Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Graham takes the helm again without any co-captain to steer the SS Daily Solutions through the rugged storms of float industry questions.
Today he answers a question about when the best time of year to open your float center. The important thing to remember is that, whenever you choose, you should plan for even earlier, as float centers are more likely to get delayed in construction.
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: All right. Hello, once again. My name is Graham and I am the only one here. Start to get a little stir crazy after a while when you’re the only one in the studio answering questions about float tanks. I don’t know if that’s a documented neurosis or something, but it should be. Anyway, we have another question today for me from you and it is, “is there a best time of year to open up a float tank center, either a best season or a best month?”
Yeah, I think there is, I think there is a pretty acceptably good time of year in general to open up. We, when we were opening Float On, we actually opened October 17, and I think that that’s pretty darn near perfect, and we just kind of lucked into it. That wasn’t pre-planning on our part or anything like that. But especially for here in Portland, but largely everywhere, you’ll see a general attendance dip in the summer, universally referred to as the summer slump. And even in places that are kind of hot year round, you’ll see a little bit of a dip, especially in June and again in September, maybe not as much during the main hot months of the summer. But for places that have hard winters or just long winters, when it starts to get sunny outside, attendance in flat tank centers just kind of naturally drops off. I think a lot of people want to be outside on trails or out on lakes or rivers or oceans and not in a building in a room in a box inside their own head, literally the most inside that you could possibly be.
So summer tends to be a big drop off, and similarly and very predictably winter and specifically December is a really strong time of year. So December, for a lot of the float tank centers that I talk to tends to double their general sales for a month. And certainly the case with Float On. And that’s pretty much all in gift cards. So we’ll do the normal volume of sales in a month just in gift cards in December in addition to all the other floats that we’re running. So December is always just a huge month for us. So, that kind of sets the parameters for what we’re looking for for an open date is stay the heck away from the harsh summer months.
Our first summer felt like the first winter over here from the Pilgrims. Just like, man, if we can survive this first harsh summer, we’ll make it through. So, yeah, avoid the harsh summer and open in time to take advantage of the kind of influx of December gift card sales. So, yeah, for us here in Portland, the kind of summer heat winds down late September going into October, and of course December is always in December, so opening some time in that October/November range, at least for the Portland area is ideal. And for most places, too, sometime in there. September, October, November, I would say that’s really the best time of year to open if you can.
And the problem with that that we keep seeing is that construction tends to run over when you’re opening a float tank center. So if your goal is to open in October/November, it’s just a really common story for the contractors run late, they miss an inspection, whatever happened and now that October/November opening got pushed back to December/January, which then got pushed back to January/February, and all of the sudden you’re opening in the beginning of the new year. You’ve kind of missed some of the winter sales and now it’s the longest time period that you’ll have between when you open and the next December will roll around. So as far as actually opening your doors and doing business, certainly getting open October/November is the ideal, but nowadays, I kind of recommend people plan on opening for more like maybe June/July, and when things almost inevitable do run long, you kind of accidentally end up opening in the best time of year anyway. And if you open during the light times of month, treat it like a soft opening. You might not bring in as much immediate revenue as if you had opened straight on the ground running right into the fall months, but again, way better to kind of plan on opening a little earlier in the summer months, and then stagger your way into December, then planning on opening close to December and missing it altogether.
I think, I was just trying to think if there was anything else. I think that’s pretty much all I have to say about the best time of year to open. Def let me know if the trend is different where you are. Certainly places that have hotter summers or hotter winters in addition to hot summers tend to see less of that summer dip, but almost everywhere that I talk to, there still seems to be some kind of decline that happens especially around June and September, so if you can avoid that, all the better.
And yeah, if I’m totally wrong, go to floattanksolutions.com/podcast and let me know all about how things work differently where you are and we will talk to you tomorrow, hopefully with Ashkahn hot in tow. All right, is that even an expression? Hot in tow? I started saying that and I was like, I don’t even know if that’s a thing. Obviously I need Ashkahn around, it will be good having him back and good having you back listening to us tomorrow. All right. All right. For reals this time. Bye everyone.
Recent Podcast Episodes
What’s a Reasonable Amount to Spend on Facebook Ads? – DSP 194
Welcome back to Social Media Week!
After talking so much about the fundamentals of social media and its impact on float center marketing, we’re finally able to answer some of the more complex questions that float centers ask. If you haven’t listened to the rest of the Social Media posts from this week, it is strongly recommended you check those out first.
In this episode, Derek provides practical advice for how much to spend on ads for your center, and while each location is going to be different, there are some tried and true tips to follow to help each center find their ideal advertising system.
Choosing Facebook Ad Options for Float Centers – DSP 193
Today on Social Media week, Derek educates Ashkahn and Graham on what exactly it’s like placing an ad on Facebook.
Facebook, as well as other social media sites, provide a cornucopia of options for targeting your ad based on employment, interests, age range, and lots of others. For float centers, this can become fairly confusing, especially since floating doesn’t have demographics in the traditional sense.
Derek clears things up and explains to Graham, Ashkahn, and the rest of the float community, exactly why these options exist and what might work for a specific center.
What the Hell is Facebook Pixel? – DSP 192
Welcome back to Social Media Week!
A Pixel is a tool used when creating an ad account that allows you to create target audiences for your ads. How you use it and what to use it on are more complicated answers though.
Fortunately, Graham and Ashkahn have Derek to use as a resource and they have him break down how best to utilize target audiences and how to get the best bang for your buck.
Can you Cross Post to Different Social Media Platforms? – DSP 191
Today on Social Media Week, Ashkahn and Graham pick Derek’s brain about how to get content for several different social media platforms.
Derek shares his tips for how best to broaden your reach with your social media and not fatigue your audience with the same content on multiple platforms. He also shares what type of content works well on different platforms.
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.
Latest Blog Posts
Finding Funding for Your Float Tank Center
Starting a float center isn’t an inexpensive business opportunity. Depending on the type of float tanks you choose, size of your retail space among other factors, a center can cost between $65-100k per room to fully set up. While centers have started for less money up front, the cost of frequent repairs from salt damage and cutting corners during construction will cost more money in the long run.
Water Hardness in a Float Tank
What is water hardness? Water hardness is, at its most basic, the presence of certain minerals in water. Historically, water hardness was a measure of water’s ability to form lather during laundering. Harder water, due to it’s high calcium/magnesium content, would...
A Blogging Experiment Brought to You By…
At Float Tank Solutions, we're always playing around with different ways to provide benefits to everyone. We've gone a long time actively turning down sponsorship money, to ensure that we stay a source of (as much as is humanly possible) impartial information for...
How To Keep Empty Tanks Warm
The goal of any float center is to never have an empty tank. However, reality says that there will be slow times of the year, last minute cancelations, and unexplained openings in the schedule that will require you to maintain the temperature of an empty tank until...
