Why Tanning & Sunless May Be One of Beauty's Most Underrated Business Opportunities

My First Introduction to Beauty Technology Might Have Been a Tanning Salon

The salon started as a small, family-owned tanning business, and I remember learning the systems that kept everything running — Helios software, T-Max timers, client check-ins, sessions, rooms, memberships, retail, and all the little operational pieces happening behind the scenes.

Eventually, the salon was sold and became an LA Tan franchise location.

And as you can probably imagine, things changed.

New ownership — and becoming part of a larger franchise system — meant new processes, new expectations, and new systems for me to learn.

At the time, I wasn't thinking about any of this as "beauty technology." I was in high school working what I genuinely thought was my dream job.

But looking back now, I realize I was getting an early lesson in something that would eventually become a huge part of my career:

Technology doesn't exist separately from the business. When the business changes, the technology often has to change with it.

I experienced the transition from a small, independently owned tanning salon to a franchise operation before I even knew enough to recognize what I was seeing.

Years later, after building a career at the intersection of beauty, business, and technology — and even becoming a certified spray tan artist along the way — I've found myself looking at this part of the industry very differently.

Because I think tanning, and particularly the sunless side of the industry, may be one of the most overlooked business categories in beauty.

The Tanning Business Has Changed — A Lot

The tanning salon business I remember from high school isn't necessarily the tanning business someone would build today.

Traditional tanning salons are still part of the industry, but the broader category has evolved significantly — particularly when you look at sunless tanning and the different ways someone can build a spray tan business today.

A spray tan business can operate inside an established salon or spa. It can be a dedicated sunless studio. It can operate from a salon suite. It can be mobile. It can become an additional revenue stream for an existing beauty professional. And it can potentially grow from a solo business into something much larger.

That's one of the reasons I find this category so interesting.

The business model can be incredibly flexible.

You don't necessarily need a large team or an enormous menu of services to begin building something. Appointments can be relatively short. Clients may return regularly. There are opportunities for packages, memberships, retail, and add-ons, along with natural demand surrounding weddings, vacations, special events, fitness competitions, photoshoots, and clients who simply prefer maintaining a tan.

When we talk about entrepreneurship and opportunity in the professional beauty industry, I don't think we talk about this category nearly enough.

A Part of My Beauty Background I Don't Talk About Often

Something many people don't know about me is that I'm also a certified spray tan artist.

Learning more about sunless tanning gave me an entirely different appreciation for this part of the beauty industry.

A great spray tan isn't simply spraying a solution onto someone.

There is technique. Product knowledge. Color selection. Client consultation. Preparation. Aftercare. Education. Retail. Rebooking.

And just like every other part of professional beauty, there is an entire client experience happening around the actual service.

• How did the client discover you?
• How easy was it to understand what they should book?
• Could they book online?
• Did they know how to prepare for their appointment?
• Did they complete their waiver or consultation ahead of time?
• Did they receive the right reminders?
• Did they understand their aftercare?
• Were they encouraged to rebook?
• Could they easily purchase the products that would help maintain their results?

That entire journey matters.

And the more I learned about the sunless side of the industry, the more I started noticing something else:

This part of beauty feels underserved.

Not because there aren't incredible tanning businesses, educators, manufacturers, software companies, and industry organizations already serving it.

There absolutely are.

But compared with some other categories within professional beauty, it doesn't always feel like tanning and sunless professionals have the same visibility when it comes to discovering and comparing the business tools and technology available to them.

And that's something I want to explore more through BeautiSoul.

If I Were Starting a Spray Tan Business Today...

I wouldn't start by Googling:

"What's the best spray tan software?"

And I wouldn't immediately start signing up for every new platform or tool I discovered.

I'd start with the business.

That's the same approach I take when helping salon and spa professionals evaluate technology today:

Before I look at the software, I want to understand the business.

