taking advantage of high gas prices.

[Island Cove]

I was thinking about this while working in my salon yesterday. You all know i'm about being possitive, looking for the good in the bad and focus on that, and when the gas jumped .10 cents per litre over night its now 1.519 per liter (6.36 per gallon) I started to have a moment of negative thoughts, especialy with all the negative people around me that are commenting on our abundance of Deer this year that we may need to survive on in the next few years for food. lol And the news saying gas will rise anouther 70% in the next two years and 10,000,000 cars will be taken off the road as a result. Yes all this negative talk got me thinking about putting up all 3 of my succesfull salons up for sale while the taking is still good. but then i had to step back and tell myself to "remember to look for the good" How can I make the rising gas prices work for me in my salon.

I believe now more than ever is the time to get those HP units in your salon. Now more than ever the end savings to the customer is increasing with the rising gas prices, over using base units.

Now more than ever, people want to drive less. So HP units are the way to go. less sessions needed to get that tan, even less needed to keep it (1-3 tans per month) which also equals alot less traveling to your salon (plenty of gas saved) and also lotion saved. As they become more money concience I'm sure they'd love to know their bottle of lotion could last them 3-4 months if they just used HP units instead of ever month needing a new one.

But all in all, I realy think right now with the gas prices on everyones mind, now is the time to realy play on that aspect. perhaps even take the time to figure up cost per mile per 4 cylinder, 6 cylinder and 8 cylinder vehicles and have those stats handy when selling HP.

I also think this opens the doors for new salons to be smaller than ever before, having mainly HP units, with just a few LP units. I know one of my salons could have been less than half its size, as the LP units almost never get used. over 1200 hours on one hp unit in a year (brand new salon) and over 800 hours on the other HP unit, base beds, 160hours and 100 hours in a year. (not sure of vhr and standup)

We already have been playing on the few sessions needed = less lotion and travel, but now that travel factor, and even $$$ saved on lotion will be even more important.

[Din]

Thats nice and all Island Cove....but reality is, that getting to work and affording food and bills comes first. And since they won't be able to afford to get to work and buy food (cuz transporting the food - gas/trucks - will go up and price of food will go up) Tanning will stop all together. Because they can't afford it.

Remember, tanning is a luxury, not a necessity. So when they start budgeting, the following items go off their list.

-tanning
-going to the hair salon
-getting nails done at the nail spa
-going to the spa for pampering

only the wealthy will continue and the wealthy can afford the real sun.

you can state all you want about tanning is necessity, and vitamin D and all that mumbo jumbo....but we know better, cuz we live it.

So stick to your first idea of selling the salons, cuz you can think positive all you want....but in the end, reality wins.

[InternationalTan]

do you think tanning is a luxury or a vanity item? I have herd vanity GOES up in recession times bc people want to look and feel good regardless of whats happening in the economy (drinking goes up as well)

[Island Cove]

I believe because people won't be able to afford to go on vacation to their sunny destinations, that they will come tan instead as it will be much more afordable than the vacation. I remember reading up on tanning when i first opened and that it can weather hard times for that exact reason. I do believe though that only the strong will survive, which for the stong, could be a great thing in the long run, as the ecomony is a 20 year cycle, well documented, and it constantly repeats itself, which could also mean for the stong tanning salons that survive what is happening now, we will most likely see another run like in the 90's especialy while we are not over saturated again.

[Din]

the strong are the ones that have a bank roll and are willing to lose money for many years until the others sell or close. That won't change people's tanning habits. If it's too expensive to go away on vacation, they won't PRE-tan for their trip.

Most tan before a trip and after...to maintain. The regulars that tan for vanity are the ones that come during JASON....they aren't the ones that pay your bills obviously...during the slow season.

We have a busy season for a reason. Because people are pretanning for their trip.

So if they don't go on their trip...then we have the regulars only. Which means JASON just became a 12month thing instead of the 5 month thing.

So why would the STRONG salons want to maintain? This isn't about who's salon is going to survive, it's about making money.

