These are challenging times for all of us, and many float centers (ourselves included) have decided to temporarily shut down to help stop the spread of coronavirus. Our team got together yesterday to figure out what we need to do to put our shop into hibernation mode, and we thought we’d share the list we came up with to help out anyone else who is in a similar position.
Best of luck to everyone going through this. We know we’ve seen a wellspring of kind words and support from our community when we decided to shut down, and we’re sure you have too. It’s nice to know the float world will be supported when we’re all on the other end of this.
Of course, if there’s anything that you’ve done in your own closure that you don’t see here, please send it along and we’ll update this list as suggestions come in.
Float Tank Solutions
Shop Hibernation Checklist
After the last float
- Do a full cleaning and disinfection pass across your center.
- Deal with your mail and package deliveries. You may need to put up a sign for your mail person, stop your mail from being delivered, or attempt to cancel or reroute any packages that are already on their way.
- Stop any automatic deliveries you have for any shop supplies.
- Make sure your HVAC system is set to run the whole time.
- Remove any food and beverages that can’t be stored for longer periods of time.
- Remove cash and any other valuables.
- Forward incoming calls and set up an appropriate voicemail (make a task to change the forwarding and voicemail when you re-open)
- Put bleach into washer and dishwasher and run them, then leave doors slightly open
- Consider putting out ant traps, if it’s appropriate for your area
Daily Ongoing Maintenance
- If your float tank doesn’t automatically run your pumps, go in twice a day to run them. This will both provide your float solution with its cleaning cycle, and prevent any salt crystallization from happening inside of your pipes and filtration equipment. Make sure to open the doors on your float tanks to let them air out while you’re there.
- Balance any levels of chemical treatment that you use (like hydrogen peroxide)
- Run the showers once a day to prevent any sort of buildup in the pipes
- Make sure to put water down all of your floor drains to keep your p-traps filled (so you don’t get sewer gas coming out)
- Empty your dehumidifiers (if you have any)
- Consider leaving some lobby lights on to deter vandalism
- Clean up any garbage outside the shop. It’ll help keep your city looking nice, and will also help deter vandalism.
- Answer voicemails
- Answer emails
- Answer social media inquires
- Collect physical mail
- Water any plants you may have (or take them to your house).
Weekly Ongoing Maintenance
- Replenish any water in your tanks that has been lost to evaporation (you may need to add a little salt as well).
- Do a disinfection pass on the inside of your tank walls and ceiling. It’s still a very hot and humid environment, and you want to make sure you’re preventing any mold growth.
There are, of course, other things to consider like communication with your customers and taking care of your members. You may be looking at laying off part, or all, of your staff temporarily so they can claim unemployment benefits. The next couple weeks are also going to be a good time to work on your marketing, to make sure that your customers are ready to float when you re-open.
We’re keeping the list above to just the operational side of things for now, but we’ll be releasing more over the coming days and weeks about what we’re doing at Float On to get through this.
Stay well,
Graham and Ashkahn
Will Hard Water Affect a Float Tank? – DSP 165
Hard water is something that comes from having too many minerals in your water source. It can cause a lot of problems with plumbing if it’s too hard, and most buildings will have resources for dealing with this to help avoid calcium buildup in pipes and along tubs or pools. As for how it interacts with a float tank, specifically, it seems like the larger issue is going to be how it impacts the rest of your building.
Graham and Ashkahn break down what they know about how hard water affects float tanks and the differences you’re going to have to look out for if you’re using well water over municipal water sources.
Announcing #FloatForMAPS
#FloatForMAPS is a float industry-wide gift card campaign that will take place this July.
Not only will the #FloatForMAPS campaign generate extra funds for PTSD research, it will also bring in new customers during notoriously slower summer months for float centers.
Participating centers will donate 15% of their #FloatForMAPS Gift Cards to MAPS.org to support the exciting Phase 3 trials of MDMA assisted psychotherapy for PTSD.
Learn more on how you can sign up your float center for the #FloatForMAPS campaign.
How do you Know What to Delegate and When? – DSP 164
The eternal small business challenge. You can’t be everywhere at once, but how do you decide what to delegate and to whom? Unfortunately, there’s not an easy solution, but there are some philosophies behind how you run your business and operate that may be helpful to review.
If you’re reaching this wall and you’re not sure what to do, think about how your work is laid out and what is required of you. Some things are naturally going to be more repetitive and have more built in redundancy. That’s a good place to start looking for delegating responsibility, but it doesn’t have to end there. It all just takes time.
Graham and Ashkahn get into the Float On way and how it’s come about that they’re the owners, but don’t run the shop and are no longer making the major decisions in running it as a business. Worth a listen even if you’ve never even seen a float center before.
Float Room Construction Costs Specifics – DSP 163
In this episode, Graham and Ashkahn succinctly breakdown the cost of float room construction. The average float room cost per the industry survey is $75,000 per room. How much of that is float tank cost and how much is construction? There are some variables to consider based on geography and types of tanks, but the guys lay out the average and clarify some of the numbers we’ve released previously.
How to Delicately Handle Difficult Customers – DSP 162
Sometimes there’s just that one customer. The “Problem Child” customer that you don’t like having to deal with. The one who totally know is definitely (probably) making things up to try and get a free float. And they’re such a nuisance! What can you do about that? Obviously you don’t want them getting vengeful if you tell them to kick rocks and spread lies about you.
How do you handle that situation? Well, Graham and Ashkahn lay out some nice ground rules for how they handle people and it comes down to setting clear boundaries that at least appear rigid on the outset. Then, if those boundaries are crossed, the reactions you have are totally expected.
What’s the Difference Between a Residential and Commercial Float Tank? – DSP 161
Ashkahn and Graham break down the differences between float tanks designed for home use in comparison to ones intended for a commercial setting. Depending on how it’s intended to be used can drastically affect the construction of the tank. Most home use tanks, for example, aren’t made of fiberglass, because those large, rigid structures are difficult to move by yourself or just with one other person. Likewise, the filtration demands for a home use tank are a lot different.
Listen in and check out all the differences and which tanks are more intended for use at home as opposed to commercial use.
Do Floaters really Go into a “Theta State”? – DSP 160
Sometimes it’s difficult to differentiate the claims of scientific benefit of floating from those that are just anecdotal. The idea that floating causing greater theta brainwave activity is one of those things that sounds right, but what does the data say? And how can everyone else find out?
Fortunately, Graham and Ashkahn have done the legwork and even talked to the researchers who do this kind of stuff. They break down exactly how true the Theta claim is and what, if any, real research corroborates it.
Can People Undergoing Chemotherapy Float? – DSP 159
Naturally, most float centers want to be available for anyone who needs it, but there are practical limitations that they may not know about with certain conditions. Is there any risk or issue to having someone with cancer float in a float center? Do they need special instruction or care? Are float centers opening themselves up to liability by providing them floats?
Ashkahn and Graham answer a few of these questions, but the most important thing to remember is to consult the patient’s doctor. Leave the medical advice to the professionals.
Quick ways to get cash now for your business – DSP 158
Being strapped for cash isn’t a fun situation to be in. With an operating business, you have options, fortunately.
Graham and Ashkahn brainstorm some ideas for quick cash and some they’ve even used at Float On when a surprise expense has come up. It’s worth noting that to get money in the short term, you’re likely sacrificing something in the long term.
The Daily Solutions Podcast – Our Top 5 Episodes from April
April was quite a month for the float industry, not only did the Rise Float Gathering take place in St. Louis, but we also convinced several people that drop bears were real! If you didn’t check out the live blog feed from Rise where we covered the events in detail, I...
