Buying your competition

[imported_vivid]

With such a solw year, has anyone thought about offering some money to buy out your competition and haveing them close?

[Natureboy]

A just saw two pack it in this week! I bet there are others on the verge. Only the strong will survive.

But saw another one open, I give them a year maybe.

[imported_vivid]

Thats the strange thing, why would someone close right beffore the bussy season? You would thing they'd stick around till the summer. It's good for you though.

[Natureboy]

The off was bad here too, my worst ever too. They were probably so hurtin, couldn't pay Dec 1st rent I figure and had no choice.

The one is close to one of mine so I should get some spin off. The other is inbetween both my stores, but it was extreme discount 200mins for $20, cheap 80's bed mom and pop, so I don't expect much from it.

Makes me wonder if anymore will before the end of the month. If you think about it, this is the beginning of the busy time or the extreme end of the slow.

Unfortunetly, none of these guys have a database/computer I could even buy. Unless I want to sift though cards and copy addresses....boy fun.

[imported_vivid]

On a side note, how much is a client database worth?

[effective]

The end of the "slow times" may not be over just yet in Ontario anyways. With Hydro rates set to perhaps double, things could get worse.

Hydro is going to cripple many tanning salons come next off season. If you think things are tough this year, you're in big trouble next year.

[Natureboy]

Not sure what a database is worth? $500 maybe for a few thousand names, addresses?

Here is SK, Energy (GAS) went up 28% last month I think. At power went up a bit a few months back.
But in winter, (here where it is cold) I disconnect my HP exhausts and heat the places like nothing. Saves me a few $100 a month in heating bills.

[imported_Rob]

but it was extreme discount 200mins for $20, cheap 80's bed mom and pop, so I don't expect much from it.

This is why they close. Minutes packages for too cheap. My comp closed for the same reason. I would have too if not for Natureboy teaching me the points system. Thanks James! There is a salon in big city next to my city that has changed ownership 3 times since I've been in business and they all do the minutes packages. My sales doubled my first year i implimented the points system, and climbing!

Hey, my thoughts on buying the data base. Don't. Talk to the owners and tell them you will honor their clients left over time for a limited time period for free so the owner doesn't look bad to the clients, and you get them for free! In your case James, it'd just be on your 424's and don't change your lamps till their done. I can garauntee they are way more powerful even at 1000 hours than the salon they were tanning at was. You'd be surprised how many of their clients will stick around with you afterwards, and they won't be able to resist jumping in that Magic!

[tanforfun]

I once paid $600 for a salons database of about 2000 clients. We manage to keep about 30%, we also had all of their phone calls forwarded to our salon for 3 months. I think it was a good investment for us.

[Natureboy]

One of the places in part of a local "franchise". It's really just a name with different owners at each store, and then they go down and up around the city. Most likely one of the other "franchise" names has the number forwarded.

In their yellow pages it show 7 locations. Three of them are fake since they went under and forwarded to the one of the four real ones. Talk about desperate. And this is long after they went under in the new yellow pages.

[imported_Will]

Vivid, buying your competition and closing them may not be as easy as it seems.
If they have a long time left on their lease the Landlord may allow you to assume the lease, but you would become responsible for it for the remainder of the term. Could be several years. Plus, if the Landlord is smart, which most are, they would also keep the competition on the hook for the remainder of the term.
I guess you could start another company and buy the competition, and then go bankrupt.
Why not buy them and run the salon,it may lock out others from coming in. Another thought is if you buy them and close, it still doesn't stop some other idiot coming in and opening another cut price salon.