Know Where To Grow: What’s Your Spa's Best ROI?

The spa market is expected to top $24 billion by 2020. That represents a lot of opportunity for growth. But in order to grow your business, you have to invest, both money and time. How do you know the best place to make that investment? Is it new tools? More education? New products? Where’s your best ROI? Let’s discuss.

Tools

A modern, well-equipped spa is a must. But what does that really mean? There are a lot of tools out that claim to do a lot of amazing things, both for your clients’ skin and for your bottom line. But do they really get the job done in either regard? If you’re considering a pricey purchase of the latest greatest machine, ask yourself whether it’s something that will actually benefit your clients, or is it just the latest trend? Don’t buy an expensive piece of equipment just to expand your menu of services. Make sure it will actually expand value. Is it a treatment that clients want? Is it versatile, or very specific to one issue? How many treatments will it take before it pays for itself? Sometimes, your best tool is one you already have on hand. Maybe you have a machine that hasn’t seen a lot of use lately. Try promoting treatments with that one, or consider selling it to make room for something more current.

Product

Offering product is a great way to provide added value to your clients and to your bottom line. The global skin care products industry revenue is forecast to reach an estimated $102.3 billion in 2018, with premium services and products for the face constituting a healthy percentage of that projection. To compete for those dollars, you have to make your shopping experience unique. You can’t expect to beat bigger chains and online retailers on price, selection or delivery. Smart skin care professionals differentiate is by tailoring solutions to client needs. Make it about specialization. Leverage your expertise. Personalize by knowing your clients’ needs and preferences. Follow up after the sale with an email. And, of course, stock the very best products. It’s not about offering a vast number of choices, but about offering the right ones.

Education

“I don’t care how old you are or how long you’ve been in the industry,” says acne specialist Antoinette Klinakis, “there’s always something to learn.”

We agree. Keeping up with the latest science, technology and techniques improve your ability to provide accurate skin assessments and to know the very best way to treat each client’s individual needs. It allows you to offer more and better services to your clients. Even going back and taking a refresher on something you already know can be helpful to take you to the next level.

“Even if you’ve done something your whole life, you never should ever get to a point where you become complacent or you think you know everything,” says Lynn Kellicut of Florida’s Shine Medical Aesthetics Center. “Skin care is like technology. It's ever changing. We're getting better and better ingredients. We find different ways to approach things. So you want to keep up with the best technology that there is out there.”