4 Ways to Maximize Your Time as a Spray Tan Business Owner During "Slow Season"
Slow season hits different when you run your own business. The appointments dry up. Your calendar looks depressing. You start second-guessing everything and wondering if you should've just kept your 9-to-5.
But here's the truth: slow season isn't a failure. It's a reset. And if you use it right, it's the difference between surviving and actually building something that lasts.
Most spray tan artists panic during slow months and either drop their prices to desperately fill the books or just sit around waiting for things to pick back up. Both options are a waste.
Here's what you should be doing instead.
1. Audit Your Business Like You're About to Sell It
Slow season is when you have time to look at your business honestly. Not in the middle of back-to-back appointments when you're too tired to think. Now. When it's quiet.
Pull your numbers. Not just revenue—everything. How many clients came through last month? How many were new versus returning? What's your average ticket price? How much are you spending on products, marketing, rent?
Then ask yourself the hard questions:
Are you profitable, or are you just busy?
Are you attracting the clients you actually want, or are you taking whoever books?
Is your pricing sustainable, or are you undercharging because you're afraid to lose people?
What's working in your business, and what's been dead weight for months?
This isn't about beating yourself up. It's about getting clear on what needs to change so you're not stuck in the same cycle next year.
If you don't know your numbers, you don't know your business. Slow season is when you figure that out.
2. Invest in Your Skills (Not Just Your Feed)
When business slows down, most artists default to posting more on Instagram. More reels. More before-and-afters. More "book now" captions.
And yeah, content matters. But if your technique, your client experience, or your product knowledge isn't tight, no amount of posting is going to save you.
Use this time to actually get better at what you do:
Take a training course on tanning deeper skin tones (if you've been avoiding it, now's the time)
Learn contouring techniques that go beyond the basics
Test new products and document what works and what doesn't
Practice on models so you can refine your process without the pressure of a paying client watching
The spray tan artists who thrive aren't the ones with the most followers. They're the ones who are so good that clients don't care about the price or the drive. They just want you.
Slow season is when you become that artist.
3. Build Systems That Make Busy Season Easier
When you're slammed with appointments, you don't have time to think about systems. You're just trying to survive the day. But that's exactly why slow season matters—it's when you build the infrastructure that keeps you sane when things pick back up.
Here's what to focus on:
Automate your booking and reminders.
If you're still manually confirming appointments and sending reminder texts, you're wasting time you'll never get back. Set up a booking system that handles this for you.
Create templates for everything.
Client intake forms. Aftercare instructions. DM responses to FAQs. Social media captions. The more you can templatize now, the less you have to think later.
Prep your content in batches.
Slow season is when you shoot a month's worth of content in a weekend. Take your before-and-afters. Film your process. Write captions. Schedule it all. So when busy season hits, you're not scrambling to post between clients.
Refine your client experience.
What happens from the moment someone books to the moment they leave? Is it smooth? Is it memorable? Or is it chaotic and stressful? Map it out. Fix the gaps. Make it so good that people can't help but tell their friends.
Systems aren't sexy, but they're the reason some businesses scale and others burn out.
4. Reconnect With Your Clients (The Right Way)
Slow season doesn't mean your clients forgot about you. It just means they're not booking right now. But that doesn't mean you go radio silent until summer hits.
Stay visible. Stay valuable. Stay top of mind—without being desperate.
Here's how:
Send a personalized message to past clients.
Not a mass "hey girl" DM. A real one. Ask how they're doing. Remind them you're here when they're ready. Offer a friends-and-family referral incentive if it makes sense.
Share content that's actually helpful.
Stop posting just to post. Share tips on maintaining a tan in winter. Talk about skincare prep. Educate people on why spray tanning in the off-season is actually the move (because it is—no sun damage, no tan lines, just glow).
Host a winter glow event or mini promotion.
Not a desperate discount. A curated offer that makes sense for the season. "Glow through the holidays." "New year, new bronze." Make it feel intentional, not like you're panicking.
The goal isn't to guilt people into booking. It's to remind them that you're still the go-to when they're ready.
Slow Season Isn't the Problem. Wasting It Is.
Every spray tan business has a slow season. That's not the issue. The issue is how you spend that time.
You can sit around stressed, refreshing your booking page, wondering when things will pick up. Or you can use the downtime to sharpen your skills, tighten your systems, and set yourself up to dominate when busy season comes back around.
The artists who treat slow season like a problem are the ones who stay stuck. The ones who treat it like an opportunity? They're the ones who level up.
Use the slow months to build what busy months don't give you time for.
