taking advantage of high gas prices.

[uv2021]

The silver lining of death is when you marry a bitc# .When you die ,she can't nag you anymore.You also get to stiff the gov't on back taxes ect ect ect.But then because as salon owners we get so much vit d ..we may never die.And the bitc# will be there forever and the gov't gets paid.Oh no!!!


Actually I've said it before .Next time you are on an highway,just watch the speed that people are still driving and ask yourself if they really care about the price of gas or not.

[Island Cove]

hey, i fully agree Din, Im on the fence right now about listing all my salons for sale becuase they are doing good and can bring me top $$ right now, but if your not trying to change with the times, your sure to fall, and thats my point. if your looking for ways to make things work for you with the pressent direction of economy and what not, your more likely to continue being successful. I'm sorry but i don't agree that no one will want to tan, and once the salons struggling close up, they will come to you. And i'm not just talking the craputans, i'm talking any salon that is not successful do to thier lack of experience and poor pricing structures. Those can be high end salons too, that just don't know what it takes to make $$$. Are you up for sale now Din? so if not, then don't you think it would make sense to take advantage of the current situations?

[Island Cove]

the silver lining in death all depends on the situation. for some it could be leaving an old hurting body to be reborn (what ever you belive) or to join the loved ones that have passed before you.

for a family, say a death of a child could be what it takes to bring a family together, to apreciate each other more, in my cousins situation, to stop a drug addiction, it could be a blessing for the child, leaving an abusive situation,

could be a releif on family watching a loved one suffer, and the burden of all that. a time to start over in a new direction. again, sometimes its hind sight that lets you see the silver lining

[Din]

I've been up for sale since i opened.....I'm always for sale. For a fair price. That's business.

[mule14]

Rule No1. Don't let emotions get involved with making money.

Rule No2. It's worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Rule No3. If you can't abide by rule's 1 + 2 your gonna pay for it sooner or later.

[Din]

^^ Exactly ^^

[Alan @ TanToday]

Originally Posted by mule14

Rule No1. Don't let emotions get involved with making money.

Rule No2. It's worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Rule No3. If you can't abide by rule's 1 + 2 your gonna pay for it sooner or later.

PRICELESS - I am going to borrow this.

[Brian Oshman]

Originally Posted by Din

What's to say it's worth it for the strong to stay in it? To lose a lot of money just to say...."HEY, i'm the strong one that they were talking about on Tantoday" I survived.......i lost tens of thousands in income just to stay open for someone to come in an tan once a month.

Sometimes, you just have to think as a business person and your salon is an investment that generates you income. Just cuz it's an easy job and fun.....owning your own business is. So when your investments start to lose, you sell and reinvest elsewhere.

In the end, it's about making money.....not pleasing teens with their $5.00 tans.

Only then will you realize your success and your opportunity to grow as a "business person" and not as a "salon owner."

Cuz in the end, i am a business person first before i am a salon owner. I'll sell the salon any day the right offer comes across the table and reinvest it elsewhere to make more money. Cuz that's what a business person does.

A salon owner will hold on to the salon until the bitter end, investing all their money into a losing battle and then have nothing to show for it in the end, when it's too late.

Some of my previous businesses i've had were, Restaurant, Variety Store/Delicatessen , Dry Cleaners, Laundrymat/Video, X-Ray/Ultrasound, Import/Export....i've also managed the operations for 3 of Canada's biggest airlines for 7 years.


All the businesses sold for a profit, except for the multi million dollar airlines....those
weren't mine.

So when the time comes.....it comes. Time to move on and stop thinking like the business is part of your family and you can't let it go. MOVE ON, when the time comes.

Good luck.

This is probably one of the best posts ever from you. So true, Business is business.

[Island Cove]

in the mean time, while your waiting for your salon to sell, are you going to change with the times and make what could be a negative, into a sales advantage? Wasn't that the point of my post? taking advantage of gas prices? Even if your salon was ADVERTISED for sale, doesn't meen its going to sell right away, so do you not change with the times because someone might come along and want to buy it? now that would be dumb don't you think? Until your salon is sold, it should be treated and run like you plan to keep it, and keep it successful while your at it. Forgive me for sharing a positive with you all in regards to the gas prices and how to make it work for you in your salon. I should just be negative nelly like the majority on here, and join in the whining about economy and gas prices, and all the doom and gloom. NO THANKS!

[mule14]

You could get home delivery for dinner every night to save $$ on gas aswell... another luxury item.

I just don't think that this whole "save $$ on gas issue" is a sales technique that is gonna work on most people. Gas is a commodity its as much psychological as anything else, people see that its going up in price and they get depressed and spend less $$.

Its a reflection on the economy, and it slows people's spend down, especially on luxury items... poeple don't make logical practical decisions when purchasing things, they make indulgent & impulse decisions, especially when it comes to luxury items.

I don't think the message here is doom and gloom, you just need to be creative, find other ways to ensure people spend the same or more $$.

Example, we have started letting our members who are on EFT add their lotions to their EFT amount. Most of our EFT's are weekly or fortnightly so if they want a $100 lotion they add $10 a week to their existing contract. (our EFT system makes this really simple).

Pretty simple idea and it means we don't have to discount our lotions or mis out on a sale if someone was gonna mis out on their lotion this time round or buy a cheaper bottle... it usually means they will buy a more expensive lotion. We simply dont allow clients to stretch it out any further than 10 weeks cause this is an average time it takes a regular to go through a bottle.

[mule14]

Originally Posted by Alan @ TanToday

PRICELESS - I am going to borrow this.

it just came to me....

