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Spa de Beauté
By Laure de Lattre, Les Nouvelles Esthétiques France
 In
your chosen field, which revolves around improving one's
appearance, you lavish your clients with a sense of well-being.
Today, things have evolved to the extent where you sometimes skip
the appearance enhancement part of the process and move straight
to the promotion of health and well-being. That said, the aspect
of appearance remains prominent especially since some spas offer
purely beauty-focused treatments. The future, therefore, lies in
the emergence of transformative establishments: Spa de Beauté
whose direction is guided by you, the beauty therapist!.
Olivier Aron is the founder of ROSAE, a research and training
company within the beauty and perfume industry. Marketing lecturer
at both the French school of Political Science and the perfume
school ISIPCA, he has a wealth of experience in brand marketing.
He spent ten years working within the marketing department of
L'Oréal as well as that of Séphora. He explains why the Spa de
Beauté is made for you and why you have nothing to lose and
everything to gain...quite simply!
Definition of a Spa de Beauté
The Spa de Beauté offers a number of important beauty therapy
treatments. It is open to both men and women since the spa concept
has opened the way for men. It is neither completely a beauty
salon nor solely a spa but rather an intermediary between the two.
It is a spa, which instead of focusing solely on massage therapy,
also offers beauty treatments. Inversely, it is a beauty salon
that has evolved in the direction of the spa, progressively
incorporating a larger range of body treatments.
As a beauty therapist, your chance of success in opening a Spa de
Beauté is great, thanks to your experience within the service
industry. In France for example, there are very few career options
which afford one experience within the hospitality industry:
basically, they include jobs within the hotel industry, the
restaurant business and the beauty industry. Since you already
have a background in beauty therapy and the wellness industry, you
have an immediate advantage over other interested parties. A small
advantage is all that is needed to launch yourself into the
adventure of a Spa de Beauté.
From Beauty Salon to Spa de Beauté
You are not going to make the transformation to a modern day Spa
de Beauté overnight. Be clear about this, you are creating another
universe. A Spa de Beauté must be chic and it should result in
your clients' imaginations escaping the confines of this world.
Never forget that a visit to a spa is a journey! Do you think that
a plastic curtain and a giant-sized poster advertising the latest
brand of make-up will take your clients on that journey?
It is easy to say, but how do you find out if your establishment
oozes chic to your clients, when, in your somewhat biased opinion,
it seems perfect? It's quite simple, you will know that your
transformation has been completed when new clients start to walk
through your door. In other words, you know that the change has
occurred when, in addition to your regular clientele, new clients
that do not typically frequent beauty establishments - or at
least, not yours - start to patronise your Spa de Beauté. This is
a clear sign that you are well on your way. You will also be able
to tell by the interest that people show when looking at your shop
window or a flyer advertising your establishment. The
communication is different and these new clients are ready to
start walking through the doors to your Spa de Beauté because the
services you offer have changed.
If you already own your own establishment, you will benefit from a
certain number of advantages. You already have capital, an
existing clientele, a database and are situated within a customer
catchment area. You know what constitutes a treatment. You already
have relationships with product suppliers and are earning between
30 - 50% of your turnover on product sales. So, why switch to a
spa when your business is functioning as it is. The simple answer
is that overnight you could almost double your client base! Of
course, that is assuming there is adequate space to accommodate
this expansion.
If not, you might consider extending your existing space or
opening up a second location. Your potential client base really
will double even if only due to the fact that men are also
potential spa clients whereas they almost certainly will not have
been catered for by your beauty salon. Add to this, the number of
women who are not particularly partial to beauty salons but who
still like someone to look after them and find the notion of a spa
much more pleasing. It is like hair spray versus hair gel or
lacquer, there are those who have an avid preference for a
particular type of product, although they all have pretty much the
same effect!
As far as the client is concerned, a beauty salon is geared
towards enhancing one's appearance while the spa is all about
improving one's well-being. Consumer studies are very clear. What
the client wants first and foremost is to feel good. If, in
addition to this, she can be made to feel prettier with a manicure
or hair removal... even better. In a spa, it is standard practice
to offer various types of hair removal treatments. But the primary
motivation behind the spa is well-being and body treatments.
