The Power Group Joins Forces with ist Magazine to Educate & Train the Salon Community
By the way … The term “education” is derived from the Latin word “educare” which literally means to “bring up” and is connected with the word “educere” which means to “bring forth”. The idea of education is not merely to impart knowledge to the pupil in some subjects, but to develop in him those habits and attitudes with which he may successfully “face the future”.
It is staggering to consider the number of suppliers and service providers who are dependent on the success, now and in the future, of independently owned indoor tanning salons.
If you consider that all of the major chains, regional or now national, only amount to about 12% of the nation’s total tanning outlets, it’s critical to all of us, in a supporting services role, to help the so-called mom and pops remain and attain business health. But, unfortunately due to the economy and ramped up competition, the last 24 months have seen many indie-owned tanning outlets close in our industry … an industry that is currently going thru some contracting and consolidating.
But this is not a clarion call of doom; just one that screams out that it’s time to learn more about the business side of the tanning business. And no business survives let alone thrives without mastery of some essentials of good employee management. This publication, ist Magazine, at the leadership of its publisher, Vince Lorraine, is on a mission to educate salon owners and managers via its Sun is Life® Training & Certification program. As a 21-year veteran of the tanning industry, and having concerns about the future health of the independent salon owner and salon managers, I’ve joined Vince’s team to “bring forth” learning opportunities for all who want to compete with the “big guys” and hold on to their personal market shares.
My efforts are arguably selfish, because frankly, I’m too old to invest new years of work in a different industry. And, also frankly, I’ve been down this path before with an entrepreneurial business such as video rental stores. Video would have eventually given way to digital delivery but faltered earlier than needed because of “the indies” not getting better educated in running professional outlets with quality staff. They also failed due to the lack of a lobby strong enough to leverage the major studios. Lack of education and weak lobbying power … sounds familiar.
At least those in the tanning business don’t have to worry much about someone perfecting a “downloadable” tan!
But, we do have to worry about hundreds of closed indie tanning outlets and an unhealthy consolidation of industry power into the hands of only a few players. We can avoid this with education of owners and staff on a variety of topics such as new-hire recruiting and professional interviewing techniques that attract salon workers who do more than look at Facebook between serving customers. Last month, we (ist Magazine and The Power Group) launched the first in a series of Webinars to teach owners and managers some of the best techniques for better managing their teams. Throughout this year, our no-cost Webinars will be geared toward helping any retailer (yes, we would even invite the “big guys” to attend) to make their business more profitable thru education.
