Читать книгу Start & Run a Tattoo and Body Piercing Studio - Kurtis Mueller - Страница 6

The first step to finding a good location is to research the market. Obtain population statistics from the city you are considering — all the research has been done by the government so all you have to do is access it. It is a general rule of thumb that you should have at least 20,000 residents per studio, so in a city of 100,000 five studios would be okay, but any more studios would mean less money is made by the existing studios, or somebody will go out of business. This, of course, is a general number and can fluctuate, but the fluctuation happens mostly in tourist towns where it is not unusual to find two or three studios per 20,000 residents. Another situation in which more studios can exist is in university and college towns where huge population jumps occur; also note this segment of the population is a main demographic for tattoo and piercing studios.

If you are planning on opening in an area that has more than one studio per 20,000 residents, you will want to make sure that your studio is going to offer something different than the others. Can you fill a niche market? If you are already a tattooist or a piercer, do you have enough clients willing to follow you to your new studio? If you feel that you do have enough clients, take the total number of clients you tattoo or pierce and subtract approximately 25 percent from this number because this percentage of clients will stay with the current studio as opposed to following the artist to a new location.

Visit all the studios in the area, or as many as you can before opening. This will give you great insight into what is offered by the other studios. Deciding what type of studio to open in terms of design and the clients desired may depend on what is offered or not offered by other studios. The popularity of tattoo and piercing studios has been steadily climbing for the last 20 years with women being the highest contributors to this number. About six years ago the tattoo and piercing industry was in the top ten fastest growing industries and it is still continuing to expand and grow.

Research the city in which you wish to be located and its demographics. If there is a high population of seniors, you might want to make sure that you will have enough business from your target market as seniors do not generally frequent tattoo and piercing studios. Also, if you are locating in a tourist town, consider what type of tourism exists. For example, is it seasonal? If so, will you be able to make enough money to make it through the “dead” season? Almost all landlords, even in tourist locations, will not rent for only the summer or busy months; the lease on the building will be applied for a year or more.

State and provincial governments offer excellent statistics on spending patterns of the residents in certain areas as well as demographics and population trends, which is very useful information when you are considering a location for your studio. Since tattooing and piercing are not necessities and are considered luxury items, researching the disposable income in the area is very beneficial. Get as many statistics as you can because this will remove some of the guesswork for forecasting revenue and expenses.