Stepping into 2020, we know there are hundreds of entrepreneurs looking forward to the opportunity to finally create their own float centers – the floatation community is full of famously passionate individuals with big dreams. This year, we wanna bring back something that has helped make some of those dreams a reality: Our Start-a-Center Giveaway!
We first did this in 2014 and three years later in 2017. Even just doing twice before, we’ve given out thousands of dollars of product to hundreds of people. Following with tradition, three years since our last giveaway, we’re opening it up again!
Registration takes only 30 seconds!
We’ll send you instructions from there so you can share your unique vision for your float center. Whether you want to open a futuristic float spa that compliments your massage practice or you wanna create an off-the-grid relaxation retreat to provide a mindfulness experience out of time – it’s up to you, and we want to hear about it.
Win $13,905 in FTS Materials
plus thousands of dollars in other salty, floaty prizes
The winner will receive:
Construction Package ($4400)
Attendance for Two to our In-Person Apprenticeship ($3595)
Complete Float Business Package ($2170)
8 Hours of Dedicated Consulting Time ($2400)
Access to the Online Float Apprenticeship ($970)
From Float Tank Solutions
PLUS
Marketing Consulting from Maximum Floats ($4000)
2 Tickets to the Float Conference & Workshop ($2270)
4 days of Theta State Agency’s Float Center Sitting Service ($1800)
10 Float Halos from Float Ease ($290)
Initial Supply of Organic Body Wash & Organic Castile Soap from Iron Lion Soap ($200)
10 Copies of The Float Tank Cure by Shane Stott ($146.50)
Each Book Released Through Coincidence Control Publishing (~$133)
Everyone who enters a submission will receive:
$1000 off our Float Center Construction Packet, and
2 free months of HelmBot software use (for new Helms)
Tell us what you think is amazing about your future center. Don’t hold anything back!
If you have questions about the giveaway (or anything else), don’t hesitate to reach out. We look forward to reading your submissions!
The Construction Secret to Soundproofing: Storage Between Float Rooms
If you’ve ever taken a look at our construction materials or gotten advice on soundproofing, you’ve probably heard of the importance of including “air gaps” when building out your center. What that means and why it helps can be a bit of a technical question, and the practical implementation can seem daunting and unreasonable.
Float Conference 2017 Recap
Now that the salt has settled, I’m sharing some thoughts from “The Great Gathering of People Who Really Love Being Alone Sometimes in a Dark, Briny Room,” also known as The Float Conference.
The conference has always been an amazing opportunity to connect with the pulse of the broader float industry and, if this year’s gathering showed us anything, it’s that our collective heartbeat is as strong as ever.
2017 Float Conference Program Introduction
Every year, I have the great pleasure of writing the introduction for the Float Conference program, and every year we share it on our blog so that members of the industry who weren’t able to make the journey out to Portland are able to check it out. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
From all of us at Float Tank Solutions, where our time is measured as the space between two conferences, thank you again for a wonderful year!
– Graham Talley
What? Another Product Announcement? The New and Improved About Float Tanks Guide!
We’ve learned a lot since then, so has the industry and the rest of the world. Floating is no longer considered some obscure practice. The industry has become very well established the world over and is continuing to grow. As such, the About Float Tanks Guide in particular desperately needed updating.
There has been new research, new standards in manufacturing, and as an industry, we have a much better understanding of all things float tank.
Download the latest version today!
Announcing: The 2017 Float Tank Industry Report
In 2014 we started gathering answers to a survey that would eventually become the very first State of the Float Industry Report. We've released one every year since, and this year we (once again) have the most contributions that we've ever had. In total, 193 existing...
Working with a Landlord
If you’re planning on opening up a float center, it’s likely that you’ll end up renting and, therefore, working closely with a landlord. Like any business relationship, it takes communication, discernment, and openness to make a renter-landlord relationship feel truly comfortable.
Everyone involved is taking a risk and the reality is that, when it comes to floating, it’s probably more risk than your average small business – craft shop, bar, hair salon, law office, what-have-you.
This piece also includes a free download – a compilation of support letters from float center landlords!
Employees vs. Independent Contractors. Which is better when offering additional services?
Part of what makes all of this so confusing is there isn’t a one-size-fits-all set of actions that differentiates a standard employee from an independent contractor. Your State regulators, the federal Department of Labor, and the IRS all have their own criteria for what constitutes an “independent contractor”. Here, we’ll just be using the IRS definitions as a sort of jumping off point to the issue. If the status of employees is ever challenged, the IRS determines the status on a case-by-case basis over several criteria by a panel of judges, very similar to American Idol.
Basically it comes down to who is in control of the work. How much control does the company have over the type of job being done vs. how much control does the person providing the service. This manifests in different ways, but to fit the definition of an independent contractor, a service provider really does have to be independent. Beyond just using this guide, you should always consult an HR lawyer if you feel like there’s any confusion or ambiguity.
Basically, the rules fall into three main categories…
I’ll Give you a Float Tuesday for a Massage Today: Floating & Bartering
Whoever said that you can’t get something for Nothing obviously never ran a float center. At Float On, we’ve used bartering as a creative means to meet a wide range of goals and needs. Even as I’m writing this, I’m sipping on coffee that we traded from a shop across...
Financing Your Float Center with Investors
In addition to an increase in bank loans, more and more float centers have been using investors in recent years to finance their operations. Every center’s earning potential varies greatly — but a well-run center with no surprise buildout costs (or re-buildout costs) can do very well for itself.
As a result, people with means (or general interest) are increasingly likely to consider having a financial stake in the float industry without the glorious headache of actually running a shop.
Float Conference Interview
In the midst of all of our blog writing and party planning, I sat down with Ashkahn Jahromi, cofounder of The Float Conference, Float On, and Float Tank Solutions with a few questions about the upcoming Float Conference aka #FloatCon for you social media savvy kids in Twitterland.