New Tanning Business Help??!! Promotion and Spare Space

[Urban Rays]

Hi

We have just opened a tanning salon in Derby (UK) we have 2 stand ups and 1 lay down bed. Obviously the first thing that was worrying us was the Credit Crunch but have dismissed this a little due to the fact that we have been open 5weeks and have over 100 new customers on the books.
We are in the heart of the polish community in Derby which we must admit 80% of our customers are polish.
Now the first question we want to ask is about promotion

What have you used that has been cost effective and pulled in the customers?

We have made the mistake of getting 1000 leaflets printed and placed them in hair salons, nail salons etc and had a grand return of 10:grr:
We was surprised because all the leaflets went from the salons very quickly and was offering 6min session to all new customers.

The second question is we have a small area in the shop about 9ft x 6ft obviously enough space for another stand up but being a new business this is very hard to judge...

Do we put another stand up in there where this could cost us money?

Or leave it alone and have a mile long que of unhappy waiting customers because no one can afford to go on holiday but still want the tan.

Would you just rent the room out to a nail technicain or other beauty service and make money instantly off the rent we obtain from them.

If anyone else has any other ideas what we could do for promotion or what to do with the spare room,we would be greatful for your ideas

Thanks

 

[tashastalons]

I think having a nail tech in would be a great idea, a great opertunity for someone wanting to go self employed and your benefitting from their percentage or rent.

 

[collin]

Firstly...well done for taking the plunge in this economic climate and getting stuck in :hug:

It would be worthwhile utilising the spare space for a different kind of treatment to the sunbeds...one that compliments those that come in to use the beds and one that doesn't take to long to apply...sun bed users are used to a quick treatment kind of thing so would expect the same.

Alternatively rent the space out to another person who could offer a completely alternative treatment..this way you can feed off each other with bringing in new customers.
Nails are a good option...especially as the Polish seem to be hard workers and are about the only ones these day's with some disposable income...well done to them also as they certainly are grafters :hug:

 

[FamousDave]

Hi Urban Rays, Have you thought about using that space to offer a spray tanning service to compliment your existing sunbed services? There's people out there that prefer a spray tan over a sunbed (of course the vice versa also applies), so at least by offering spray tanning as well as sunbeds then you're potentially opening yourselves up to a larger market. And if you're already promoting tanning then it's easy to add on another angle in your existing adverts to capture a greater audience.

If you didn't want to set up the spray tan service yourselves then why not rent out that area to a tanning technician, again keeping everything 'tanning' focused at your premises could help create a stronger identity as THE place to tan in town. Another option would be a revenue-share, ie charge them a reduced rent but take an agreed percentage of their takings. Hope this helps!

Al

 

[Urban Rays]

If you didn't want to set up the spray tan service yourselves then why not rent out that area to a tanning technician, again keeping everything 'tanning' focused at your premises could help create a stronger identity as THE place to tan in town. Another option would be a revenue-share, ie charge them a reduced rent but take an agreed percentage of their takings. Hope this helps!

Al

Liking this idea, we are a bit reluctant to offer spray tanning ourselves due to the fact new business, me and the misses share the shifts, will turn a lot of customers away thinking a man is doing the spray tan, we also think that spray tan is like an art form, we wouldn't want the customers walking out like jaffa cakes.

And we suppose there is a little worry letting someone else into the business, if they are bad they could drag the place down, of course it could work the opposite way. Decisions Decisions:!:

Anymore ideas would be great and moving on to the promotion sides

We have tried/and are doing

Free Tan Week (tried)
Free 6min session to new customers (just expired)
We have cut the courses down to the cheapest in the area (still doing)

We know that word of mouth is the best but has anyone done a promotion and it did much better than expected.

Thanks for any help on both these subjects

 

[loubylou]

Liking this idea, we are a bit reluctant to offer spray tanning ourselves due to the fact new business, me and the misses share the shifts, will turn a lot of customers away thinking a man is doing the spray tan, we also think that spray tan is like an art form, we wouldn't want the customers walking out like jaffa cakes.

And we suppose there is a little worry letting someone else into the business, if they are bad they could drag the place down, of course it could work the opposite way. Decisions Decisions:!:

Anymore ideas would be great and moving on to the promotion sides

We have tried/and are doing

Free Tan Week (tried)
Free 6min session to new customers (just expired)
We have cut the courses down to the cheapest in the area (still doing)

We know that word of mouth is the best but has anyone done a promotion and it did much better than expected.

Thanks for any help on both these subjects

To overcome this problem you would have to be sprayed by the person wanting to take on the room,
a trade test
and tell them you will be in touch in about a weeks time,
this way you can see for yourself how good a spray tanner they are and test out the solution that they use by seeing what you think to the colour, how long it lasts, how it fades,
did they provide a leaflet with aftercare,
do they have pre and after care products to retail, hth

 

[Ellies Nails]

This is more of a customer incentive than a promotion but here goes any way. My local tanning salon gives all customers a club card, as you pay for your session you are given a printed sticker with your name and session value ect on it. Once you have completed your card you get a free session.
Now how much of a free session you get all depends on the total value of your card.
I can see where they are coming from with this as its small enough to keep in your purse or wallet so you have a constant reminder about them with you which you see on a regular occasion and this reminds you to go in more often.

hope this helps x