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The word "Spa"
Simply the use of the word "spa" will allow you to reach a larger
client base. But be careful, simply posting the word "spa" above
the entrance to your establishment without actually changing
anything offers nothing but false promises and is just not
acceptable. It would be far too easy to refer to your
establishment as a "spa" with reference to massage therapy in the
window or a hammam tucked away in the recesses of the building,
but this will not suffice. A mistake like this could cost you
dearly.
It is important that you understand that "spa" is a magic word in
the mind of the consumer. It embodies modernity, luxury and access
to body treatments without any sexual connotation, which is
offered equally to men and women. The spa is the new frontier of
luxury. Thus, if you have never worked in the industry before but
would like to own your own place, why not open a Spa de Beauté
rather than a beauty salon so that you are in a position to offer
both services at the same time. It would be a waste not to take
full advantage of the opportunity to use the word "spa" to refer
to your establishment.
The Spa Mix
The spa mix is made up of the following four elements:
- The services themselves: What do you offer? What massage
treatments do you perform? Who administers them? What are your
therapeutic protocols? Is the information you provide precise? Are
your beauty therapists skilled...?
- The journey within the treatment room : What does the client see
when they enter the treatment room? What is the décor like? What
kind of ambiance will be created for their treatment? What can you
do to enhance your Spa de Beauté? What kind of journey will your
clients experience in your establishment?
- The reception: What kind of welcome do clients receive? The
manner in which clients are received is a crucial element as this
is your opportunity to find out what the client is looking for and
what treatments you can recommend to suit her requirements. An
increased turn over hinges on the success of this encounter.
- The location: Where is your establishment located? Is the
location suited to your offering? For example, it may be a little
premature to open a spa in an area that is not geared towards this
yet.
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You have your establishment, you are servicing clients within the
neighbourhood, but you know that there are also many other
potential clients in the area. So why not invite your clients to
bring their spouses or partners? You don't need to venture to a
distant location outside of your neighbourhood or town. Make the
most of the space that you already have, give it a make-over and
add some spa treatments to your menu of options. Making the
transformation to a Spa de Beauté does not mean you should cease
to offer beauty treatments. Rather, it means adding other services
that create a completely different image and which will result in
increased turnover. If you are aiming to retain your current
clientele, it is not advisable to increase your prices. On the
other hand, the new services added to your repertoire may be more
expensive.
Beauty salons may function well as they are; they may be well
managed and profitable businesses. But even though they may not
have the word "spa" hanging above the entrance, bit by bit, they
are starting to incorporate typical spa treatments. Even their
communications are grounded in spa products. We are not referring
to those salons that offer advanced kinds of body treatments. They
probably do not call themselves "spas" because their owners are
hesitant to make that leap, but it is almost certain that they are
inching towards that day.
Taking into consideration negotiations with the bank in order to
secure a loan, getting quotations, the recruitment of beauty
therapists and training of staff, you are looking at about a year
from the day you decide to open a Spa de Beauté and the day you
actually open it. In the space of a year you can give your
existing establishment a real boost or you can create an entirely
new set-up. Olivier Aron has a number of clients who are opening a
second place, even in really small towns. These clients either
already own a salon and are now opening a spa, or they are busy
transforming their salon into a spa with the concept of a "Spa de
Beauté" in their minds.
Beauty Therapist Entrepreneur
These days a number of different people are trying to enter the
spa world and a number of these attempts end in failure. The spa
world is a target not only for beauty therapists but also for
hoteliers. Within the hotel industry, there are certain areas of
know-how that overlap: such as reception, cleanliness, management
of multiple locations and enhancing the appearance of the venue
but that is where the overlap ends. Hoteliers are not familiar
with the treatments and that is where you, as a beauty therapist,
have the advantage because the spa culture is already in your
blood.
And what about other interested parties from outside the hotel
industry? Imagine that you, as a budding entrepreneur, leave the
big company you currently work for, cheque in hand, and decide to
open up a spa. The statistics tell the story: you face a ninety
percent chance of failure! You have the money, it should be easy.
