Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
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.
Show Resources
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: Today’s question is, “the state of the industry survey shows people spend about $75,000 per float room. How much of that is the tank cost versus construction cost?”
Ashkahn: Basically float tanks can range from probably around $10,000 at the cheapest for a commercial float tank.
Graham: Plus pump set up and all of that, yeah.
Ashkahn: Up to, I mean, they can get up to-
Graham: $90,000?
Ashkahn: Yeah, $90,000 dollars for a float tank.
Graham: So if you’re buying a $90,000 dollar float tank, then you’re now in negative money for room construction, negative $15,000. So, it depends a lot on what people are doing individually, and of course the survey itself is very subjective for what people are putting in there almost, so how people are defining everything that’s going into their room construction. It’s probably not 100% accurate even between individuals filling out the survey.
Ashkahn: But, I would say, if I had to make an average guess of how much people are spending on float tanks, it’s probably somewhere around $30,000 dollars a float tank. 30 – 35.
Graham: Which would be about $45,000 for doing the room construction, and I would say actually between maybe like $35,000 to $45,000 is not a crazy amount to assume for room construction. So not quite half and half, or half and half of the split that’s different for different people or something like that, depending on how much soundproofing largely you’re doing.
Ashkahn: Yeah, and we see that in general in terms of people’s cost total, float tank plus for rooms. It really does seem to range pretty much somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 dollars for the whole shebang for a room. That was always kind of our calculations, and then seeing the industry report averaged that at about $75,000 kind of seems to support that.
So my guess is people on the higher end people are buying probably slightly more expensive float tanks and doing slightly more expensive construction, and at the lower end people are probably buying cheaper float tanks and doing cheaper construction.
Graham: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Again, there’s an, “Oh, yeah.” They’re like both how people are answering that question, and what you decide to do for your own center, and types of tanks, and whether you’re in the middle of a city or out in the countryside. All of these are going to affect how much is going into your individual build.
So, don’t assume that if you’re coming in a little under, if your ratio of tank to construction is different then the industry average that you’re somehow doing something wrong. It largely does have to do with how many tanks you’re installing at once, and how much crazy soundproofing you need to block out from city noises, and airplanes, and things like that.
Ashkahn: Yeah, you might just have less expensive construction if you’re way outside the city and you don’t have a ton of noise to deal with.
Graham: Yeah, just throw your float tank down a grassy hill somewhere-
Ashkahn: Yeah, call it good. Sprinkle some salt in the lake.
Graham: Sprinkle? I think it’d be a little more than that. This giant industrial dump operation puts Epsom salt or something into a lake.
So, if you have any more questions, go to floattanksolutions.com/podcast and we will answer them.
Recent Podcast Episodes
How to Build Community Relationships from Home – DSP 240
Building community relationships when you’re already working 12 hour days at your float center can seem impossible. How do you make those connections when you’re busy during business hours?
Derek and Graham tackle this problem and focus on it from personal experience. When Float On was just starting up, Graham was always running around, but still found time to grab a tea with local wellness professionals in his down time just to chat and hang out. Derek also points out that there’s plenty of social media tools that you can use between transitions when you have a couple minutes.
Tips on Website Copywriting – DSP 239
In another jam packed marketing episode, Derek and Graham get into the nitty gritty of how to write out all the content you need on your website.
They dive in and explain the importance of layout, how to keep things succinct, and some really great resources for copywriting, A/B testing, and general marketing knowledge.
What’s the Best Way to do Referral Programs? – DSP 238
Derek and Graham talk about the many tactics they’ve tried at Float On with developing referral programs. They’ve tried many things with varying success, from affiliates to endorsements to discount codes. All with varying success. The favorite tactic at Float On, of course, is giving away free floats and developing relationships with others in the community.
Are Chatbots a Good Idea? – DSP 237
Graham and Derek break down the benefits of chatbots. They discuss the usefulness of popular marketing tools like these and what place they have in brick and mortar businesses like float centers. They might be marginally useful, but there are almost definitely better things to focus on if a float center is having difficulty with marketing.
Should I Copy Marketing Ideas? – DSP 236
There’s so many inspiring and creative float centers out there, many of who keep coming up with ingenious new ways to get the word out for their centers.
What’s the protocol for borrowing marketing ideas like this? How does proximity factor into it?
Graham and Derek break down the nuances of marketing strategies and where to pull from and what to avoid. It’s all about etiquette.
Latest Blog Posts
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #7
As we move further into the desert lands of America, we find that while the temperatures outside are downright unbearable, people seem to fall in love with the warm salty sensation that is float therapy.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #6
San Diego, Palm Desert, and Landers California wrap up our visit of Float Tank Centers in California. We were fortunate to visit old friends, make some new ones, and even go to Float Camp!
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #5
As you may have read in Issue #4 of The Float Tour Blog, we began diving into the Los Angeles area float centers and visited the current largest float center around as well as the freshly opened second location of a long time float center owner.
There were so many to cover that we decided to split this into two blogs. In this issue, we round out our L.A. journey as we begin to head further south toward San Diego.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #4
Los Angeles is a major hub for almost every industry in the world in one way or another. Building on the foundations of Hollywood and their harbor, it’s the 2nd largest city in the United States.
Given its population density, it’s large enough to support almost any industry, which for a burgeoning niche like float tanks is especially beneficial. Also, if you’ve ever experienced rush hour traffic on the I-405, you’ll know this city deserves to float.
