from poor business plan consultants and I’m sure, it won’t be the last.

However, after reading this article, you will know exactly what to look for in good business plan writers and go into this process with your eyes open.

Here’s what you want to look for in a good business plan writer:

• Experience

How long has the business plan writer been doing this? Are they experienced business plan writers? Experience is a must for business plan writers. Personally, I want to see someone who has at least 4 years direct experience in the business planning field.

• Education

Has the business plan writer been formally trained in this area? Particularly business? Make sure the business plan writers have been trained in this area or a very closely related field. I would make sure that the school is accredited and not some fly by night operation.

• What designations do they have?

Does the business plan writer recognized by a third party organization? Are they certified management accountants? Chartered accountants? MBA’s?

• Make sure you look at their portfolio

If a business plan writer doesn’t have a portfolio, don’t bother dealing with them. Good business plan writers will have a business portfolio and resume prepared. When you look at their portfolio, make sure there are references.

• If at all possible, look for direct business experience in business plan writers

Business plan consultants all too often don’t have any business experience whatsoever. This is not good sign. How are they supposed to understand the business process and convey that on paper when they don’t know themselves?

Ask the business plan consultant how long he/she has been in business, and if they’ve had any other business experience such as owning a business. If they owned a business in the past, ask what happened to it. If it was a success, great, however, if it failed ask why it failed. This is important.

It’s been my experience that plan writers who understand the business process write the best plans. Plan writers who have a poor understanding of business fundamentals don’t hand in very good business plans.

• Cost

Most entrepreneurs are under the impression that business plan consultants charge according to the size of the job. Of course, this is taken into consideration but the cost is directly associated with the experience and education of the business plan consultant.

These two should go hand in hand because the more experience and track record a plan writer has, the more it will likely cost you. Like I said, it’s hard to find good business plan consultant and when you do, it will cost you.

• References for business plan writers

Make sure the business plan consultant has references. Make sure you can contact those references. The references should be past jobs and the jobs should be arms length. I would contact about 3 references and would make sure they weren’t close family.

• Are the business plan writers a part of a recognized business association?

Does the business plan consultant belong to a professional and recognized business association? If they are going to prepare financial statements, are they qualified to do that work?

• Referrals are great but make sure your don’t go on someone else’s say so without checking the business plan writers work

All to often, someone is referred to such and such business plan consultant who turns out to be a complete quack. Make sure you do some background work on the plan writer.

• Payment schedules with business plan writers

Never pay out the full amount of cash up front. Let me repeat this...Never Pay Out The Full Plan Costs Up Front. The payment schedule must be done in phases. The most you should be paying up front is 25% to 35%. Never pay the 100% up front because you can wind up with a crappy plan.

The plan should be phased according to the sections completed. Personally, I want to see the business plan in three phases. The first phase is the summary information.

The second phase the market and industry analysis, operations and management. The third phase is the financial analysis with assumptions. After the third phase is complete, and I’m happy with the plan, I’ll pay out the rest.

Make sure that you sit down with your plan writer at each section and discuss in detail the in’s and out’s of the plan so your in the loop the whole way.

And always work with a contract with complete terms of reference from the business plan consultant. Never hire a business plan consultant without going over the contract and terms of reference. If the plan writer has no terms of reference, get out of there.

Before any money is exchanged, both parties must sit down and go through the contract. You should understand the material completely and feel completely satisfied. Once you are satisfied, both parties sign the contract with a third party and a copy is made for yourself. Trust me, if things go sour, a contract will come in handy when it comes to legal back up.

These are some of the main points you will want to consider if you are thinking about hiring a professional business plan consultant. Remember, you want a business plan that gets results. This is the bottom line.

If you’re going to be paying thousands of dollars for a business plan, you want to make sure that the business plan writer gets the job done right.

engfant

Dam Neon, are you suggesting that we become business planners? $10K for a business plan is....I don't know how that fool sleeps at night robbing people of $10K a pop. I wish I could see that.

Sol Sister

NICE, Neon!

Now THAT'S exactly what I meant to say last week!

Beach Club Tans

Great info Neon! This is why I love forums, you can find people with great advice and willing to share with others. Thank you again.