As the indoor tanning community continues to evolve and grow professionally, the market’s most successful operations continue to focus on key competencies.

Joe Levy, International Smart Tan Network’s senior vice president and lead author developer of Smart Tan’s salon certification programs since 1992, also serves as Director of Scientific Affairs for the American Suntanning Association. Levy discussed what he sees as five keys for successful salons moving forward in 2018 at ASA’s World Summit in Nashville in October.

1. Recommit Your Business to Sunburn Prevention

The science of sun care is coming back to center, as it needs to. As more and more research mounts to support balance, teaching sunburn prevention as a life-long approach to sun care makes more sense than teaching over-use of sunscreen and all-out sun avoidance, which, ironically, often leaves people more susceptible to sunburn when they inevitably do go outdoors.

Obviously, there’s an entire “sun scare” industry that has benefited from having people believe that any and all UV exposure is harmful. But with many researchers now implicating over-zealous sun avoidance as a major public health mistake, as the dust continues to settle on the scientific discussion of this topic the professional sunbed salons who will succeed long-term will be the ones who truly practice sunburn prevention and the principles of Smart Tanning.

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