• Are you operating a traditional tanning salon, a sunless studio, or both?
• Are you appointment-based, walk-in, or a combination?
• Are you a solo spray tan artist?
• Are you mobile?
• Do you need to manage tanning beds, booths, rooms, or other equipment?
• Will you offer memberships or packages?
• Will retail be an important part of the business?
• Do you need digital waivers?
• How will clients receive preparation and aftercare instructions?
• How will you manage reminders and rebooking?
• What reporting do you need to understand how your business is actually performing?
• And if you're starting as a business of one today, what happens if you eventually add a team or another location?

Those questions matter because the "best" technology for one tanning business could be completely wrong for another.

Tanning Businesses Have Their Own Technology Needs

A tanning business isn't simply another version of a hair salon.

Yes, there is overlap.

Both may need scheduling, client management, payments, marketing, memberships, retail, reporting, and communication.

But tanning businesses can also have very specific operational requirements.

Traditional tanning salons may need to think about room and equipment management, session timing, memberships, walk-in traffic, and integrations with systems such as T-Max.

Sunless businesses may care much more about appointment scheduling, digital waivers, automated preparation instructions, client notes, memberships, packages, rebooking, and mobile capabilities.

A multi-location tanning business may have completely different requirements again.

That's why I don't believe technology decisions should begin with a giant list of features.

They should begin with understanding how the business actually operates.

We've Come a Long Way From Helios and a T-Max Timer

There's something pretty full-circle about researching this category now.

When I think back to that high school tanning salon, I remember Helios and the T-Max timer because those were simply the tools we used to do our jobs.

I wasn't evaluating the user experience.

I wasn't thinking about integrations.

I wasn't analyzing the customer journey.

I definitely wasn't asking whether the technology supported the long-term business strategy.

I just learned the system and used it.

Then the business changed ownership, became part of a franchise, the operation changed, and I had new systems to learn.

Years later, I can appreciate how significant that experience actually was.

• Because businesses change.
• Ownership changes.
• Business models evolve.
• Client expectations change.
• Teams grow.
• New revenue streams emerge.

And sometimes the technology that made perfect sense during one stage of a business isn't what makes sense for the next.

That's true for hair salons.

It's true for spas.

It's true for independent beauty professionals.

And it's absolutely true for tanning and sunless businesses.

The Spray Tan Business Opportunity Deserves More Attention

I'm particularly fascinated by the sunless side of this industry because of the different ways someone can enter it.

For someone already working in beauty, spray tanning can potentially become an additional service and revenue stream.

For someone interested in entrepreneurship, it can provide a path into the beauty industry without necessarily following the traditional route of opening a full-service salon.

For an established tanning business, sunless can become another part of a broader service and membership strategy.

And for someone starting independently, there can be flexibility in how the business is structured and how it grows.

But opportunity doesn't automatically equal a successful business.

You still need to understand pricing, client acquisition, retention, rebooking, utilization, product costs, retail, marketing, technology expenses, payment processing, overhead — and ultimately whether the numbers actually work.

That's another conversation I think the beauty industry needs more of.

It's easy to get excited about a new service or business idea.

It's much more important to understand the business behind it.

There's an Entire Tanning Technology Ecosystem Worth Exploring

The more I look at tanning and sunless businesses now, the more I realize how much there is to explore.

Software. Equipment. Booking platforms. Timers and equipment integrations. Point-of-sale systems. Membership management. Payments. Waivers and forms. Marketing. Automated client communication. Retail. Education. Business resources.

And increasingly, the modern technology and automation that can help owners operate more efficiently.

That's an entire beauty technology ecosystem.

And I don't think it gets enough attention.

Part of why I created BeautiSoul was to make it easier for beauty professionals to discover what's available, understand what matters, ask better questions, and make more confident decisions about the technology supporting their businesses.

And that shouldn't stop with traditional hair salons and spas.

The beauty industry is much bigger than that.

Because if there's one thing I've learned since my days of Helios and the T-Max timer, it's this:

The technology has changed. The business models have changed. The opportunities have changed.

And this corner of the beauty industry deserves a much bigger place in the conversation.