Everybody would probably rather talk about sales, marketing or the next big thing, but none of that is even relevant without equipment that attracts clients and performs effectively to keep them there. There are two sides to that story: maintenance and upgrading. When you clean and maintain your equipment immaculately, it will last longer, perform better, cause you less major headaches and maintain more curb appeal. However, there’s also a point where giving up on outdated equipment becomes more cost effective, and it’s also vital to periodically introduce shiny, new machines that will “wow” current and potential clients.

Now that the prime season has come to an end, it’s a good time to take a look at your sunbeds, lamps and sunless equipment and decide what you can do to improve their performance, as well as where you need to bite the bullet and spring for something new. It’s important to consider the entire operation at this time, because your equipment, and your tanning business in a figurative sense, are a collection of gears that mesh together to create a well-oiled machine.

If your sunbed parts aren’t adequately maintained and replaced when necessary, it can wreak havoc on your lamps. If the right lamps aren’t replaced on schedule, it will damage the reputation of that sunbed’s performance even after the appropriate changes are made. If your sunless booth or airbrush is down for a few days or malfunctioning and producing less that perfect results, a major factor of your business is compromised, and it damages trust in your salon as a whole. Every moving part has to be performing optimally in order to maximize efficiency.

It’s not simply time to catch up on maintenance, though. It’s also the best time to step back and reevaluate all your equipment and parts. Are any of your older sunbeds becoming more hassle and cost than they’re worth, with regular repairs and expensive, hard-to-find parts? Do you feel that your clients are getting bored with your equipment lineup and need something new to spice things up? Are you sure that you have the correct lamps in all of your sunbeds, or could another supplier provide something better? Is your sunless equipment the most modern technology? Or, does your sunless demand necessitate a second unit?

You can make your business better through marketing initiatives, sales tactics, new services and so much more, but the right combination of well-maintained and newly introduced equipment is still the most basic formula for success in indoor tanning.

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.