Hi
I can’t even get people to practise on for free it’s so hard and sometimes I feel like giving it all up because if I can’t get practising I won’t feel ready for full price customers but I keep telling myself don’t give up keep going...thanks for reply
That's very unlucky that you can't seem to find people to practise on. In fairness after a handful of tans you should feel confident enough to start spraying proper clients though.
Can I ask whether you did much in the way of market research to find out how popular spray tans are in your area? It could be your area is already saturated with tanners (which is often why Tanning techs feel the need to reduce their prices to compete), or maybe spray Tanning just isn't popular where you live? From what I've learned from this forum there certainly do seem to be areas where it's more popular than others.
Are you hoping to make a full-time living from Tanning? Or just part-time, or to boost your earnings as a second income?
Do you offer other treatments as well as Tanning? If so, you could try incorporating a package deal, combining another treatment with a tan for a special introductory price to try and entice new clients?
I will be completely honest with you here, but this this is obviously only my own personal experience. When I originally trained in spray Tanning it was with a view to going mobile and hopefully to do spray tan parties as well. This was 7 years ago and as soon as I had finished the course I changed my mind about going mobile as I was really concerned about overspray getting on clients carpets/walls/furniture because in my honest opinion I think it's impossible to totally eliminate it. The only reason I have added spray Tanning to my treatment list (I am a beautician and nail tech) is because my daughter is very fair skinned and doesn't tan naturally so has a tan most weeks from Spring onwards and for any special events in the winter, so it makes sense to offer it to my clients as well but I really don't believe I could make a living out of it alone and I know others will say the same.
In my area Prom season is always popular, as are weddings (not just brides and bridesmaids, but their guests too). Clients often want Pre-holiday tans as well and for other special occasions.
I have noticed that a lot of people are going back to using sun beds again, despite the bad publicity about skin cancer risks. You also have your DIYers who want to look Brown throughout the summer months but don't want to splash out on having a professional tan done weekly so buy self-tanners and apply it themselves. To add to all this a lot of new clients are wary of having spray tans as they're scared of looking orange!
Spray Tanning is a relatively easy treatment to learn and only costs a few hundred pounds to set up so therefore it appeals to a lot of people who hope they can make some fairly easy, quick money from it but they often find out it's not quite as lucrative as they had thought. My advice would be to research your most likely type of customers and target them via social media using eye catching adverts.