As a recent graduate of the university in 2008, Courtney Claghorn complained about her then boy (now her husband) official that the spray supports were expensive in La-i, mostly available only in salons offering sunbathing, which turned out to be strange. “He was like:” If you are feeling like this, other women probably feel the same, “says Claghorn Entrepreneur. “Maybe there is a hole on the market that you would be able to fill.”
Image loan: Courtesy of Sugued + Bronzed. Courtney Claghorn.(*50*)
Claghorn decided to try it. Each pair put $ 500 into a startup equipment and transformed the dining room in the Santa MONICA CLAGHORN apartment into a small spray Tan Studio. She began by passing the spray with her friends. After a few months, she had a loyal fans base – and real business.
Although ClaGhorn initially balanced the lateral Hustle with a full-time role at FinTech, because the potential for the development of activity became visible, left 9-5 to enter the whole. Then Claghorn found the location of the first location in the company in Santa Monica. Sugued + Bronzed He opened his door, and the number of consumers increased every week. The momentum gave Claghorn confidence to proceed.
Sugued + Bronzed, officially founded in 2010, spent almost a decade in business without investing outside the investment. Claghorn and the team set a goal to open 10 stores before the company was looking for investors. The company achieved this milestone in 2019. Sugued + Bronzed received a strategic investment from Main Post Partners, Private Equity based in San Francisco.
Of course, soon after Sugued + Bronzed received his first investment, Pandemic of Grunt. Claghorn says that the company had to move in maintaining revenues in connection with the closure and reconstruction process. “[We had to grapple with] Rehiring and Persoring and returning from zero to one before we could repeat ourselves, “he explains.” It was a challenge that we certainly did not expect. “
Since then, the company still has a huge increase, up to over 35 locations, 400 employees and a developing product line. Sugued + Bronzed recorded 20% 12 months -on -year in 2024 and is on its way to revenues of over $ 50 million in 2025, according to the company. In addition, the company is in nine markets – Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Miami, Philadelphia and New York – and will enter in the spring on its tenth market in Washington.
“It’s like day by day, the whole world needs a tan.”
When the spring season gives way to warmer days, Sugued + Bronzed is well prepared to move after the challenge every 12 months: an increase in demand due to the festival season. The company claims that it records an increase in revenues by 30-40% from April to June, and then still records high demand by the end of summer.
“We definitely have some seasonality in our company,” says Claghorn. “We are considering a spring break in the season and the era of the festival through the Labor Day. We spend most of our winter employment employees, making sure that we have enough people who are really well trained to go to these extremely hard -working months, because it’s like day by day, the whole world needs a tan.”
Now Claghorn is excited about focusing on the developing product line of the company. Sugued + Bronzed began to formulate its own products a few years ago. Claghorn says that the company has released the first half of the line at the end of 2024 and will introduce the second half in the coming months.
“[It’s] differs from everything that is on the market [and] complements our services, both confectionery and tanning in terms of exfoliation [and] Moisturizing – explains the founder. [There’s] Also the tanning line you can [use to] Build a tan from the house or extend the tan that you got in one of our locations. “
“Find a way to get the first dollar, get the first sales.”
Claghorn says that being a 23-year-old founder with the approach “ignorance is bliss”, helped to drive the company’s development in the early years, and admits that many young aspiring entrepreneurs must learn the Most worthy lessons in a difficult situation. However, one of her favorite advice is a necessity for anyone who hopes to set off on their very own founding journey: stop planning and start doing.
“As soon as you find yourself, making waist, spreadsheets, projections and plans that he suddenly becomes your work – this is not an entrepreneur,” says Claghorn. “Find a way to make the first dollar, get the first sales. Be comfortable in uncomfortable. You can feel that you don’t know what you are doing.”
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This article is a part of our current series of girls entrepreneurs, emphasizing the stories, challenges and triumphs of running a company as a woman.