7 Tips for Spa Business Success

Here are my top seven tips for uncommon spa business success:

1. Start with a well thought-out plan
As a spa owner and business consultant I've witnessed firsthand the hazards of diving into a new spa venture with only floor plans and high hopes providing direction. It's like planning road trip with little more than a car and your imagination to guide you. What is your personal definition of business success?

2. Don't chase the illusion of success
Maybe you've based your business hopes on the "success" stories of other well-known or highly visible spas. You've heard all of the hype, read the stories and articles about the new hot spas cropping up, and know how hard it can be to get an appointment at some of them. You want this! But what you don't see in all of the glamorous veneer can be extremely important to you: What's NOT working for them? If they could plan their spas all over again what would they change?

3. Know thy customer, know thyself
Believe it or not, spa customers evaluate the quality of a spa more on how they feel in it more than on the individual services themselves. When asked to recount a spa experience the average customer while describe it in sensual or tactile terms rather than in technical details. Spa clients are far more qualified to judge a spa on a feeling level, positive or otherwise, which is the primary benefit of patronizing one.

4. Bigger isn't always better
If you accept the wisdom is point #3 then you'll have some solid guidance in deciding the size of your spa. The smaller it is the lower the initial startup cost will be, the fewer employees you'll need, and the less management demand you will have. Don't waste lots of money on impressive-looking but non-revenue earning amenities such as large steam rooms, capacious lounges, and yawning foyers. Customers want to feel safely enveloped in your spa, not lost in there.

5. Plan a service menu that generates profits, not just sales
Try to be all things to all people and you'll come out a big loser in this business! Just because there's high demand for certain services doesn't mean that you have to or should offer them. Plan your spa services around proven programs that generate strong service and retail revenue in order to maximize your per-client sales potential. Avoid too much emphasis on spa packages that sell well but end up producing poor retail results while simultaneously gobbling up the most valuable hours on your service schedule.

6. And on the subject of retail...
I'm a huge believer in private branding of retail products as they allow brand exclusivity, pricing freedom, and serve to build another pillar of your business equity. In other words, you are free to price products under your own name as operating costs and profit expectations require rather than be bridled by a manufacturer's suggest retail price (MSRP). You must also commit to requiring a minimum retail sales performance from your service employees if you plan to make the most of this critical revenue source.

7. Hire employees who will solve problems, not create them
No challenge in spa management is greater than in finding, motivating, and retaining stable and productive employees. You may feel as though your hiring history seems as futile as building sand castles at the waterline—seeing all your hard work routinely washed away. The trick is to find the best possible job candidates, train and inspire them to give their best while still with us, and to make sure that we have more of them waiting in the wings when the inevitable vacancy occurs.

About Preston, Inc.

Preston Private Label offers over 100 outstanding, results-oriented skin and body care products for both retail and professional use. We offer an excellent—-and free—-regional technical and career-building education program, affordable minimums, and fully custom labels, pre-applied. Choose from two packaging options and get the look that best suits your branding strategy. Generous margins that allow for markup from 150-700%  mean you gain maximum benefit from retailing.  From cleansers and toners to cosmeceutical serums, pro enzyme, glycolic and lactic peels to body contouring wraps, gift kits to aromatherapy oil blends and more, we have everything you need to create a highy effective, full range product line. Visit our website at www.prestoninc.net for more information!