We hit this topic a lot. Tanning salons everywhere are fighting for market share in a saturated market that is increasingly regulated. And we also say, don’t despair! There are plenty of ways to make your salon more competitive and stand out in the crowded market, such as developing your brand, offering a wide array of products, providing a unique tanning experience, and more. Here are a few more tips to keep you on your toes.
If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you know that airbrush tanning is getting more and more popular, with salons everywhere investing in their own airbrush stations, and there are even entrepreneurs trying out mobile tanning service now as well. We came across a few articles that have some useful information to get you started if you are interested, all of them on a useful tanning industry site, “Looking Fit.”
This article offers an in-depth look at the airbrush tanning business
This short article offers a few tips on what to buy if you are looking into getting started with airbrush services.
And here is some useful advice from a veteran salon owner as well on tanning businesses adding airbrush tanning to their services. All good information if you are looking to add those services.
Finally, here’s another article that nicely sums up some of the strategies to increase the competitiveness of your business: offering unique products and services, experiences, price structures, and etc. All definitely worth a read.
We would recommend browsing some of the additional article links under the articles you read. There’s a lot of great information in there. Anything that you can use to give your business the edge over the competition is worthwhile!
Everyone from TanWall would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving this year! Enjoy the time with your families and the good food. And if you still need to upgrade your salon in the near future, consider taking advantage of our Thanksgiving sale. If you haven’t heard from our newsletter, we are offering 15% off on all sales until November 30!
So have a great Thanksgiving and may your business continue to grow and prosper!
Businesses everywhere were hit hard by the recession; many are still struggling. The tanning industry has especially felt the effects of the weak economy, considering all the hits it has taken in recent legislation. First it was the tan tax, now it is legislators around the world considering age-specific tanning bans.
So how are tanning businesses getting by? Many salon owners have gotten creative, adding services they didn’t offer before and trying new marketing techniques.
Spray tanning is getting very popular very fast, and many tanning owners are jumping on board and are adapting spray tanning services of their own to supplement their incomes. One salon owner offers his advice on starting a spray tanning service and his take on the industry is optimistic and encouraging. Definitely worth a read.
Other owners are offering other services like red light therapy, and even body wraps in order to offer more variety for their customers. Who knows, you might find a new niche to take advantage of; it never hurts to get creative. Think about what the customer wants: to look good and feel good. Tanning helps your customers achieve a favorable body image for your customers, and in turn they feel good about that, while enjoying some endorphins along the way. Think about what you can do to supplement that.
Other salons are engaging the community. This salon for example is offering free tans for anyone who brings in canned goods. Charity drives like this may not get you as much revenue in the short run, but they also build rapport with the community and bring in more customers, which not only being good in itself, could get you more customers and revenue over time.
Salon owners everywhere are doing their best to make things work. It takes some creativity and perseverance, but owners are definitely making it happen.
Well, this can often happen when one state starts a legal precedent: to put it simply, other states are now considering the teen tanning ban.
Last Sunday, governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that banned anyone under 18 from using a tanning bed. Now other states, specifically Ohio, New York, Illinois and Rhode Island are considering a similar bill. Naturally there are all sorts of opinions for and against the possible measure, and there are definitely some interesting perspectives represented in the above-linked article.
This is definitely troubling news for many tanning businesses that depend on a portion of these younger tanners for their income. However there are other salon owners that are coming to terms with the new constraints and are quietly rethinking their business strategies and considering other means of income, such as spray tanning (especially for the younger customers) and red light therapy to make up for lost income. It will be interesting to see what business owners come up with. Some associations, such as the ITA will most likely fight the bills, as they have with the tanning tax, but the tanning tax is still active too, so it would be best to plan on the bans being around for a while if you are in one of the mentioned states (assuming the bills to ban teen tanning are passed).
Speaking of the tanning tax, reports are showing that it is bringing in less income than projected, which was what many opponents predicted when the tax was announced. It looks like the tax is going to bring in around 70 to 75 million in 2011, which is going to fall short of the projected 200 million. Several reasons were given for the shortfall, such as an abrupt announcement of the tax and its subsequent hasty implementation, as well as the confusing nature of its exact application.
Should’ve gone with the botax!
Yep, that’s right, Canadian tanning salon owners are battling business regulations too. This time in Victoria, British Colombia. The news article linked features comments from parents that are concerned that the new tanning age regulations being proposed are violating their right to choose for their children. Whether you agree with the argument or not, the article is definitely worth a read.
In other news, tanning salons are catching on in – you’d never guess – China! The article discusses some very interesting cultural views and how those views are changing in large cosmopolitan centers such as Hong Kong and Shanghai, where the tanning salons are becoming more popular.
Apparently, lighter skin is more highly valued among the more traditional sector of Chinese culture, to the extent that people will even pay for skin whitening products. But now those attitudes are changing, especially with younger members of the culture, where people want to try different looks and lifestyles. There are definitely a lot of interesting developments going on around the world!
