JOHN @ URI

There is nothing more vital or profitable in your tanning salon than a new set of lamps:

Examples:
32 lamp 20 minute 100W bed = $10 per lamp =$320.00
Lets say you get 600 hrs on the lamps = 1800 sessions.
Lets say you sell each session for $3 = $5400
So you make about $5000 profit.

Spend that same $320 on 4 gallons of Sunless Solution.
($80 per gallon) You would get about 170 spray tans out of that.
170 X 30 = $5100. So you make $4780 profit & you need to spray 170 people to get it.

Spend that same $320 on tanning lotions. Lets say $50 retail bottles cost you $11 each. So that would get you 29 bottles of lotion to sell. If you sell them at $50 full retail you make $1450.00
Or $1130 in profit. To make the same $5000 profit you did on lamps you would need to sell 128 bottles of lotion at $50 retail.

Now as you can see I'm being really generous with all the numbers, of course there is overhead in all these things, but I'm just talking gross profit, not net.

I just don't understand why salon owners hate buying lamps, but love buying tanning lotions?

Now change a big VHOR bed with 50 lamps & 4 Facials.
Cost to relamp = $800, Lets say it's a 12 minute session, 500 hours on the lamps & you get $12 per session.
2500 sessions X $12 = $30,000 less cost of lamps = $29,200 profit.

How many sunless session would you need to get that same profit?
How many bottles of lotion?

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Robert K

Great post John!

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Robert Klem
Superior UV Technologies
(888) 526-7712 x77
robertk@superioruv.com

Turbo Girl

Amen!

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[SIGPIC]

sunsally

I echo what Robert K (and Turbo Gal) said - GREAT post -- MUST reading for all salon owners!!!


Take what John said...........and realize how CRITICAL it is to your business that you keep your lamps fresh and well maintained!!


I am still amazed at how many salons I hear that buy "1200 hour lamps" and think they give GOOD results for 1200 hours!!

I KNOW they didn't buy their lamps from John or Robert K or Brian or any of the more knowledgeable lamp guys out there - because they wouldn't recommend that.


BEST idea - buy Solarmeter meters and KNOW when your lamp life is falling off......

Backup idea for those without meters - rule of thumb is about 600 hours for 100W lamps and 400 hours for VHR lamps. But of course - some units "eat" lamps, higher salon temps eat lamps, tighter room sizes with less air circulation eat lamps, etc etc etc...

GREAT great post! You should have lamp money budgeted and be EXCITED when you re-lamp -- because you KNOW how excited your customers will be when you do!

parrot head

Another consideration is to keep those acrylics free from dust buildup. Dust does prohibit the uv to some extent, and it pays to remove them at least monthly and clean them.

sunsally

And clean those filters so they units are getting nice fresh air on which to operate at their peak efficiency........

JOHN @ URI

And wipe down the lamps with a damp cloth while you are at it. Dust on the lamps will block the UVB quite a bit. Sometimes just a good deep cleaning can revive the bed for another couple hundred hours.

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escapetan

You change lamps at about 30% drop of the meter readings correct?

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www.escapetanandspa.com

JOHN @ URI

Yes 25% to 30%

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Spa Girl

While I would never ever disagree with John about anything to do with tanning beds,with sunless yes.With 4 gallons of solution you should get 256 sprays(2oz per spray)