Trust me: these 5 to-do’s for starting a successful spa business are a must-read, whether you’re already running your own spa biz or are still prepping to open your doors!

A new spa business has so much to learn. Where does one even start? Although my marketing manager, Delia, and I usually talk to owners of existing or long-established spa businesses, today we wanted to talk to you, the owners (or soon-to-be owners!) of start-ups, because this is simply so much for you to know and learn.

Non-negotiables for spa start-ups right off the bat include:

• Needing to be visible… but in the best way possible. This means clear marketing messages regarding you, your spa biz, your Ideal Client and the services you offer
• Needing to know how to plug your spa’s “leaky bucket” so you can find more profit in your spa business
• Needing to set up admin and client systems so you’re not spinning in circles wondering why running your own biz is supposed to feel like freedom, but currently just feels like you’ve landed yourself a seat on the hot mess express!

But First, Common Spa Start-Up Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

While 99% of my spa business coaching clients run established spas, I notice one common thread that connects their way of thinking with how I used to think back when I was a brand-new spa owner: estheticians and owners all think that they should try things out on their own first before asking for help.

Even if you are an experienced esthetician and/or a spa manager, it’s likely you’ll struggle within your first year (or five!) of running your own biz. Why? Because it’s just so different from anything you’ll have experienced before! Although those first years will be fuelled by enthusiasm, excitement, and anticipation to start growing your spa business in earnest, that energy will begin to fizzle… and, without an expert there to set you up with the tools and know-how you need, you’ll soon find that your energy was the only thing keeping the whole thing afloat.

All of this circles back to how it is never too early or late to ask for professional help. Now that you’ve been given your sign to get some mentorship ASAP, let’s start you off with my personal favourite top 5 to-do’s for starting a successful spa business (or refreshing your pre-established one if you need to get your biz back on track to success.)

#1: Nail Down Your Professional Spa Values First

What do you stand for and why? 

How do these values show up in your guest experience?

Spa business values establish who you are, why your clients should entrust themselves to you, and what makes you different from your competitors. They lend quick, easy, and reliable insight into if you’re the right fit for what they’re looking to get out of their spa experience.

As an example, our values here at Kirsten Foss Coaching are the following:

• Leadership
• Organization
• Connection
• Curiosity 
• Compassion
• Anti-Racism

If you run a team, spa values have the added bonus of being the foundation of your team culture, which is critical to attracting aligned staff while simultaneously maintaining sales momentum over time. After all, how great is it when all of your staff jive? Stating your values can do that for you!  I invite you to read how my values show up in our client work and team culture and recommend following the same format for your business values.

If you have never done a spa values exercise before and want to know how to get started, sign up for the Kirsten Foss Coaching Spa Values Exercise today to make it a breeze.

#2: When Starting a Successful Spa Business, Having Marketing That’s On Point is Key

What are the components of great marketing? Well, I’ll tell you:

• Professional looking branding: Investing in a proper logo and brand board is an absolute must when kickstarting your brand awareness. An expert designer can do a competitive analysis of your niche to determine what colors, logo, and other design assets can set you apart while still remaining true to you and your spa
• Fantastic copywriting: Before you start any kind of marketing, having fantastic website copywriting that is SEO-driven is a requirement. After all, why would you try to send clients to your site if your content is too vague or general? How do they know you're the spa to book with? Writing copy that gets right into the psychology of your Ideal Clients is what triggers bookings or inquiries. Here are the areas of your website that require extra focus:
• Your home page. Is it clear who you serve and why they need you? 
• Your service descriptions. Remember…vague descriptions or results torpedo bookings and sales
• Your “About” page and why you do what you do
• Your opt-in, which will work to build your email list & allows consumers to get to know you before booking.
• A consistent social media presence: As an add-on to your marketing, getting social on social media works to showcase, at a glance, your branding, your values, and your connection to the communities you serve. We love using social media for our clients as a way to establish all of the above while fostering trust and rapport with both existing and potential customers!

When it comes to spa digital marketing for start-ups, my hot tip is to market yourself as more established than your business may be at the moment. Clear-cut branding and branded communication will give your customers confidence that the rest of your business is organized and trustworthy (even if it may feel like you’re flying the plane while building it!)

#3: Don’t Forget to Set Up Your Profit System

Have you set up your profit system yet?

If you haven’t yet, you should know that this system includes your cost per treatment, both you and your team’s compensation, the tracking of your profit metrics, and general spa industry benchmarks so that you have goalposts to measure your numbers against and see if you’re on the right track.

Back when I was the owner of a spa start-up, I wish I had done the following sooner:

• Revisited my profit system metrics every year to see how my numbers compared against inflation
• Included all expenses, including overhead and admin costs, instead of just the cost of my products and services

Don’t know where to start? That’s okay!  Book yourself a Spa Profit Maximizer VIP Day to get all this done and dusted in just 24 hours.

#4: Be Intentional With Your Sales System

Is your sales system built into your guest experience?

If it isn’t, it should be!

While us estheticians and spa owners love to be Chatty Cathys and connect with our clients about life, love, stress, and all the usual day-to-day goings ons, the heat of the moment often makes us forget what our in-spa conversations need to incorporate: serving our clients and generating sales!

Conversations should orbit around your spa business, beauty, tech, and general trends so when it gets to the point to the “ask” for purchasing products and future services, you can flip it so it’s educational instead of awkward. 

#5: If You’re Starting a Successful Spa Business, Map Out Your Guest Experience System

Speaking of guest experience, you need a system for that too!

Your guest experience system should be two things: smooth and intentional. This will guarantee that you’re not dropping the ball in places you’re unaware of this.

Back when I was running my own spa start-up, these places included:

• Where clients were finding my business (social media, organic search, referrals, etc.)
• How easy or hard it was for them to find and book the services they were looking for
• When my spa staff timed their sales pitches
• Why clients who kept coming back, chose to do so (and the reasons why the clients who chose not to come back didn’t)

Having a stellar, well-informed guest experience is how you compete with the low prices of competitors. After all, you don’t want cheap clients: you want great ones that align with what you have to offer!

Get Started on These 5 To-Do’s for Starting a Successful Spa Business Today

If you’ve already started your first year of business and are struggling to know what’s next in terms of building a profitable spa business (or own an established one and need to know how to start hitting your profit benchmarks), contact me today to chat about which VIP Day coaching session is the best place to start getting your spa’s success systems up and running.