Start a Palm Beach Tan Franchise in 2024

2024 Franchise 500 Rank: #53 Ranked #76 last year

Initial investment: $639K - $1M

Units as of 2024: 658 22.5% over 3 years

Palm Beach Tan is a chain of indoor tanning salons based in Coppell, Texas that was founded in 1990. Palm Beach Tan has been franchising since 1998. Today, it's one of the largest indoor tanning companies in the United States, with over 500 locations under Palm Beach Tan, Palm Beach Tan Sunless, and Planet Tan brands.

Why You May Want to Open a Palm Beach Tan Franchise

Palm Beach Tan has over 30 years of experience and is an indoor tanning service that reaches several of the nation's most competitive markets. When you join Palm Beach Tan, you may be joining a business with a strong brand identity and proven retail businesses in more than 500 salons, over 300 of which are franchised locations.

Palm Beach Tan salon locations offer both sunbed and sunless tanning services, while also selling tanning and skincare products. They offer different membership packages for clients, which also comes with a rewards program for loyalty. As a result, they may enjoy a track record of retaining a majority of their clients. The membership fee varies due to additional service options your clients can add. As a franchisee, this may create recurring revenue and help to make your business more lucrative.

What Might Make a Palm Beach Tan a Good Choice?

Palm Beach Tan has connections with third-party sources that offer financing to cover franchise fees, startup costs, equipment, inventory, and accounts receivable for new franchisees. In addition, franchisees can open additional units after the first salon has become operational. In general, Palm Beach Tan usually encourages franchisees to grow and expand their business.

Franchisees may purchase locations for a ten-year term, and the lease is renewable if you and the brand want to continue running business together. Palm Beach Tan's business platform offers competitive support to clients and franchisees.

Before making any financial commitment or signing an agreement, you must perform your due diligence and establish if this is the right opportunity for you. To help determine if this is best for you, it may be a good idea to speak to existing franchisees and ask the Palm Beach Tan team questions.

If you already have an existing salon business that you want to convert to Palm Beach Tan, it's likely possible. You might need to contact the company's support team, but there is a good chance that you'll be on your way to running your existing salon as a Palm Beach Tan franchise.

How To Start a Palm Beach Tan Franchise

To begin your franchising journey with Palm Beach Tan, you will first need to submit an inquiry form. If the brand finds you to be a good fit, you may be contacted by a Palm Beach Tan franchise representative. At this point, you may be offered a chance to look at the Franchise Disclosure Document and determine if opening a Palm Beach Tan is the opportunity you wish to pursue. If all goes well and both sides decide to move forward with the opportunity, you may be the newest franchisee of a Palm Beach Tan salon.

Company Overview

About Palm Beach Tan

Industry	Personal-Care Businesses
Related Categories	Tanning, Miscellaneous Personal-Care Businesses, Salon & Spa Services
Founded	1990
Parent Company	Palm Beach Tan Inc.
Leadership	Diane Lucas, President & CEO
Corporate Address	6321 Campus Circle Dr. E. Irving, TX 75063
Social	Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

Business Overview

Franchising Since	2001 (23 years)
# of employees at HQ	50
Where seeking	This company is offering new franchises throughout the US.
# of Units	658 (as of 2024)

Information for Franchisees

Here's what you need to know if you're interested in opening a Palm Beach Tan franchise.

Financial Requirements & Ongoing Fees

Here's what you can expect to spend to start the business and what ongoing fees the franchisor charges throughout the life of the business.

Initial Franchise Fee Definition: The initial fee paid to a franchisor to join their system What you need to know: Found in Item 5 of the FDD, this may be a flat fee, or may vary based on territory size, experience, or other factors.The franchise fee is an up-front (one-time) cost that a new franchisee pays to the franchisor. This fee is usually due at the signing of the franchise agreement and covers the right to use the franchisor's trademarks, name, and related business systems.	$30,000
Initial Investment Definition: The total amount necessary to begin operation of the franchise What you need to know: The initial investment includes the franchise fee, along with other startup expenses such as real estate, equipment, supplies, business licenses, and working capital. This is outlined in a chart in Item 7 of the FDD, showing a range of possible costs from low to high.	$639,036 - $1,030,970
Net Worth Requirement Definition: The minimum net worth you must have in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company What you need to know: Net worth is the value of a person's assets minus liabilities. Assets include cash, stocks, retirement accounts, and real estate. Liabilities include items like mortgages, car payments, and credit card debt.	$500,000
Cash Requirement Definition: The minimum liquid capital you must have available in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company.	$250,000
Royalty Fee Definition: A ongoing fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis. What you need to know: Most franchisors require franchisees to pay an ongoing royalty fee, which is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD. This fee is typically a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales, but may also be a flat weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	4%-6%
Ad Royalty Fee Definition: An going fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis to support advertising or marketing efforts. What you need to know: This may also be called advertising fee, marketing fee, brand fund fee, and more, but the basic purpose is the same-- to support promotion of the brand systemwide. As with the royalty fee, it is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD, and can be a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales or a weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	5.5%
Term of Agreement Definition: The length of time your franchise agreement will last. What you need to know: Franchise terms are typically anywhere from 5 to 20 years in length, but are sometimes instead dependent on factors such as the term of your lease. Once your term is up, you may have the option to renew your agreement, typically for a smaller fee than the original franchise fee.	10 years
Is franchise term renewable?	Yes

Financing Options

Some franchisors offer in-house financing, while others have relationships with third-party financing sources to which they refer qualified franchisees.

Third Party Financing	Palm Beach Tan has relationships with third-party sources which offer financing to cover the following: franchise fee, startup costs, equipment, inventory, accounts receivable, payroll

Training & Support Offered

Franchisors offer initial training programs and a variety of ongoing support options to help franchisees run their businesses.

On-The-Job Training	120 hours
Classroom Training	57.5 hours
Ongoing Support	Purchasing Co-ops Newsletter Meetings & Conventions Grand Opening Lease Negotiation Field Operations Site Selection Proprietary Software Franchisee Intranet Platform
Marketing Support	Co-op Advertising Ad Templates National Media Regional Advertising Social Media SEO Website Development Email Marketing Loyalty Program/App

Operations

Additional details about running this franchise.

Is absentee ownership allowed?	No
Can this franchise be run from home/mobile unit? Definition: The business can be run from your home and/or a vehicle, and it is not necessary to have a retail facility, office space, or warehouse.	No
Can this franchise be run part time? Definition: This business can be run by the owner on a part-time basis (less than 40 hours per week) and/or as a side business; it is not necessary for the business to be open/run full-time.	No
# of employees required to run	3-5
Are exclusive territories available? Definition: An exclusive territory is a fixed area in which you are given the right to operate and in which no other units of the same franchise may be opened. What you need to know: Territory size may be based on factors such as radius, population size, zip codes, and more. Details can be found in Item 12 of the FDD.	Yes