Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
The Question: Will the home tank market and its low prices affect the commercial float industry negatively?
Our Answer: We don’t think so! In fact, home tanks increase the visibility of our industry.
Tune in to this short Daily Solutions Podcast, or read the text below if you’re at work and you need it to make it look like you’re doing important stuff.
Show Resources
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: So today’s question is, How does the invention of low cost in home float tanks affect the viability of starting and running a float tank center?
Ashkahn: I think it’s probably not going to have much of an impact, or maybe a positive impact if anything.
Graham: Yeah, that’s my feeling very much as well. I don’t think that you’re losing a lot of your most regular customers or anything, even to having a float tank in home.
Ashkahn: Yeah. I mean like, if you have a float tank center by this point, you know how hard it is to have a float tank setup somewhere. It’s crazy. The amount of salt, the amount of maintenance, all that sort of stuff. Hopefully that stuff will get better over time, but it’s still going to be a lot of people who prefer to go to a float center than to have the space for one in their home, or the cost of one in their home, or the maintenance of one in their home.
For the people who do have one in their home, to me that’s just like a huge point of conversation. Any time anybody goes over to that person’s house, they’re going to be like wait what is that, and that’s just that many more people that know about float tanks. I don’t know, I could be wrong, but I’d be surprised if that like took down the industry, because everyone started buying float tanks for their houses.
Graham: At the point that you’re floating less than once every couple weeks, or once a month, or so. If your thing is you like to hop in a float tank once a month, or once every two months it still probably doesn’t make sense for you to have a float tank in your home necessarily. Right? So there’s this whole market of people who are not coming in incredibly regularly, who just for no other reason than financial viability won’t go down that route.
Ashkahn: Time will really tell what ends up happening, but I don’t know that’s my personal hunch is that it probably won’t have to much of an impact.
Graham: In a similar sense that public pools and stuff aren’t destroyed by people having private pools in their house, or places where gyms where people can go and go into a sauna or a hot tub, aren’t destroyed by people able to have personal home gyms, or saunas, or hot tubs at their house.
It’s just there will of course be people who want that privacy, and want to take advantage of it. I think though there’s always going to be a broader group of people who are just not that regular users who would want to go to a center, and even having people take care of you. Not having to clean up after yourself is another big thing that I think drives some people in when they just want to be pampered.
Ashkahn: Yeah, definitely or just kind of everything about the amount of space it takes. I mean there’s some float tanks out there that are trying to fix that issue for people’s homes. Make them more space wise I guess.
Graham: I guess here’s what I’m trying to say, is I don’t feel like they’re competing markets. Like I feel like there’s a huge benefit to having a float tank in your home, and there’s a whole group of people who’s stoked about it, and that number of people is growing. I think that also the people who are excited to go into a float center and go float, of course there’s some overlap because floating is involved, but I think fundamentally they’re just two totally different markets growing in two very different directions, but both growing right now. I don’t see that much competition between them.
So, like we always say, take a walk or you’ll never know what’s out there!
Recent Podcast Episodes
How Often Should I Post on my Float Center’s Social Media? – DSP 190
On the second day of social media week, Ashkahn and Graham ask Derek how often float centers should post as well as what makes good content.
Derek lays out practical tips for how to schedule your social media (DON’T AUTOMATE), as well as what makes a good post. Facebook has several algorithms to limit your reach depending on the post so it’s important to avoid certain keywords and post topics to reach the broadest audience without paying for it.
What are “Good” Social Media Numbers for Float Centers? – DSP 189
Not everyone is a social media wizard, but fortunately for Social Media Week, Derek is here to answer all the questions the float industry might have, from the obvious to the obscure.
In this episode, Derek, Graham, and Ashkahn discuss what it means to have good social media engagement. The effect of things like Facebook likes, reacts to posts, and how to cultivate those.
Can you Float During a Lightning Storm? – DSP 188
Certain areas are prone to particular natural events. Some more terrifying for float centers than others. Lightning storms come to mind. Because water is conductive and the last thing you want in your float tanks are electrocuted customers.
So, is it a bad idea to float during lightning storms or does it even matter? Graham and Ashkahn weigh in with a heavy dose of skepticism and repeated calls to consult with a professional electrician before making any big decisions.
How to Choose the Perfect Float Tank – DSP 187
One of the biggest decisions you have to make for your float center is what tank to choose. This is what your business is based around. So how do you go about making this decision? A lot of newer float center owners want to know what the “Best Tank” is. The reality is that there isn’t some clear front runner in float tank quality. Every tank has it’s strengths and weaknesses. It really depends on what you’re looking for and what you want to spend.
Graham and Ashkahn share what they think are the most important things to consider when choosing your float tank.
How to get Building Plans Before you Have a Building? – DSP 186
Often times banks will want your building plans to approve your business loan, but you can’t purchase a building before the loan is approved. Sometimes health departments will want to know which tanks you’ll get before they’ll approve your business which can also hold up your bank loan. It feels like a Catch-22 and has definitely infuriated plenty of float center owners just starting out.
Graham and Ashkahn lay out the confusing battle you’ll have to take on to get your business started and the ways in which you can get approved, plus the silver linings these extra hoops can offer you.
Latest Blog Posts
Empty Float Tanks and What to Do with Them
There’s a marketing mantra here at Float On that we thought might be useful to share. Especially for people at the more early stages of their float center. The mantra is simple, but it's an integral part of our marketing philosophy, and can go a long way in helping a...
60 vs 90 Minute Float Sessions
I've had the pleasure of giving tours of our HelmBot software. While some of these tours are to established centers looking to switch scheduling softwares, most of the tours have been to centers in the final stages of opening. In talking about how to set up "The Helm"...
A Resource for Buying / Selling Used Float Tanks
Save Money When Starting a Float Center Construction aside, one of the more significant costs to starting a float center are the tanks themselves. There are numerous float tank manufacturers to choose from with costs that range quite a bit. A lot of the newer float...
How To Give a Proper Walkthrough
Why Float Centers Need “Walkthroughs” First time floaters typically need some instruction before they can get in the tank. A lot of things can go wrong if a client is not well informed before they attempt to float. In many cases, the first float is the most important...