As a business person....i don't stay open for the hell of it, cuz i'm cool....i do it to make money. And that is the ONLY reason! If i wanted to stay open to lose money, that's just dumb. I'd rather reinvest in another industry.

[uv-PaUL]

Which means JASON just became a 12month thing instead of the 5 month thing.

Well said Din. You now have to say Jason with a stutter.

Ja-Ja-Ja-Jason...

[Island Cove]

ah don't be so negative! think positive, look for the positive, look to change with the times! Thinking negative will only lead you right where your thoughts are taking you! People who can't afford the vacation still want to feel like theyve been there! The winter blues it what drives us to that sunny destination in the first place! and you talk as if you think EVERYONE will stop tanning!

[Din]

It's not about thinking negative. As a business person, you have to look at all angles, look at reality, look at trends and the market.

What you are saying is a pipe dream.

If people always wished for things and only saw it one sided, that would lead you to destruction faster than looking at it realistically.

WHY? cuz you'll pump all your money into something that won't work.

[Island Cove]

well im not going to sit here and argue with you on an opinion of things, my point of my post was making the high gas prices work for you in your salon.

[Island Cove]

I just sold a large package just for HP for that very reason. they were humming about the $$$ compaired to base beds, and what put them over the edge?? I said to them, with the gas prices as they are, you will be saving on less travel to the salon. They said" yes thats a realy good point" and then bought the HP sessions.

[Natureboy]

Maybe this year the mailer should be a $10 Gas card to come visit the salon. But must be actived in salon after purchase.

[Island Cove]

the only thing with that is $10 gas card costs us $10, where as $10 in tanning does not cost us $10 and we also don't have to put that money up front either.

[Glowtanning530]

Tanning is vanity. I am not sure how the economy will ultimately effect it. I have seen and heard many different statements.
I have lost people not to other tanning salons but to their own finacial commitments and others are tanning more while on unemployment. I have lost all of my realtors and mortgage brokers, thats to be expected. However many of us are not reporting being down, marching along with last year or up by a smidge. I find its those placed in easy to get to, convienent areas that are doing ok. Either they are on the way home or on the way to town, so people are having to drive by just to get to us. I think this is going to weed out alot of the not so savvy types of salons who don't really think out their packages, sales, and offers (like doing tan tills that dont generate monthly cash flow. There is certainly less wiggle room for error on our part.
The truth is its perceived value. They have to perceive the offer as being sooo worth while they can't pass it up.

[TonyG]

The only way high oil prices are going to benefit you is if a rich uncle leaves you an oil field.

High oil price is all bad news for the tanning biz, and there is no silver lining to this cloud.

[Island Cove]

Tony, there is ALWAYS a silver lining in everything that happens. You just aren't looking in the right places, sometimes it takes hind sight to see it, and no matter how the outcome differes for different people, there is always silver lining.

[Din]

There isn't a silver lining in everything.

What's the silver lining of a death.?

Actually there is a silver lining in everything...just not for everyone.

Silver lining in oil prices going up.....the oil tycoons are making more money. But no silver lining for us.

[Island Cove]

just not everyone is looking, thats all Din, its easier to feel negative about whats happening all around you, the media makes sure of it, than it is to look for the good in all things happeing.

silver lining in oil prices are a given, we as a world are being forced to look for alternative fuels which in the direction that is heading, is only good for the environment. The bottom line is Gas will end some day, its not a renewable source, so better we look for altertative fuels now. Also the general heath of all people will improve, not just from a reduction of polutants, but a reduction i obesity, should you be forced to park your car and walk!

There is a silver lining for us Dean, as the weak are weeded out and the Vit D info becomes more widespread, the strong get to reap the rewards. mark my words.

[Island Cove]

In order to grow as a business, you have to change with the times. You have to look at the direction and try to find ways to make it benifit you as i'm doing with the rising gas prices.

[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.

[Uvangel]

Well said Din!! We were talking about this on another thread. Why dump money into a business thats not making money??
Island Cove: It's not about being positive or negative it's business