Wants to start an small "Laser Clinic"

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

Folks,

I’m planning to start an Laser Clinic with Hair Removal as
the main target. But ofcourse others will properly follow later on as tattoo removal ??

I had plan to go for a Soprano IPL, but my understaning starts to be. “No Pain, No Game” ?

Please help me to choose wich laser to go for.
Instead of one new, maybe it’s better with two used or three ?

What I looking for is:

  1. Result for the client, and the feeling.
  2. Laser cost and Parts cost.
  3. Operational cost and consumables “like gas”
  4. Service intervals.

Overall repetuation for the lasers.

All feedback here is very important for me and
I want’s to do this right the first time for
clients best and cost. And for sure the business.

Best regards
OneMore

#2

Soprano is a diode not IPL.
Soprano has 2 modes, SHR which is advertised as painless and the regular single pulse mode.
If you compare the pain caused with SHR mode to that of the single pulse mode even on other more aggressive machines then most people would usually tell you that it’s painless (in comparison, not actual painless) I don’t really like that saying “no pain no gain” simply because this is what technology is all about, having a problem (pain) and trying to solve it. Which is usually the case but you can argue that’s its far from perfect.

In terms of results, I’ve seen happy clients and I’ve seen unhappy clients. Usually the problem is that whatever hair left is not very suitable for laser hair removal anymore than actual seeing results. We usually try to mix SHR mode and single pulse mode in attempt to catch as much as possible. In terms of feeling, as said before, i don’t know a machine which is more “comfortable” than the Soprano. You can also add another machine to it which blows cold air while treating (it’s called Zimmer) and then you could be more aggressive.

In terms of costs, it’s AMAZING. The only real consumable that it has is the head piece which costs about 15,000 USD to get replaced. It may seem steep but I’ve been using the same head piece for almost 3 years now and it’s still in good condition. They say it can do anywhere from 5 million pulses and up, my older machine is probably on 30 million pulses by now.
In terms of other things the machine needs, it’s only a matter of adding water when it goes down and changing the filter.
You can get a used one, get a certified technician to refurb it to specs and besides a service once a year, you will be good to go.
I don’t have a Gentlelase (maybe someone who does can comment) but i have a Candela V-Beam which is a photo machine by the same company. The way the machine works is VERY similar to the Gentlelase and it has ALOT of consumables. You has gas canisters that you need to replace all the time and some other things for the laser piece. The V-Beam needs a 30 min warm up period before you can use it when you first open it in the beginning of the day, and it has lots of small annoying bugs that your laser tech would need to get used to unless you plan on calling the company on a daily basis.

In general as people would tell you here, your clients will look for results and as i’m sure you will get good results with the Soprano, a Gentlelase using Alex is considered more aggressive than the Soprano or other machines.

#3

hi all,
i saw how "ihatebodyhair"recommended alexandrites such as those from candela, cynosure and lightage. There is a special deal out at the moment for the blue shine alexandrite - 12 months of treatments on 3 areas for $389bucks…The fine print says “at maximum, u can only get one treatment a month”
What do people think? Has anyone ever heard of the blue shine alexandrite, when i called the place it says that it has yag in it too… is it a good laser… i have never heard it mentioned on this forum - any one with any info/tips? p.s. the deal ends in 12 hours… it would be for bikini, underarms and lower legs… thanks all

#4

Not sure this is the right thread for it but in general those deals pretty much killed the LHR market here in Toronto, business went down about 40% in the past year thanks to it. From what I’ve checked on clinics who did the deal, you either get what you paid for, or they go bankrupt. There is nothing in between.

Back on topic, i bought the Soprano because it was painless and because it was based on a proven platform which is the Lightsheer.
At the end of the day, most clients can’t tell the difference between a carton box that says laser to a machine that costs 250k. They want the best possible treatment for the least amount of money and when you have lots of competition, it’s going to be very difficult to be competitive in this market when your machine has a lot of over head costs you need to take care off.

#5

I only recommend the BEST for consumers. If that’s what you’re interested in, get either GentleMAX or Apogee Elite machines because they are both Alex and Yags in one machine and therefore can treat all skin types.

#6

Thanks for all answars so far :slight_smile:

YES Consumer will be nr. 1.

I’m so lucky, I actually don’t need to earn money from day one.
If I may start cover equipment, NO LOSS except from work
after 3-6 months. Things goes the right way. Also we don’t have
a lot of cheaper IPL around here. Actually they keep same price
as the Lasers. My target will be to do things the consumer way.

However I want’s to earn money over the time for sure!

Therfore all the answars and discussens in this thread
is vert valuable for me. It’s vert confusing and seems to be a lot of mistakes to do. But I getting a kind of overview.

LAgirl, I checked prices for your tip. Seems like systems like
this starting on US$35K for used system. NICE :slight_smile:

I would be very intrested to hear other comments for your suggest. Also I realy like the “Diode” Soprano parts of this thread.

As I understand non inside here have given good feedback for Soprano. But Is all in here ?

Best regards
OneMore

#7

Diodes won’t treat all skin types. You’d need to get a Yag on top of the diode if you want to be able to treat skin types V and darker.

#8

If the area has coarse dark hair then you can treat type 5 with diode, it also depends on the person, cause they are going to feel it. Type 6 probably not a good idea though.

#9

I pretty sure I will end up with pure laser’s.

However the local reseller of the Soprano says.
(I understand I can’t trust a seller)

The Soprano is painless and may treat much more darker skin.
Also much more suitable for thinner hair. Like the ones
after bad laser treatment. So this type of clients may be helped.

Anyone, any comments ?

OneMore

#10

Diode is not better for thinner hair than an alex. On type V, a Yag would be better than a diode because the diode would need to be used at pretty low settings.

Either way, all of them don’t really work on thin/fine hair, so I wouldn’t promise this to consumers.

#11

As LAgirl said, the darker the skin is, the more likely you will have to lower the settings with a diode so you won’t burn the skin.
It goes with Yag the same only opposite way, the lighter the skin, the more likely you will have to lower the settings.

That’s why they recommend a platform that uses both Alex and Yag, this way the two technologies can kind of meet in the middle.

#12

Settings don’t need to be lowered on the Yag to treat lighter skins. In fact, you can treat at almost max settings if the skin is pale enough for an alex. However, alex gets better results, so we don’t recommend using a Yag on light skin.