You have always dreamed about offering a service that benefits
people and now you have your spa! But evidently somewhere along
the line you forgot about your massage therapists and their
training, you did not know how to welcome and service your
clientele and you forgot to keep in touch with them through some
kind of written communication... The entrepreneur tends to focus
on the location, the décor and the appearance of the therapists
but he forgets about the substance that makes up a spa and the
treatments provided end up being very average... It is completely
unacceptable! A number of entrepreneurs have experienced
spectacular failures and it still happens today... Thanks to his
school, Massage Academy, Olivier Aron knows exactly what goes on
in beauty salons and spas. The treatments offered in spas today
are not of the highest quality and they are pretty much the same
type of treatments you will find anywhere. Whereas, in a renowned
spa you would be able to choose from two different types of Thai
massage that you have never even heard of before!
We are going to see fewer and fewer entrepreneurs venturing into
the spa industry, they have seen or experienced the high failure
rate... Instead, we will see increasing numbers of beauty
professionals moving into this area. One only need look at the
United States as an example to see what is happening. There, the
major growth of spas is taking place within the hotel and beauty
industries. Therefore we will see an increase in hotel spas,
beauty therapist spas as well as branded spas such as those
created by Payot, like the one which has just recently been opened
in Paris. These are the three fundamental pillars of the spa
industry today. When it comes to an individual establishment run
by someone with little or no experience in the spa or hotel
industry, two times out of ten success will be achieved and the
establishments that are successful are those that belong to owners
who may be short of capital but never short of passion, as opposed
to those where funding is plentiful but passion is lacking. Every
day, Olivier Aron sees places being started up with huge capital
investment in prestigious locations but, sadly, the quality of the
services leaves much to be desired: from the therapists to the
training to the ill considered menus... These kinds of places will
never thrive! In the blink of an eye, clients can tell that things
are shaky. The worst thing, from a marketing perspective, is to
attract new clients to your premises and to lose them during your
first encounter. Your first client costs you dearly and if you
lose them straight away, that is like throwing your money down the
drain. If a potential clients is enticed to your establishment
because of a magnificent promise you have made and she is
disappointed by the venue, the welcome she received or the quality
of the service, she will never come back, you may be certain of
that!.
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Service
Olivier Aron suggests that you construct your spa around the
services you would like to offer. In other words, it is absolutely
imperative that you start by creating your menu of treatments
before you start thinking about the décor or anything else. Design
your menu around those treatments which you know your clients
enjoy as well as some that you would particularly like to promote.
The best way to determine which new therapies you should
incorporate, is to test them. Therefore, it would be pointless
including a new kind of treatment just because everyone is talking
about it at the moment. New treatments should only be added if
they bring some real benefit to one's well-being. Once you have
selected the treatments you would like to offer, you can start to
think about the creation of your service and your product as a
whole. It is a similar process to that of designing a new
fragrance:
- The first step involves defining the fragrance. For you, it is
all about defining your treatments.
- Next, you design the perfume bottle or, in your case, the
treatment room. And then, the box, which encapsulates the perfume
bottle i.e. the shop window.
- Finally, the publicity. This is the communication between your
spa and the outside world.
Spa de Beauté Décor
The décor of your establishment should be consistent with who you
are and the desires you have. The Spa de Beauté, which you create
must reflect your dreams, your own exotic desires or even your
history. One of Olivier Aron's clients spent a portion of her life
in Polynesia and opened a spa in Rennes that was fashioned around
a Polynesian theme. Beware of making your spa like a regular salon
displaying 450 adverts for different products in your shop window!
A spa should be an urban voyage and large posters advertising
products, does not help to transport your client to the
destination of her dreams! For a chic, pared down look, a simple,
discrete reference to the brands you stock is sufficient. A good
example is to look at the evolution that has taken place within
the hair salon industry, where you will now see the product logo
stamped on the door once and that is sufficient. Large, tacky
posters advertising products have no place here. Chic and refined
is the look that will lead your clients to their destination and
that is the direction you should take when planning the décor of
your Spa de Beauté.
