Recession Tip 2: Lessons From A Pizza Shop

When it comes to increasing profits, many salon and day spa owners start to think about more customers or increased sales. But there are other ways to boost your bottom line that take little to no effort. This point was driven home to me recently when I spoke to the husband of a friend recently who owns a pizza shop.

I was asking him how his business was going in these tough economic times and he responded by saying that whilst sales were low, profits were still quite healthy, thanks to his focus on minimizing waste.

Curious I asked him to tell me more. He went on to explain that in the early days of running his business his focus was on getting more customers and increasing his sales. His business grew quite successfully, but then finally got to its limit, where no matter how hard he advertised, he simply could not sell any more pizzas.

Still not content with the money he was making, he began to look at ways to increase his profits by cutting costs. One particular evening after closing time, he noticed the large amount of wasted food that was getting thrown out with the garbage. He started to think about how his business made money. He realized, that in its simplest form, his profits came from buying raw food stuffs at a certain price and then selling each piece of food for more than what he paid for it in the form of a cooked pizza. Understanding this, it then dawned on him that each item of food that was thrown out, was money he had wasted, and profit he would now not make. Ever since that night he has focused on eliminating wastage where possible, and ensuring that every item of food brought in its fair share of profit.

Now you might be thinking, ‘What does a pizza shop have to do with my salon?’, well the answer is plenty. Particularly in the area of spray tanning.

I know that I am about to push the SunFX bandwagon a bit here, but it’s for good reason. It’s because the SunFX spray tanning system does this better than any other. You see, other spray tanning systems in the market are not designed for applying spray tans. They are instead modified paint applicators in the form of air-brush guns and the like. But tanning solution is runnier than paint, and as such it needs to be applied through a spray gun designed specifically for that purpose.

These other systems waste a tremendous amount of tanning solution through over-spray and the dreaded solution drip. Evidence of the amount of over-spray that occurs can be seen by the fact that the skin of the receptionists of salons using these inferior systems is typically orange on top and pale as you look down their legs. This is because the over-spray floats around the room, settling on the staff who work there.

The SunFX Pro Spray Applicator however is specifically designed to apply SunFX tanning solutions. Because it is so accurate, you only need a tiny amount of solution to apply a full body tan. Skilled operators are able to get as many as 30 full tans from one bottle of solution!

Now admittedly some of the other solution brands are cheaper, but you need to use more of them to get a rich natural looking tan. Therefore you are getting fewer tans per bottle, which means less profit overall. By buying the cheaper brand you are actually costing yourself money.

So the salon recession surviving tip that I want you to understand is the importance of reducing your wastage. In spray tanning the answer is SunFX. But what other areas of your business suffer from wastage, and how can you reduce it? Answer those questions and your profits will increase even if your clientele drops off.