Thinking of buying equipment for your Salon and not sure how to got about it? I’ve been buying equipment for more than 18 years now, and have purchased just about everything you can think of including Lasers, IPL machines, RF, HIFU, HIFEM, Microneedling, RF Microneedling, Plasma, Fat Freeze, Cavitation and more. I’ve certainly made some expensive mistakes over the years, but now run a chain of highly profitable successful Salons, as well as providing training courses in some of these technologies. So I’ve written this guide to help you ask the right questions when considering your next big purchase. Avoid my costly mistakes, and don’t part with your hard earned money until you’ve read this!
Question 1: What’s the price and monthly cost – sounds obvious but hear me out!
The overall purchase price is important but it’s more important to find out what the machine will cost you on a monthly basis. This means you can work out a cost per month over a number of years. (This will be dictated by the repayment costs if you’ve taken out finance). It’s sensible to work out this cost over 3-5 years. That’s because it’s safe to say that most machines will still be relevant, working and making you money in 5 years time.
The monthly cost is a crucial figure because this determines what you need to earn per month with the machine to make a profit and make it worth your while. So if a machine costs you £500 per month (including any consumables) then you know this is the break even figure. If you’re never going to earn more than £500 per month from the treatments then it’s not worth buying!
Question 2: What are the consumable costs?
By consumables I mean all the extra things you use when you carry out the treatment with the equipment. So that might be needles for a Microneedling machine. Needles tend to be single use items – so you need to know how much the needles are, and factor this in, as you’d need a new one for every treatment.
Some machines use very little consumables while others have very expensive single use consumables. You might also need gels, creams, gloves, spatulas etc etc.
For lasers you need to consider how much it costs to replace the lamp or light source. You won’t replace this for every treatment, but I will need replacing at some point when the energy runs out.
For some lasers or IPL machines you’ll just replace the flash lamp (like a light bulb), whereas for others you’ll replace the whole handpiece. This could be anything from £600 – £15,000 or more! You should be able to break this down to pence per flash/shot of light.
Question 3: After the training if you need more help how will they help you? (And what does it cost to train another therapist)
I’ve often found over the years that the training you receive from equipment suppliers will get you going. However we all know that until you start to use a piece of equipment daily you come across things you would never have known to ask.
So can you call them and get more help? Can you get extra training or speak to someone directly? It’s much better if you feel you are supported.
Also if you train a therapist and they leave, how much does it cost to train another therapist – you should be prepared for this. If you employ staff then it’s likely to happen at some point. (You might want to protect yourself with a training indemnity form which you can get your staff to sign)
Question 4: What’s the most likely thing to go wrong with the machine – and is it covered by a warranty?
Try to find out what the weakness of the machine is – what’s most likely to go wrong with it. And how much will that cost if you have to fix or replace it. Would that fault be covered by a warranty? If the warranty only lasts for 12 months – can you take out a longer warranty and how much does that cost?
If you know in advance the worst case scenario then you won’t be getting any shocks later down the line.
Question 5: Does the supplier have a policy on exclusivity within a certain radius?
I’m not quite so concerned with this any more since my businesses are very established. However I know Salon owners get very annoyed when they feel like a supplier has not been honest – especially if they see a rival has been sold the same equipment just 1 mile down the road.
If this concerns you – make sure you ask the question and also ask for it to be put in writing.
So there you have my top 5 questions to ask when considering purchasing your next piece of equipment for your Salon, Spa or Clinic. I hope this helps!
If you have any more questions then please feel free to email me here: rachael@comeandcopyme.co.uk