certan

Consultants are only as good as they are honest. There are a lot of good people in this business that will help you if you only ask. No need to pay a consultant Thousands that works for a particular tanning manufacturer.

BronzeBiz

I can certainly see the value in using a consultant... when I think about all the wasted time and $$. Save yourself a couple of years & $$ and use a consultant, just make sure they have a proven track record. Ask for several referals in the same type market as you, then call them and actually talk to them. I am opening my 3rd store next month & the business can be a lot of fun (but only if you are profitable!!!) Good Luck!

John Geist

I'm talking with Steve Underhill and he has helped me alot...

mr belvedere

Lookit - Certan is right - to a point. I had a whole long professorly post I put here before I tried to squish a fly on the keyboard and lost my entire post.

Bottom line, a good consultant can help a newb salon/business owner actually last longer than 18 to 24 months in this business or any other. That being said, buyer beware! "Consultants" in this business are a lot easier to check out and confirm than ten different "opinions" from internet personalities.

Don't get me wrong, we're all here to help, but let's be honest here - how much solid "help" are we actually going to post for our potential competitors?

If you don't have a trust fund, but you have enough money to hire a "good consultant", do it. -Belvy

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"A dusty bible leads to a dirty life ..." -Synonymous

Mike B

Steven,

Holy cow...How did you ever find that post proclaiming the great work you do? :)

Don't you feel it would be a tad better to wait 5 or 10 minutes to see if a neutral party was willing to post? Granted, this is just my opinion however, it would sure make you look ALOT better and a smidge less self serving.

-M-

mr belvedere

Do you have a neutral opinion about Steve, or any other industry consultants?

__________________
"A dusty bible leads to a dirty life ..." -Synonymous

Steve Underhill

Based on this theory there is no need for Contractors, Accountants, Lawyers, Doctors, Bankers, Loan officers, Real-estate Brokers and so on. In fact what do you need tanning salons for? This is the statement from someone I certainly want to get advice from. I am sure that the fortune 500 companies that employ Consultants for almost every aspect of their companies, wish that they had talked to you before they hired all of those worthless Consultants. The real problem here is that visitors must be exposed to to your level of wisdom.

Steve Underhill

I hope you are kidding, my post self serving? Are you saying that I am trying to encourage people to use my services? Well yes I am. While there are always people here that tell you reasons why you should not use a Consultant when they have never even spoken to one. You have never read a post from a person that has used the services of a Consultant say anything except positive remarks about the benefit of using a Consultant. Many people talk about the money that you would be wasting on a Consultant when in fact opening a salon using a Consultant will cost less than without a Consultant 100% of the time. We save you lots of time and thousands of dollars. We save you money on your lease, we make sure you are not being overcharged on your build-out. We give you a much better chance of getting financed. We make sure you pick the best location. All of this is just in the early stages, not to mention the impact we have on the success of your salon. Yes I am here to expose myself to potential clients, however I am not here very often because I am busy getting new salons open. My clients always return to open multiple salons. Repeat clients makes up for 90% of my business. A Consultant makes all of the difference in the world when you are just getting started or when your salon is failing and you would like to fix it rather than sell it. Mike B I am not really interested in what you think, I am more interested in assisting the people that want qualified help.

Steve Underhill

What gives you the idea that I work for an equipment manufacturer? I chose a particular brand of equipment to sell because I believe in the product and I look for all of the things that will make a salon successful. Do you think I would be more credible if I sold every brand on the market?

I believe in my programs because they have proven to be successful. I believe in my product line because it has proven to be every thing a successful salon needs. When you go to a manufacturer to buy equipment and they offer no assistance in the success of your salon that is fine. But a Consultant that is going to show you how to open a successful salon and sells a particular brand of equipment is a bad thing? You don't even have to purchase my line of equipment to get my assistance. Purchasing equipment from me just makes my extensive services free. Is it better to purchase equipment and get little or nothing that impacts your success or savings in the construction of your salon? It is no wonder the failure rate in this industry is so high.

certan

So which is the best equipment Puretan, your old company that had the poorest customer service in the industry or Tan America?