A tanning salon can be profitable, but nobody can tell you in advance whether yours will be: it depends on how many sessions each bed sells, the price customers really pay, and a few costs that are specific to UV. This guide gives you the method to work it out, with a worked example to replace with your own figures.
There is no reliable public benchmark for Belgian solariums, so we quote no market averages. Every number below is an illustration. Your lease, your energy contract and your prices are what count.
How much does a tanning salon earn per bed?
Revenue starts with one figure: sessions per bed per day. Multiply it by the number of beds and by the days you open, and you have the sessions sold in a month. Then multiply by the price a customer really pays per session, not the one on the price list: most sessions go through packages, prepaid wallets and gift cards, each with its own discount.
Packages and prepaid wallets lower the real price
A top-up with a bonus is a common offer in Belgian salons: the customer pays 100 euros and gets, say, 115 euros of credit. Every session paid with that credit is sold about 13 % below the price list. A ten-session package sold for the price of eight does the same, at 20 %.
These offers bring cash in early and keep customers coming back. Count them for what they are, discounts: your average price is your session revenue divided by the sessions actually given, all channels together.
Count without VAT
In Belgium a UV session carries 21 % VAT. The price on your board includes it, your revenue does not: a session sold 15 euros VAT included brings the salon 12.40 euros. How top-ups and gift cards are taxed is a point to settle with your accountant.
Add the margin on products
Creams, goggles and accessories add margin, not just turnover: count what you sell them for minus what you paid for them.
What costs does a solarium have?
Costs split into those that grow with each session and those you pay even when the beds stand still.
- Energy. A bed draws a lot of power while its lamps burn. As an indication, the catalogue values in Solaryx put Ergoline models between 3.5 and 21.5 kW and megaSun models between 8.25 and 15 kW of connected power. Multiply the power by the hours of UV and by the price per kWh on your own bill.
- Lamps. UV lamps wear with the hours they burn and are replaced as a set. Divide the price of a set by the lifetime your lamp supplier states, and you have a cost per hour of UV.
- Maintenance and hygiene. Beds must be disinfected at least once a day, goggles disinfected before they are used again, and each cabin supplied with suitable cleaning products.
- Staff. A salon needs a reception person trained according to the rules of its Community. Even an automated centre needs that person present at least four days a week, one hour a day. If you staff the desk yourself, count your own hours too.
- Rent, insurance and the accountant. Fixed every month, whatever the occupancy.
- The beds themselves. Bought, leased or financed, spread their cost over the months you expect to use them.
- Software and payments. Booking, till, card terminal and transaction fees.
- Training. A one-off cost for each reception person, for the course recognised in your region.
A worked example (an illustration, not an average)
Say a salon has four beds, opens 26 days a month and gives six sessions per bed per day, each with 15 minutes of UV. The average price actually collected, once packages and top-up bonuses are counted, is 15 euros VAT included. These are round numbers chosen to show the method: replace every one of them with yours.
| Per month, excluding VAT | Euros |
|---|---|
| Sessions: 624 at 12.40 euros | 7,736 |
| Product margin: 1,000 sold, 500 bought | 500 |
| Available to cover the costs | 8,236 |
| Rent and charges | 1,500 |
| Bed energy: 156 hours of UV, 10 kW, plus 10 % for ballasts and fans, at 0.30 euro per kWh | 515 |
| Lamps: a set at 1,200 euros lasting 1,000 hours, so 1.20 euros per hour of UV | 187 |
| Maintenance and hygiene | 200 |
| Staff, or the value of your own hours | 3,000 |
| Beds, purchase or lease spread per month | 800 |
| Software and card terminal, setup spread over four years | 218 |
| Insurance and accountant | 300 |
| Total costs | 6,720 |
| Result before tax | 1,516 |
The software line uses our own published prices (Solaryx is our product): 100 euros a month for one to four beds, the card terminal at 35 euros a month and the 4,000 euros setup spread over four years, all excluding VAT. Use your own quote if you run something else.
The number to know: your break-even point
The useful figure is not the 1,516 euros, it is the break-even point. Each session brings in 12.40 euros and costs about 1.13 euros in energy and lamps, so it leaves about 11.27 euros. The fixed costs left once the product margin is deducted come to about 5,520 euros. Divide one by the other: around 490 sessions a month, or 4.7 sessions per bed per day. Below that, this salon loses money every month: that is the number to work out for yours.
Occupancy, the hours your beds are busy against the hours you are open, puts it in perspective. If a session holds the bed about 25 minutes from one customer to the next, six sessions use 150 minutes of a 10-hour day: 25 % occupancy. The margin is made in the busy hours, and the room to grow sits in the quiet ones.
What eats a solarium's margin?
Free minutes on manual timers
When staff start beds on a timer at the desk, a minute or two is often added, as a favour or by habit. In the example, two extra minutes per 15-minute session add up to about 21 hours of UV a month: close to 95 euros of energy and lamp wear given away. A system that starts and stops the bed for the exact time sold closes that leak.
No-shows
A booked slot that stays empty in a busy hour is a whole session lost, about 11 euros of margin in the example, and often a customer turned away earlier. Deposits on bookings and a record of who does not come keep it under control.
Packages and credit nobody tracks
A package kept on a paper card leaks both ways: sessions given without being deducted, or customers disputing what they have left. Bonuses stacked on top of promotions can also push the real price below what a session costs you. You only see it if every session is deducted from the right balance.
Idle beds
A bed standing still still costs its rent, its financing and its share of the staff. If your quiet hours are always the same, price them differently: the royal decree of 2002 regulates the safety of sessions, not discounts.
How can software help a salon's profitability?
Software does not make a salon profitable. It shows the figures above without a spreadsheet, and it closes some of the leaks. In Solaryx, built for Belgian tanning salons:
- The beds are started and stopped through a relay box for the time sold, so no minutes are given away and every session is recorded.
- Packages, prepaid wallets and gift cards are deducted at the till, so the average price per session is known, not guessed.
- The occupancy report sets the hours sold against the hours open, day by day over any period.
- The energy report costs every session from the bed's power and your price per kWh, and shows what a running minute costs on each bed.
- The revenue report splits sales by VAT rate, ready for your accountant.
Whatever tool you use, the method stays the same: sessions per bed, real price, cost per session, fixed costs, break-even.
See the reports Solaryx gives a salon owner
See how Solaryx starts and stops the beds
Check the Solaryx prices for your number of beds
Frequently asked questions
How many sessions a day does a tanning bed need to be profitable?
It depends on your fixed costs and your real price per session. Divide your monthly fixed costs by what one session leaves after energy and lamps, then by the number of beds and opening days. The illustration in this guide gives about five sessions per bed per day; your figure will differ.
How much electricity does a tanning bed use per session?
Multiply the bed's power by the time its lamps burn. A 10 kW bed running 15 minutes uses 2.5 kWh for its lamps, plus a little for ballasts and fans. Check the rating of your own model and the price per kWh on your bill.
Are top-up bonuses worth it?
They bring cash in early and keep customers loyal, but each bonus is a discount on every session it pays for. Count it in your average price, and check that a session paid with bonus credit still covers its energy and lamps.