[Island Cove]

The thing with people though, is that when they decide they need to save $$$$, usualy the trend is to go nuts and eliminate all luxuries, all at once ( read about this in several investment books) and it doesn't last long because they over do it. deprive themselves of too much all at once, so then they go the oposite and go and a spending binge. This way attempt at eliminating a luxury gets lost.

Now with my post, i wasn't talking about getting people to tan who wouldn't be, but getting your tanners using HP, by showing them the savings, and now the savings has increased even more with the price of gas rising. And it does work. It has always worked for me even when gas prices wasn't an issue, and now it works even better because everyones mind is on the price of gas right now.

[Island Cove]

Gas is a commodity its as much psychological as anything else, people see that its going up in price and they get depressed and spend less $$.

There is something realy interesting to note here, Mule, not pertaining to you as you are an aussie, pertaining to US and Canada.

In Canada, the price of gas 2 years ago( when rob arrived in canada it was .69 per liter = 2.76 a gallon 8 years ago ) was what you americans are paying now. The price of EVERYTHING in canada is more expensive than in the US, yet there isn't tanning salons closing up shop on every corner, infact I've only seen one place shut down in my area in 8 years and it was due to health problems. it was more of a nail place anyways. I've actualy seen more salons open up since i've been open, and their all still open. The cost of living on everything is way more expensive in Canada, our minimum wage is $8 rumored to rise to 10 but most of us business owners pay 12 and over now anyways, and we are all still here, surviving and thriving. Our gas is now 6.36 per gallon, and our sales are still increasing over last year.

[EliteMike]

I'm depriving myself of food to pay for gas. F tanning and any other thing that is not needed

[sunsally]

Island Cove (and other Canadians) -

Around each of your salons -- approx how many salons/beds in the 1 mile/3 mile/5 mile radius?

I suspect lower saturation is the big factor Canada has going for it that the U.S. does not (generally for both - obviously any given country can have high and low saturation spots).

To give an example - at one time in my 1/3/5 around my 1 salon , off the top of my head, approximately -

1 mile - 6 salons, about 70 units

3 mile - 10 salons, 105 units

5 mile - 16 salons, 170 units

I may be off a bit, but that is probably pretty close.

LITERALLY - there is almost one in every strip mall plaza.


Now - location #2 has a 2.5 mile radius with no others. Which is the only reason I did Location #2!

[Din]

our salon in the suburbs.

1 mile radius - 4 salons

3 mile radius - 8 salons

5 mile radius - 15 salons


Our salon in the city has approx.

1 mile radius - 8 salons

3 mile radius - 13 salons

5 mile radius - 20+salons


I don't consider 5 miles to be direct competition....if that were the case than UVangel would be my competition.....at both our salons. We are so heavily populated that 5 miles is too far and deals with a different area altogether.

Same would go for other friends on here....like Toronto....he would be direct competition of our one salon....but again. 5 miles is a big difference here.

i have about 300,000 population......and Uvangel would have about 450,000 immediate population....my 300k and UVangel's 450k are totally different people. They are not the same houses.

Where my 300k population would end.....her's would begin.

[sunsally]

Ahh yes -- I forgot to mention population size.

Approximately same number of salons as Din's area

Approximately 10-20% of the population size....


e.g. 500-1000% more saturated.

[Island Cove]

and so then don't you think that If some people do stop tanning for gas prices, it would eliminate some of the over saturation in the US, and allow the stonger salons to thrive? Some will stop tanning because of Gas, but not everyone, but others on this topic make is sound like people will just stop enjoying luxuries all together, everyone, but the rich. I don't think so. and tanning is a much less expensive luxury than most of all the other things that were listed. Its an inexpensive way to get that vacation feel when you can't aford that vacation , and get to relax when you can't aford that massage ( $180 for a massage here 90 minutes) and a way to enjoy the warmth when you cant afford to go to the spa. And a way to look good and feel good when you can't afford the body wraps, and so on. And just some time away to yourself to relax and let the stress ebb away for a bit. Tanning is resiliant.

When did tanning realy start to take off? About that time when everyone was buying those tiny micro cars because the price of gas was getting out of hand. Its all a cycle that is starting to repeat. If your already struggling to stay afloat and working all the hours yourself, well you'll probably be the ones that close up, but if your the owner making a decent living withoug working the hours yourself, well you'll be the ones that survive just fine

[sunsally]

Be interesting to compare things across countries - I don't know all the price points.

Gas and groceries cost more in Canada - to everyone

"Minimum" and typical lowest wages are higher in Canada - which is a GOOD thing for an employee (make more money than a U.S. worker doing the same job) but a BAD thing for an employer (pay more for the same job to be done).

Health care costs - I assume less with the Canadian National System?

Taxes - are there income and sales and property taxes? I know there is GST

Cost of housing? That will vary small town to big city of course


Overall I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Americans HAVE more that they consider "minimums" than many other countries. E.g. how many bedrooms/bathrooms/s.f. in a house, how many tv's, how many frigs, how many cars, computers,.... So we may drive up our own cost of living with our perceived "necessities"

[Island Cove]

in canada, with health care, its kinda like you get what you pay for. supposidly its cheaper, if you don't mind waiting months or even years for things like MRI's and other stuff.

taxes, Income tax, property tax (however not on vehicles and livestock like in US), we have PST of 7% and GST of 5%, only grocery foods are not taxed. Cost of housing. wow, I was looking at different places in the US cause i can get my dream home there for about $300,000 which won't even barely a shack
here. lol $299,000 for this.

mls.ca - Property Details 250014

This is my small Town ( well considered city i guess) 12,000 people