Canada Nesties
Melozia
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
I did it...I am looking at buying a tanning salon franchise!
I need to quit my job. I am tired of working for the gov and I am tired of working for someone else. At the end of the day, I have worked my butt off...all for the benefit of someone else! I missed out on an opportunity to buy a tanning salon a few years ago and have been kicking myself ever since.
Now an opportunity has come u to buy a Tan FX franchise and I am gonna see if it'll work for me. Dallas has crunched the numbers and thinks it's sound money wise. Wish me luck!
Re: I did it...I am looking at buying a tanning salon franchise!
Yeh, I know. That was my concern also. This is a franchise so I will get support from their head office, to help me get going. They have really amazing equipment and some of the only salons in town that offer Mystic Tan (sunless tanning). DH has a few clients who own salons and he was pleasantly surprised at their net incomes. I would be working there full time during the day, unless income allowed that I could hire someone to replace me and I could live a life of leisure! lol
Really? With all the studies that have shown the connections between tanning and skin cancer?
Personally, I couldn't have that type of thing on my conscience.
While I applaud your decision to branch out and work for yourself, I just can't, personally, get on board with the idea of a tanning salon.
We'll just not tell H about this little fact, m'kay?
So you'll be making money off something that could kill people?
And one day when someone has melanoma because of their tanning, who will pay? Yeah, taxpayers.
Baby #2: Surprise BFP 9.19.12, EDD 5.24.13, natural m/c 10.19.13 at 9w
Like any other habit that can cause illness, people must bear personal responsibility for their choices. No one is being forced to tan, and my conscience is clear. Frankly, the idea I like best about the salon is that they offer sunless tanning options and, given that DH and I already derive dividends from an investment in the manufacturing of sunless tanning products I can tell you that it's a booming industry. This business allows me to get my foot in the door and perhaps expand that area of business.
Taxpayers already foot the bill for health care services for people who smoke, drink to excess, and make reckless choices with their personal safety. I don't see this as a referendum on taxpayer obligation to treat illness. Take a look at some of the downright deceitful tactics employed by the alcohol and tobacco industry, scary stuff.
Would you attack a person who owned a coffee/desert shop b/c public funds treat Diabetes? Heck no, you wouldn't!
I agree with Melozia, I personally won't go to a tanning salon (if I am going to absorb UV rays I want to be outside in the sun) and that's my choice. She's not forcing people to come in and utilize her business. Anyone who is going in has to know the risks by now and they're choosing to go ahead anyway. That's not her doing. There's nothing added to the product to make it addictive, people may like how they feel with a tan but that's all vanity and their choice. Also, it's not like your only exposure to UV is at the tanning salon or everyone puts on sunscreen and protective clothing EVERY TIME they go outside.
My opinion is it's a smaller risk/impact then junk food and fast food sales contributing to obesity and the related health risks that come from that.
ETA: Businesses I do judge are the ones with diet pills or fast weight loss secrets (LA weighloss anyone?) or that new vibration exercise, stand on the machine and lose weight without effort. THOSE are misleading and preying on people.Will you give free tanning to all nesties?
I would love to work for myself! Set your own hours, run it your way! Good luck to you if you go ahead with it.
While I can't support your choice of industry, since I work in melanoma research, congrats on your decision to strike out on your own.
Only suggestion I have is to watch your advertising - the vast majority of tanning salon ads contain falsehoods and I foresee lawsuits in the future.
Best of luck!
Sorry, I'm just not going to get on board with the argument "Some other industry/company is even worse, so this isn't that bad."
No, I am not debating what medical services should and shouldn't be funded by public health insurance. Yes, a lot of taxpayer dollars are spent treating lung cancer, alcoholism, obesity, and the like. But that's why so many taxpayer dollars are being spent on prevention programs - anti-smoking education, healthy food and fitness education, etc.
It's becoming harder and harder to be a smoker, resulting in declining incidences of lung cancer. Sure, it's still people's choice to smoke, but I think that making it less available is beneficial to everyone. No one twists anyone's arm to tan, but the more available it is, the easier it is to choose to do it. How are you going to feel when your profits decrease as people (hopefully) continue to make the healthier choice not to tan?
Also, the whole argument that we're exposed to UV rays anyways is just nonsensical. Seriously, that's like, "Well I smell secondhand smoke anyway, so I may as well smoke too!" We can't control everything about our environment but we can make healthy choices as best we can.
I'm sorry, maybe as someone who works in healthcare, I'm just too close to this issue. I've met a lot of cancer patients, and I do a lot of work to figure out how we can better stretch our healthcare dollars. So I just can't get on board with the private sector making money off a tanning bed, and having society, and patients' families, pay later.
Baby #2: Surprise BFP 9.19.12, EDD 5.24.13, natural m/c 10.19.13 at 9w
Okay, there are a few things I have to say about this.
1. I think if you are trying to get Mel to understand your point of view you are going about it the wrong way. Beginning your response with passive agressive sarcasm does not help to prove your point.
2. Do I love tanning salons? Nope. Do I think they should be more upfront about cancer and other risks? Yes. Do I think melanoma of any kind is serious? Of course and I would not wish any form of cancer on anyone.Just as there is education about not smoking, there is education about tanning. I have personally seen at least three presentations from our local health unit about it and have seen many kiosks set up in public places.
