Steve Underhill

You have owned your salon for many years or you purchased a salon that has been in business for many years. Because today’s tanners are more discriminating, new more advanced tanning salons are opening and the wear and tear on your salon shows, business for you is on a steady decline. You sometimes blame it on a declining industry but the truth is you have not kept pace with the tanners needs. You are not sure what to do. You visit the forums hoping to get a few ideas from other struggling salon owners. Salon owners are always willing to share information with fellow salon owners. However you take the ideas that you get and apply them, sometimes with great results but never to the degree you’re hoping for. You look at your salon and know you are just putting a band aid on the problem.

What if there where someone that could do a complete evaluation of your salon and give you a complete list of solutions specific to your salon and market that would allow you to start increasing business again and compete in today’s market instead of just waiting and watching your tanners slowly drift away?

Matthew24

Steve,
When your doing this evaluation, are you using a crystal ball for future franchise stores that are sprouting up like weeds?

missyhot

What r u selling?

West Side Tanner

a Service.

rgm824

don't think alot of newbies have "old" salons

Steve Underhill

Quote (don't think alot of newbies have "old" salons)

Are you a newbie? You read it.

Steve Underhill

Quote(Steve,
When your doing this evaluation, are you using a crystal ball for future franchise stores that are sprouting up like weeds?)

That is my point exactly. Do you think McDonald's changes what they are doing because Wendy's is moving in next door? NO!

If your salon is structured and packaging correctly so that no matter what other salon enters your market you are on a level playing field or you have it tilted in your direction. The competition will not hurt you. Competition is good it creates more awareness for tanning in your market. If you loose business because of the competition it is not because of what they are doing, it is because of what you are not doing. This is why you need help because you don't have a clear understanding of what you should be doing. There is nothing wrong with this. If you are not experienced in marketing, marketing strategies that include the packaging of your salon you have no way of knowing. Can a salon that is decreasing business each year be fixed? Yes! Can a salon that has never done what was expected do more? Yes! If you are not exactly sure what is wrong , how can you fix it. If you did something in the beginning because you thought it was right, how can you identify that it is wrong. A Consultant in an existing salon situation identifies what is wrong from a business knowledge standpoint with no emotion involved and gives you proven solutions. When there is something wrong with the way your car runs, you know there is a problem but you don't have the knowledge to identify what the problem is or how to fix it so you get someone that does.

Steve Underhill

What is a franchise store but a salon that paid thousands of dollars to some one to help them and continues to pay for as long as you own the store.

With a consultant you get the assistance, and when you purchase the equipment from the Consultant the assistance is free.

With a franchise: You must pay a huge franchise fee ( Tens of thousands of dollars), You must purchase their equipment and you pay a monthly fee forever.

Everyone is scared to death when a franchise comes to town, and yet you don't understand how important it is to get assistance when opening a salon. A salon owner that is assisted by a Consultant is a more effective salon than a franchise plus no franchise fee, no monthly fee and your hands are not tied because you can only do what they tell you to do.

My salons are in franchise salon markets all of the time and all of their profits stay in their pocket instead of giving their profits away.

excitednewguy

First of all, we aren't talking about Mcdonalds or some other Fortune 500-Multi Billion Dollar operation, we are talking about a little ole tanning salon. And yes, when someone "comes around" you should look at what they are doing and attempt to either come up with new "things" or do others to attain and maintaiin business. Have you been to any type of business school at all? This is one of the first things you are taught, watch your competition and adapt. If you are the only guy in town for several years, and all of a sudden, BAM, here comes 2 or 3 other salons in near proximity, you better do something about it, or you are toast very soon. EVERYONE ALWAYS checks out the new guy in town. There are more than a couple of handfulls of salons around here that hav lost business, even after having a die hard client base and good products, just because of the new guy who has all brande new equipment and is located in the "hot spot" as far as retail and traffic. So, like I said in my earlier post, it's all about demographics, traffic counts, locations, equipment, pricing, employees, and you changing it up from time to time and not just letting the "same old same old" be all that you do. Don't be the status quoe, ,,,,keep it interesting. But, you have to look at everything else, "above" before you open the doors. IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE OR BRAIN SURGERY!!!!!!!!

Steve Underhill

Yes I have attended more marketing classes than you can imagine. I have also taught marketing classes. I come from the school of acting instead of reacting, leading instead of following. It is important to stay on top of industry trends. But every salon coming into your market should not require change on your part if you are aware of what will make you successful based on current industry trends. If I must do something to survive because a new salon is coming in than I should have probably been doing it already. I am sure your way of waiting to see what the competition is doing and reacting is working very well for you. I believe in a very different program for success. I much prefer that other salons are reacting to what my salons do. Of coarse there are many, many things that you must be doing that are too numerous to list here. To wait to do something that you should already be doing until the competition is doing it is not real solid advice.