Most spa owners (and most small business owners for that matter) don't understand how to market their business in a way that predictably gives them a positive return-on-investment. They don't have the slightest clue what it really takes to get new clients, to get those clients to return to the spa more often, and to sell them more when they do return.
It's not your fault. Maybe you started as a massage therapist. Through hard work and positive word-of-mouth, you built up a loyal clientele and soon had more business than you knew what to do with. You soon discovered doing massage - while profitable - was hard work with long hours that took a toll on your body.
So you decided to hire another therapist or two, and before you knew it, you're the owner of a day spa. Now you're paying rent on prime retail space, with a girl answering the phone, lots of other bills to pay and paperwork to do. Suddenly your world is a lot more complicated than it used to be.
Even when things get a little slow, the bills are still due. Maybe you've stopped taking a paycheck. My, how things have changed. Maybe you long for the simple times when it was just you and your massage table, when at least you were getting paid.
Maybe you see yourself in this story. Or maybe you were going great guns until the recession hit. Or maybe you've had a big competitor open up down the street. Regardless of your situation, there's one "catch all" answer that will solve most of your problems...
You must realize you're not in the spa business. You're in the "marketing of your spa" business.
It doesn't matter if you're the best massage therapist on earth. Or the best esthetician. Or if you can give a facial that would leave a supermodel breathless. As the owner of a day spa, you'll never achieve the money and time freedom you deserve until you accept the fact that you must shift away from being the "doer" of your spa services...to the "marketer" of your spa services.
Embrace it and get rich. Fight it and go broke.
And if you're reading this and you're no longer doing the spa services, good for you. But don't pat yourself on the back too much. If you know you're at a loss when it comes to; knowing what it really takes to get new clients, to get those clients to return to the spa more often, and sell them more when they do return...and do it all predictably and systematically...then it's time to learn. Without these three functions working simultaneously, your spa business won't grow. And in today's economy, it may not even survive.
It's not your fault. Maybe you started as a massage therapist. Through hard work and positive word-of-mouth, you built up a loyal clientele and soon had more business than you knew what to do with. You soon discovered doing massage - while profitable - was hard work with long hours that took a toll on your body.
So you decided to hire another therapist or two, and before you knew it, you're the owner of a day spa. Now you're paying rent on prime retail space, with a girl answering the phone, lots of other bills to pay and paperwork to do. Suddenly your world is a lot more complicated than it used to be.
Even when things get a little slow, the bills are still due. Maybe you've stopped taking a paycheck. My, how things have changed. Maybe you long for the simple times when it was just you and your massage table, when at least you were getting paid.
Maybe you see yourself in this story. Or maybe you were going great guns until the recession hit. Or maybe you've had a big competitor open up down the street. Regardless of your situation, there's one "catch all" answer that will solve most of your problems...
You must realize you're not in the spa business. You're in the "marketing of your spa" business.
It doesn't matter if you're the best massage therapist on earth. Or the best esthetician. Or if you can give a facial that would leave a supermodel breathless. As the owner of a day spa, you'll never achieve the money and time freedom you deserve until you accept the fact that you must shift away from being the "doer" of your spa services...to the "marketer" of your spa services.
Embrace it and get rich. Fight it and go broke.
And if you're reading this and you're no longer doing the spa services, good for you. But don't pat yourself on the back too much. If you know you're at a loss when it comes to; knowing what it really takes to get new clients, to get those clients to return to the spa more often, and sell them more when they do return...and do it all predictably and systematically...then it's time to learn. Without these three functions working simultaneously, your spa business won't grow. And in today's economy, it may not even survive.
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