3. Saying that she is contributing to taxpayers having to pay more because of melanoma is not a very strong arguement IMO. We have socialized health care, we pay for MANY self-induced health issues. Pregnancy would be one of them. That guy who let his chest congestion go to long and now it has turned into pneumonia? We pay for him too. The woman who was riding her bike and broke her foot? We pay. The kid who wasn't paying attention and gashed his hand with a knife? We pay as well.
Mel, congrats on your business. It is not one that I would choose for myself, but I don't think that is what you were asking about anyway.
Wow, I can't believe so many tried to kill Mel's excitement about starting her own business. She's not trying to get all you guys to go, she's just posting about her excitement over a new business venture. I'm stunned so many people attacked her choice.
Mel, running a business is super hard work, which I'm sure you're aware of. It's probably three times the work for 1/3 the pay. But it's the best thing ever!! I'm really excited for you. If it's an industry you love, and something you really want to succeed at, I have no doubt you'll do awesome. Let me know how it all turns out!
This. Sorry you have had some really rude replies Mel. Congrats on your new venture. I hope that it works out the way you want it to.
I totally and 100% agree with Canadianbio, smooshie and albertabride. I personally don't tan and I have a history of melanoma in my family, but I don't think that Mel is a horrible person at all. I choose not to tan and I am a huge sunblock person. But I don't expect people to abide by my "rules" in this life. If I see a person at the beach or the lake and I see they are burning, I will offer my sunscreen to them, but I am not going to attack them with it if they decline to use mine.
Like, Canadianbio said, I have seen many, many ads this summer on how to protect yourself from the sun. And, I cannot ditto her points about the healthcare/taxpayers enough.
You girls who attacked Mel, seem to have a very "the blood is on her hands" attitude. People make choices everyday that I don't agree with, but I am so not about censoring those choices. Freedom is huge in my book.
However, you are more than entitled to speak you mind and I know that Mel can handle it.
I don't think it's availablity or lack of that makes people more likely to tan / less likely to smoke - I think it's the education about the side effects and people CHOOSING not to do something because they don't want the risk. You can buy cigarettes in every gas station convenience store, I never saw them and went "you know what? I'll buy a pack!"
And I don't see what's nonsensical about we're exposed to UV rays anyway - it's true. We are exposed and people make choices about how much their willing to be exposed to. I love to put on suntan lotion and sit in the sun and read a book. Some people put on sunblock 60, wear hats and longer sleeves and sit in the shade. Some avoid the sun between 12 and 4. Some choose to get a tan faster and sit in a tanning booth. It's still choices people are making about how much exposure they want with what they know the risks are and it has nothing to do with whether or not Melozia buys her business. And if she can make a living off of providing tans with sunless / UV ray free options then you would think you would love that. That would make her business more health care friendly then my choice to sit in the sun on a Saturday afternoon.
And before you say no one is profiting from me, I buy a lot of sunscreen in a year so someone is.
And business profits declining because people make other choices is a risk for ANY business. I'd say she's on the right track to avoid by diversifying into sunless tanning options. Which indicates she's considered the risk, has a plan to mitigate it and finds this to be a profitable opportunity. Actually, there's a lot of different directions she could take this business and I think the possibilities are exciting.
I think this point was TOTALLY missed. I am a bit surprised at some of the responses, to be honest. Some people seem to be on a bit of a soapbox, IMO.
I like to think of myself as an ethical business person. DH and I invest in and sit on the boards of several businesses, many of them making and developing cutting edge products and systems to lessen risk of a variety of everyday activities. One of them for those not paying attention, is SUNLESS TANNING! A system, I might add, that is made up entirely of natural materials, no artificial ingredients, at all!
I don't feel the need to defend myself, mostly because I think that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I would like to point out that just because someone chooses to pursue a business venture that has been linked to an increase danger for illness, doesn't mean that I am some sort of animal with no regard for the safety of others. We own a soil reclamation company that cleans up oil drilling sites, gas station tanks, etc (and does so using NO harmful chemicals) does that mean that we condone, excuse, or support the pillaging of the earth's resources by the oil and gas industry for profit? No way. We saw a business niche and we filled it, and make a very nice profit doing so. I make no apologies for it.
Did I invent tanning beds? No. Do I use them? Yes. Would I prefer to be offered services in a salon that lessen the danger (even if slightly) of using their services? Absolutely! I agree that there are a lot of misleading advertisements and information out there, and it bothers me when I see it. I think that, regardless of the product/service, you should be given a fair and balanced set of facts so you can make up your mind about whether it?s right for you. If this franchise doesn?t allow me to do that, then it?s not the one for me.
Thanks to all who offered their support, it makes me feel good knowing you?re cheering for me. Those that take issue with my decision, I respect what you?ve had to say and actually appreciate your honesty.
I?ll keep you ladies posted!
#1-BFP 08-22-09 ~ M/C 08-31-09 at 5 weeks 6 days
#2-BFP 08-6-11 ~ Due 04/18 ~ born via c-section April 22, 2012
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