What does a spa consultant do?

Spa Sense where have you been ??????

And you thought we had forgotten all about you …. Never!

In all honesty, we just have been really busy working on some pretty amazing projects. When we consult we are completely engaged with our clients and often the important stuff for Spa Sense falls through the cracks – not an excuse; just an explanation #blushing

So I sat down today and was thinking about a topic to write on and I thought…. why not tell people what we do and why we sometimes run out of time to share info? So, what I am going to do is write a series of blogs that unpack what it is that we do whilst consulting.

This will help you understand what we are potentially able to help/assist you with or just give you a better idea of what it is that we do and how exciting our job actually is 

So why do our clients engage with us as spa consultants?

A Spa Consultant provides expert guidance and advice on successfully setting up and managing spa operations, maximizing profits, and planning new spa development. The expense of engaging the services of a spa consultant can be justified many times over by the superior nature of the results obtained and costly mistakes that are avoided. Spa consultants often deliver bottom-line value that is ten-fold its cost.

We have hands-on industry knowledge and we know what makes the spas tick, we deal with staff daily so we know what they want from an employer and we are spa-goers, so we know what customers want to.

 

The beginning of a project is all planning, analysis and number crunching.

The “boring stuff” BUT; if we don’t do this we are planning for the business to fail as it will not have a solid foundation on which to be built never mind growing.

So, step 1 is;

Determining the project objectives. We have to ensure that they are SMART objectives. We must have specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound goals. This helps us to make sure we are always measuring everything and creating a business that has a target reaching culture straight off the bat.

Step 2 is setting “The Plan”.

A business plan is of the upmost importance. We have to have a roadmap. We do assist in doing the plans but for the most part, encourage our clients to do this for themselves. From a cost saving point, in the beginning, it is better for the owner to do this as it is timely and costly. However, we have to be very honest and look at it from a from a capability perspective. What I am able to do is one thing but what a new spa owners capacity is; is at their discretion and so the plan must be crafted around this. You have to set your road map according to your capabilities. Even if the financial part of the plan is left up to us the rest should be done by the person who is responsible for the business at the end of the day. For the most part, we are responsible for the forecasting and budget at this stage.

Why forecast and budget?

• You have to have a reasonable budget for the Spa / Salon build or refurbishment and set up.
• There is no point in even going one step into a build/refurb without one.
• There are so many costs that you just don’t think about, but we are able to assist you in budgeting for these; to ensure you don’t get a massive skrik at the end of it all.
• We also need to be able to determine working capital needed before break-even point so that the business is able to survive the toughness of the 1st year in operation. If you do not build this into the budget you will be hard-pressed to survive.
• We determine the estimated cost of sale as well as project the gross and net profit.
• We use the forecast on a monthly basis moving forward to set targets for the Spa / Salon so that that management and staff are focused from the beginning and everyone is driving forward and aware of cash flow right from the offset.
• To determine what our business objectives and goals are so that these can be added to our strategic action plan.

What do we do with the information we amass from forecasting?

We can closely estimate set up costs and contingency budget.
We are able to suggest staff needed for opening the spa as well as where to find them.
We give you suggested salaries and commission structures and factor these into the budget and forecast.
We establish monthly running costs and figure out how to work them into the budget.
We calculate treatment and product costs and how to manage the cash flow for stock purchases.
We investigate different non-revenue and revenue generating facilities and equipment and projected costs to set up and the turnover impacts of these facilities and equipment.
We also calculate of potential gift voucher (both in-store and online), contract and membership sales and liability management thereof.

So now you can see why this is so important; it will help identify future revenue and expenditure that may have an immediate or long-term influence on, strategic goals. SO if numbers are not your strong point lean on us to guide you through the financial malarkey and you do YOU.

While we are “crunching numbers”

By doing all the necessary market analysis we are able to create a unique Spa / Salon concept. With spas/salons popping up all over the show it is so important that we find a point of difference and we do this for each and every client. We re-invent the wheel; every time!

A very big part of what we do in our beginning stages is to give the Spa / Salon a good business base. We forecast and plan EVERYTHING.

B. MARKET ANALYSIS

Objectives:
• To understand where we are placed in the market.
• To determine what the Spa / Spa / Salons strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are.
• To know where to focus our energy so we ensure the Spa / Salon has a well-executed point of difference.
• To know where there are gaps in the market that we can fill.
• To have a clear plan of how we are going to action all the necessary aspects of the project and who is responsible for what part of the project.

What’s included?

SWOT analysis of The Spa / Salon to be and market in which it is going to exist.
Analysis of what the key issues are that are affecting the market
Size of the market
Competitive Analysis of at least 4 Salons in your category and documentation of each including –
• Products sold by our competition
• Prices of their treatments
• What they are offering
• Points of difference
Consumers and Business mix – Who is our target market?
Market Segmentation
Market Needs
Summary of all the above and compilation of a strategic action plan for the Salon.

(Should you wish Spa Sense can also offer business plan development upon request)

This really is just the tip of the iceberg; BUT a very important part of the planning phase and vital to ensure good business structure and a great foundation upon which to build on to.

If any of this is something you are looking for; give us a shout 0823571635 or email us and we can set up some time to meet with you.

Look out for the 2nd installation and you’ll start to see how exciting the work gets….so until we meet again!