Olivier Aron has seen mini spas achieve great things. They may
only be 50 square metres in size comprising two treatment
cubicles, but they are functioning incredibly well because there
is a real ambiance within this small space. At Ida Delam, for
example, the rooms have been decorated tastefully and thoughtfully
and you have scarcely walked through the door when you begin your
journey. What makes a good spa is not pots of money. Yes, it is a
costly exercise creating a spa of great stature but what is even
more important, is how you communicate your intentions to your
intended audience. Here again, think abut the example of the new
perfume. You have pretty packaging on the outside and upon opening
the box, a beautiful perfume bottle is revealed, which appeals to
the imagination and it smells good inside. But it is not the 4000
square metres that determines the quality of the spa or the
quality of the client's perception.
Training
It is inconceivable to open up a spa without investing in
significant training for both yourself and the members of your
team. As you are well aware, some schools are lagging behind
current spa trends; which means you need to pursue supplementary
training. Some beauty therapists confirm that they have always
offered massages to clients, which can be summarized another way:
they have always offered the service of rubbing oil on their
client's bodies. Massage techniques today are very precise. There
is no more room for quasi-professional massage therapy. These days
your clients are more well travelled. Even those with average,
even modest, incomes may have experienced a massage on a beach in
Bali because it is relatively inexpensive. They know what it is
like to have received a top quality treatment perhaps after being
invited to a big spa for their birthday treat. They may even have
first-hand knowledge of what a true Shiatsu massage is like.
Therefore, if you are going to offer Shiatsu therapy, make sure
that it is authentic. You cannot afford to offer Shiatsu if it is
not up to the standard that your client is accustomed to
receiving. That would be a dangerous mistake to make. Therefore,
be vigilant about the quality and training of your staff. But be
aware as well, in addition to recruiting good therapists, it is
advantageous to engender a culture of learning.
In order to be able to offer a particular treatment, your staff
needs to be trained in the relevant techniques. This principle is
not widely applied by entrepreneurs trying to break into the
market. They recruit therapists based on their CV alone and,
besides, they don't even really know what constitutes a Thai
massage themselves. They just hear everyone else talking about it
and figure that they should offer it too!
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Public Relations
OK, so now you have your spa set up, you have hired quality people
but be careful that you don't neglect the PR element of your
business! Remember to allocate a portion of your budget to
marketing and PR. Don't spend all your money before you have had a
chance to start communicating with the public about your spa. If
you really do not have a spare cent, think about using your shop
window to communicate with clients. If you have a little money
then communicate with the people in your street and if you have a
little extra after that, be in touch with the people in your
neighbourhood. And of course if you have a healthy marketing
budget, then let the whole town know! Everyone knows that word of
mouth is a great tool but this does not happen immediately so it
is a good idea to create an initial flurry of interest in your
spa. To summarise, set aside some money to advertise your
establishment and don't forget to invite journalists and business
people who could drum up clients for you. Permanent visibility is
essential. Many people do not invest in marketing activities
because they think that simply opening up a pretty venue with a
website is sufficient to attract clients: it isn't!
Think about your spa the same way you would a consumable product.
A marketing budget of 10% of your turnover is reasonable. If your
predicted turnover for year one is R 1 000 000, then your
marketing / PR budget should be in the region of R 100 000. But
make sure you invest it wisely and don't try to spread yourself
too thin.
Brands, Spas and Beauty Therapists
These days, cosmetic brands are obsessed with their development
within the spa industry because they are reflections of the brand.
And if a spa is a reflection of a cosmetic brand, it follows that
the spa is also a reflection of you.
And these professional or mass market cosmetic brands should be
extremely interested in the role that beauty therapists have to
play in the expansion of the spa market. They can be considered as
a third force in the equation. Some of these cosmetic brands have
opened or are in the process of opening spas whose focus is on
appearance but this is not enough. They may consider a number of
smaller spas all across France for example. And beauty therapists
would be the perfect ambassadors for these brands. They could
purchase franchises of these cosmetic brands. Clarins, for
example, created the Skin Spa in England and there is no reason
why this shouldn't give rise to other spas worldwide. And the
perfect candidate to manage a Spa de Beauté such as this is you,
the beauty therapist.
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