Business Spotlight: Now You See it, Now You Don't

Some regrets are just easier to correct than others.

On Second Thought Laser Tattoo Removal allows a person to rethink that tattoo inked in the heat of the moment.

Springfield native Brian Kent opened the business at 2424 S. Campbell Ave. in March 2009 and has since removed tattoos for about 300 people.

“The No. 1 reason? Someone has a name tattooed someplace on their body, and they’ve broken up,” Kent says. “But I do get a number of people who want the tattoos removed for professional reasons.”

Kent estimates 80 percent of his clients have tattoos removed for personal reasons, including name removal and dissatisfaction with a tattoo. About 20 percent of his clients have their tattoos removed out of professional concerns.  Kent’s business hasn’t yet met his expectations, but he believes there will continue to be a demand for tattoo removal and has set an annual revenue goal of $150,000 in 2010.

At first glance
Kent was a construction consultant when he was sitting in a restaurant and noticed a large number of people sporting tattoos.

“I realized tattoo removal would be a big business,” he says.

He moved to Denver and enrolled in Rocky Mountain Laser College, learning laser techniques in a variety of modalities including hair removal and varicose vein reduction.

According to Jess Riggs, an owner at the vocational school, Kent specialized in tattoo removal and graduated as a certified laser specialist. Kent worked at a clinic in Denver for several more months before returning to Springfield.

Kent says he wrote his own business plan, a process he says was much harder than he expected.

“It took me two years to plan and open the business,” he says. “I got a loan before credit tightened, but opened in a tough market.”

He says the recession forced the national average for tattoo removal prices to drop by half, forcing him to charge clients less than his business plan projected. A session can cost as little as $100, but Kent says the average is $150 to $175 per session, depending on the complexity and color of the tattoo.

Kent’s biggest startup expense was the Q-Switched laser system he purchased for about $100,000.  

Gene Medler, a registered nurse with St. John’s Hospital, has gone under Kent’s laser.

The 44-year-old followed his friends and tattooed “love” across his knuckles when he was 11 years old. “I’ve had the family of a patient ask me if I had been in prison,” Medler says, noting that St. John’s requires employees to hide tattoos.

When he saw an advertisement for On Second Thought, Medler decided to have the tattoo removed.

He began the process in December and has undergone five half-hour treatments, with two sessions left. Kent says it normally takes eight or more treatments to remove a tattoo, and the treatments are scheduled four to eight weeks apart.

Degenerate ink
Lorenzo Kunze II, a certified laser specialist and instructor at Rocky Mountain Laser College, says there aren’t hard statistics on tattoo regret, but he’s seen data that suggest 80 percent of people who get tattoos later regret them.

“Anything on the neck, hands or below the shirtsleeve is a reason some have tattoos removed,” Kent says, especially when career matters are involved. “For women, it is also sometimes on the feet and ankles if they wear dresses to work.”

Some of Kent’s clients are even having them removed to enter the military, as regulations prohibit visible tattoos.

Kent says the number of people who go through with the removal process is fewer, but those who do are committed because the procedures can last up to a year. “They have good reasons such as not wanting an employer or potential employer to see them in a negative light,” Kent says.

Medler is happy with the results so far, but he says the treatments burn and are more intense than when the tattoo was applied. “It only lasts as long as the treatment,” he adds.  

Kent says if the right equipment is used, there should be no scarring as the laser actually degenerates the ink so that it absorbs into the body. “It really isn’t burning the skin although it may feel that way,” Kent says.

Laser removal systems are not regulated in Missouri, but that isn’t uncommon, says Gregory Absten, executive director of the Professional Medical Education Association in Columbus, Ohio. The association created a certification process for the National Council on Laser Excellence.

“Many states have no requirements, and certification isn’t a requirement,” Absten says.

Absten says good signs toward safety are when a laser specialist asks clients about possible allergic reactions when they had the tattoo applied and when quality laser systems are used. He recommends the Q-Switched system, which produces high peak and narrow power pulses. “Other types of laser could give terrible burns,” Absten says.