nlabtec

Good to hear you doing well keep it up :)

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RCKnep3

Thanks, still haven't been around a full year but we've gotten great reviews from all the clients on the minor changes made since we bought it. Major changes this summer so really excited to hear the feedback and see the $. We all of the old packages off our books and everything is ours now. Alot of getting things in order and getting staff to sell, so I am really excited to see what this little salon can do.

CeeJay

Thank you all for the excellent feedback. This is precisely the type of info I was looking for. We won't be borrowing any money and this will not be our primary income source.

tanner_1

Anyone have any suggestions on a airbrush system?

sunsally

The key is not how much cash you have to buy equipment up front. It is how much you have to put into the business as a whole to get it up, running & successful. Even if it means borrowing - IF it is a good plan.

As noted, a college market (especially one where the college is twice the size of the entire town) will drop off like crazy when out of session. So make sure you have enough cash in reserve to pay rent and electric for at LEAST 6 months in the first year.

Also - on a college campus, students like to stay up late. You'll probably want to keep late hours, and I doubt your wife will want to work 75+ hrs/week. So even if she intends to work for free (which is pretty crazy when you think about it), plan on paying at least $1K/month in payroll. Realistically, even if you just pay her the same minimum pay you would pay a college kid, it would be close to $3K/month in payroll including taxes, payroll service & commission. So factor that into your budget.

Hard to make money on a 6 unit salon - too much in costs for rent, payroll, electric to make back on only 6 beds. Plan on at LEAST 10 if not more. You will hope that you can entice a few thousand of those 25,000 students to tan with you. 10 beds, run 12 hr/day, 15 min max sessions, never a break other than the time to get the tanner in the room, out, the bed cleaned, and the next one in the room would only allow you about 300 tans/day -- MAXIMUM. Realistically, you would probably tan more like 200 max. Don't overbuild, but don't leave yourself short either if there is really that much potential for this location.

The crappy beds at the other salon? The college kids don't care, as long as they are cheap and available. Don't overspend on equipment. My 2nd salon is on a college campus and we are opening with 100% used equipment. Looks great - but cost a lot less and that is important when they are sitting empty over Christmas break, all summer, etc.

Feel free to call if you want to talk about the industry or your location more. Sounds like you might have found a good spot!

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RCKnep3

Yes, you will defn have a little diff hours for college tanners. We don't even open until 11am, most are either recovering from the prior night or in class before that. And we stay open till 10pm, even midnight at certain times. But you will never have a shortage of employees when you are busy, I get 5-10 tanners asking each week for a job (just choose carefully). I have 5 beds, soon to be 6, but yeah if you have 25,000 students you will be swampped w/ just 5 beds and be forced to do apts. Even w/ 6 I am going to be busy all the time, though you can make money w/ even 5 beds but that depends on your overhead (mines only like $2000 total).

And the students do care about the beds, but they seem to be into looks as much as the tan. If it doesn't look cool, they won't care how it tans. You will make about the same if you spend $3000 per bed or $10000.....so save on the beds.

parrot head

On a college campus with 25,000 students and say 10-12% of those students will tan, you will have upwards to 3000 potential customers. 5 or 6 beds just won't cut it. If you commit to building a salon in this envionment, do it big or don't do it at all. Students like to tan in groups and 5 or more and will come in all at one time to tan. The minimum number of beds would be 15 units, but closer to 20 would be ideal. Like Sunsally said, buying GOOD used equipment would be the way to go, and put in a larger percentage of base beds with a 15 minute tan time. When your salon is busy, and all 20 beds are running you could be making better than $350 per hour or over $4000 a day. "Daydeaming" or reality? Possible, but not likely. I don't want to scare anyone who is thinking of opening a tanning salon on a college campus, but there will be days when you will put in your till absolutely nothing; a big fat zero. I've got a total of 14 tanning units with a student base of approximately 8000 students. I have 6 base beds and during busy times not enough, but most will upgrade. The key to having a lot of beds is NO Appointments necessary. The kids like to pop-in anytime and don't need their time regimented. They have enough of that in class. Just a little more info for your decision process.

RCKnep3

I think it really just depends and how you set expectations. I do agree, they like to come in groups but I've rarely had more than 3 people ask for a block. Nice thing is while they are usually busy, they can also usually move things around to tan if you are booked. I'd love to not have apts, with 15 beds I would not need to but my location and budget do not allow that. I am booked solid in my base beds but never have had a complaint that someone couldnt tan. Apts are more work and I would defn make sure you factor that into whatever software if you plan to offer them. I really don't mind them and it keeps clients happy. They call and simply ask when we are free. I set that expectation with all new clients and they like it. Only a handfull book apts several days out so anyone who can't get in on a day knows that they should have made an apt. After each person tans, we ask if they'd like another apt. I think it makes sure you get a commitment of return business. I might make a little more $ w/out them but it's just a situation I have to deal with unless I want to drop in some major money to move locations which would be stupid on my part since it's the location that makes us money. If you have the choice and $ go for what everyone else says but if not you can make it work with a good location and fewer beds but just realize you are limiting your potential.