Time Saving Tips for the Tanning Salon or Spa Owner
Does it seem that the longer you own your tanning salon or spa, the harder you work? It’s not supposed to be that way! Sure, you may enjoy running your business, but it shouldn’t be running you. If it seems there are never enough hours in a day – even during the slow season – you could use some help carving out extra time. Here are our tips for working smarter, not harder, so you can enjoy all the things you love.
Manage Your Time
We’ve all heard about the ways we should be working and the various methods for focusing on top priorities first. We’re not going to reiterate those ideas. Suffice it to say that your to-do list should have on it, maximum, 10 tasks per day or, even better, five. Any more than that and the list becomes overwhelming. It’s hard to get started when there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight!
And while we’re talking about budgeting task time, allot no more than 30 minutes to each item on your list. At the end of each half hour of intense work, take a short break. It’s not good to be hunched over a computer or a desk for long blocks of time and a bit of downtime between difficult or mundane tasks is a good thing for both body and soul.
Email and social media are two big time drainers. While it’s important to check both in order to stay in touch with your clients and vendors, it is not necessary to do so every five minutes. Turn off any new message notifications and vow to check email and social media accounts once every couple hours or so, at most. If someone really needs to get hold of you, they’ll call. There’s nothing wrong with waiting until the end of the day to return emails and respond to comments on your Facebook page.
Technology Is Your Friend
One of the best ways to cut down on the time required for tasks is to automate as many of them as possible. Anything in your business that is hand written needs to go. Invest in software that allows you to schedule tasks, such as social media posting, so you can do it once, then set it and forget it. Things like employee scheduling, bookkeeping and customer communication are all best left to computer programs that can do them quickly and more efficiently than you ever could.
Here’s a final tip that we’ve found helps lots of tanning salons and spas make more money effortlessly – adding the FIT Bodywrap© system to your list of services. For one things, it’s T-Max© compatible so it can be managed through your computer. For another, FIT© body wraps are self-administered. All you have to do is make sure the room is clean, then send your client in to wrap herself and lie there quietly for an hour. That’s an hour’s worth of time when you, and your employees, could be doing something more important.
Unfortunately, we haven’t found a way yet to add more hours to a day. But with proper time management, technological tools that automate tasks and a money-making system like FIT Bodywrap© in place, you can make the most of each and every day – and find time for yourself.