Author: Rebecca

by Elizabeth Denham

What do you do when you have been thinking about getting your first tattoo? You open a tattoo shop, of course! At least if you are Maria Joukov of inq Tattoos. Maria and her husband, Peter opened their first storefront last year in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia and started franchising in February. 

“Neither of us had a tattoo when we started, so we both got our first one in our own shop,” Maria said. “When we started, we reimagined the idea of tattoo shops and tried to improve on the experience to accommodate the changing demographic of people who are getting tattoos.” 

They decided to bring an updated approach to the tattoo industry. inq Tattoos offers online booking, digital design catalogs an active presence on social media and digital payments. The space is sleek and modern with an emphasis on cleanliness, stringent sterilization requirements and single-use equipment. 

“We wanted to provide an experience that was better for both the customer and the artist,” she said. “We have more of a spa-like feel in the physical space. It’s lighter and brighter than a traditional shop. There is a nice waiting area with tea and water where you can look at designs on an iPad.” 

Maria said that the type of people getting tattoos has changed over the years, and now more and more business professionals, soccer moms, lawyers and doctors are joining in the trend. They wanted their business to reflect this growing trend. 

“We cater to both the experienced and inexperienced,” Maria said. “We do a lot of customer education and talk people through the process. We work to understand what they are looking for, and make sure they understand that we use high-quality, vegan inks and focus on hygiene. More importantly, we want them to leave feeling really comfortable and walking around with art they love.” 

As far as the artist they have in the shop, the Joukovs recognized there were a lot of ways to improve their professional experience.  

“In a typical shop, the artists either rent space or have a revenue split with the owners. They are mostly contract workers,” she said. “We wanted to make it so the artists can focus on what they do best, so inq Tattoo artists are all salaried employees with benefits and stable schedules.” 

Maria said their way of supporting the artist eliminates the competition for clients as they have team goals and are free from having to run the business side of things. They also have paid leave and a relaxed work environment. 

Both Maria and Peter have experience launching and operating businesses across several different industries. Maria started a government contracting company. Peter, after a stint in the Navy, has an events company and previously started and ran a private equity fund.  Starting inq Tattoos was an exciting next step for them together. 

Goals 

The Joukovs just started trying to sell units when the pandemic hit. As things open back up, they are focusing on sales in the southeast. The good thing about being an emerging franchise, according to Maria is that you get to be at the forefront of a new trend. They are more accessible to more people and strive to be inqlusive – with a ‘q.’” 

“It’s really great to see people’s reaction when they walk into the boutique,” she said. “Even the seasoned pros say that it’s a great experience!” 

Ideal Franchisee

• No tattoo experience required 
• Trailblazer mindset a must 
• Emphasis on customer service 
• Interested in community engagement 

Community Service 

• Sponsors fundraisers for breast cancer through the Pinq Campaign 
• Sponsors Arlington Police Officers race for 9/11 memorial 
• Sponsors races for the fitness community 
• Local raffles, fundraisers for Association of U.S. Army and local Air Force Unit 

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Old Town location is temporarily closed. They plan to reopen in June if it is safe to do so. In the meantime, Maria and Peter are available for inquiries and look forward to growing and trailblazing in the tattoo industry! For more information, please visit  www.inqtattoos.com/franchising 

by Michelle Hummel

The COVID-19 outbreak is impacting consumer behavior in a big way. A recent study conducted by Numerator reported a staggering 59 percent of consumers have altered their purchasing behavior as travel restrictions, school closures and the need for physical distancing have affected communities across the country. 

As a result, it’s more important than ever for small business owners to locate opportunities that will help them establish personalized and enduring relationships with their audiences from a safe range.  

Here are three bullet-proof strategies for managing effective social media communications during the pandemic: 

1. Adjust your messaging and consistently post

It’s tough to know what’s coming, so you need to keep a close eye on your posts. The messages that worked yesterday might not work today. Be sensitive in your posts and don’t be afraid to inject a little humor into your followers’ lives. At Web Strategy Plus, our proven matra is especially poignant right now: Teach me, inspire me, make me laugh and I’ll remember you when it’s time to buy. 

Make sure to keep your audiences informed of the latest news about your business and emphasize how they can assist you throughout these times with business activities, such as shopping online with a promotional sale, curb-side delivery and any extra precautions you’re taking to keep your customers and staff safe. One tactic we’ve had great success with is to increase messaging about buying gift cards, especially if you’ve had to lay off workers. Not only can this income help keep your business afloat right now, but donating 20 percent of sales to your employees helps garner goodwill. 

If your business has shut down, now is the time to reassure your customers that you’ll be here for them during the crisis, and ready to welcome them back when you re-open. 

2. 2. Develop brand awareness with your online audience

With more consumers at home, we’re seeing a large spike in online browsing. The impact of this is already being felt by many companies, including Verizon, who just announced a 20 percent week-over-week boost in web traffic. For your social advertising, with additional impressions and changes in competition, your CPM will by all appearances diminish—which provides an ideal opportunity to seize more reach from your budget on Facebook and Instagram, specifically. 

 

3. Remain steady and take advantage of the time

Now is a great time to rebuild or tweak your business’s website, and for franchisees to start a website separate from the corporate site. This will dramatically improve your SEO results, which will translate into increased business. 

For your social ads, now is the time to try out a new ad creative on a range of audiences to collect information that will make your subsequent postings more successful. Think about developing a new ad set instead of updating a current one so that you can better understand the actual results. For new ad creative, you’ll need to test against a previously high-converting ad. Doing so allows you to compare the results directly to an ad that has performed well for your business, saving you time when reviewing results. 

Facebook recently cautioned advertisers that because of recent staffing changes there will probably be some backlog and errors as they grow their dependence on automated systems to review new ads and commerce listings. In other words, when new ads are submitted or edited they will go through a new review policy. In order to prevent interference with an ad, increase the delivery period of your highest performing ads, as new campaigns will undergo a new review. 

Here are several things you can try testing. 

• Audience targeting, demographic, interest-related or custom audiences. 
• Ad copy, including headlines and CTAs. 
• Landing pages, including copy, design and messaging. 

There’s a positive and supportive approach your business can take to become creative in a world of physical distancing, so capitalize on this opportunity to get creative and discover new avenues of growing your reach via social media.