Maximizing Medical Spa Interior Design

Earlier this year I wrote an article in conjunction with our interior Designer Pia Prevost on Medical Spa Interior Design.  It was published in The Medical Spa Report.  I thought I’d share this with everyone.  In addition, if anyone wishes to share interior design or architectural tips with the readers please feel free.  If you are interested in Acara’s Interior Design Services please contact me at 203-488-0028 x303.

FXA

Interior Motives

When it comes to running a successful medical spa, don’t underestimate the power of design.

Jan 1, 2008 By: Francis X. Acunzo, Pia Prevost Medical Spa Report

In business, it is often stated that to launch a new venture, you need three key ingredients: demand in the marketplace, skilled management, and capital. But when it comes to the world of medical spas, this three-variable formula is missing an element that is critical to the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of a medical spa: great design that successfully communicates a vision, mission, and concept. We often focus on our websites, advertisements, and printed collateral and lose sight of our most visual and experiential marketing asset—architecture and interior design. Foregoing the utilitarian approach to design typically associated with a medical facility, you build expectations in the marketplace that must be met when you use the term “medical spa” to describe your business. Failing to meet those expectations can cause you to falter. Be sure to focus on the impact the facility will have on all five senses. Attention to detail is imperative in successfully turning a medical facility into a world-class medical spa. People often attempt to do this without the right professionals or with no professionals at all. When seeking an architect or interior designer, verify his or her experience in designing medical spa facilities. Great medical spas have one thing in common—their design is effective, efficient, and impactful. MORE…

SpaBusinessMD.com Goes Live

SpaBusinessMD.com has officially gone live!  Today we announced to the world SpaBusinessMD.com as a business resource for the medical spa industry.  The following is the press release that was issued.  For the thousands of people that have already benefited from this resource over the past few weeks, thank you for your support.  For those that are landing here for the very first time, welcome.  Please feel free to provide your comments on any of the articles and posts on this Blog.

FXA

New Medical Spa Business Blog, SpaBusinessD.com, Goes Live.

Acara CEO, Francis X. Acunzo announces the launch of SpaBusinessMD.com an online business resource for the Med Spa industry. This Medical Spa business resource for owners, operators, physcians and investors features management and marketing advice, industry news and education.

Branford, CT (PRWEB) July 27, 2008 — A new blog debuted this month to help those who are developing or managing a medical spa or aesthetic practice in today’s turbulent economic times.

SpaBusinessMD.com is a Medical Spa business blog focused on providing expert advice and resources for owners, operators, physicians and investors. Featuring Med Spa industry expert, Francis X. Acunzo, this business blog serves as a central hub for collaboration, industry news, practical advice, and rich content on financing, Med Spa marketing, business strategies and effective operations.

“I’m thrilled to be able to provide an online business resource where people can gain insight, share experiences and keep abreast of Medical Spa industry happenings and educational events,” said Mr. Acunzo, Founder & CEO of Acara Partners. “I have incredible faith in the industry and believe most Med Spas can succeed with the right dose of consistency in operations and well executed marketing.”

SpaBusinessMD.com will also feature access to educational webinars, including the very timely session, ‘Recession Proof your Medical Spa’ and ‘Top 10 Reasons Why Med Spas Succeed’. Registration for the webinars is available at the Medical Spa business blog SpaBusinessMD.com.

About Acara Partners:
Acara is the business team for the spa industry offering turnkey solutions to owners, operators, physicians and investors seeking to develop, manage and market their Spa, Medical Spa, or Cosmetic or Aesthetic Practice. Acara is led by industry leader Francis X. Acunzo and his team of expert consultants with over 25 years of spa, med spa and retail healthcare experience. To learn more visit: www.acaramedspas.com

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New Medical Spa Business Blog, SpaBusinessMD.com, Goes Live

Attributes of a Successful Medical Spa Manager

The other day I was inspired by a Medical Spa Manager, Erin Russell, who manages the Med Spa at WellQuest , one of our clients.  She called up our VP of Spa Operations to say that she thought the upcoming month’s sales projections were too low!  Now understand that Erin exceeded her budget goals for the past two months and clearly expects that she will continue with this trend.

That led me to contemplate: what are the top attributes of a great Medical

Spa Manager?  It was at that point that I sat down and wrote my list of top 10.  Now understand, over the past 25 years in this business I have had over 200 managers at locations that I either owned or operated or both, so clearly I’ve seen the good, the bad and everything in between.Ok, so here we go, FXA’s Top 10 Attributes of a Successful Medical Spa Manager:

1. Embraces a service culture and promotes it throughout the organization.
2. Intuitively understands that selling is all about identifying client problems and concerns and offering the best possible solutions.
3. Is a smart doer: is able to “do” the job today just like yesterday but even better.
4. Maintains a positive attitude even during times of adversity.
5. Manages their time wisely, minimizing their office time especially when clients are in the spa.
6. Understands their role as “ Medical Maitre d’ ”: the person who welcomes the clients and insures that they are comfortable and well taken care of throughout their visit.
7. Is challenged by company goals and leads their team to success by setting individual and team goals, monitoring the goals and rewarding achievement.
8. Coaches, mentors and inspires the team to model their behaviors thus leading them to greater success.
9. Enjoys community involvement and is comfortable with group events and presentations.
10. Is a great listener.

FXA

 

The Medical Spa Marketing Dilemma: How Much is Too Much? or Just Not Enough…

I am compelled to write this post because I often see owners and managers of medical spas deciding upon marketing spending based upon incorrect assumptions.  And believe it or not this flies both ways…spending too little and spending too much.  It seems as if every spa falls into one of these two categories.

First category, the spending too little group…since that is what I’ve seen the most lately.  This typically happens after all good intentions are in place to spend the appropriate amount on marketing.  Either a new location opens it doors and (after spending so much money to launch the new business) the owner gets shell-shocked from writing so many big checks and says “enough, we can’t spend anymore money!” or just simply (through a poor planning process) has run out of money.  Here’s the dilemma: If you don’t spend money communicating your open for business you won’t have any business!  No business no money…no marketing no business…no money.  See the quandary?

Second category, the spending too much group…though we see less of this lately (recession dampens most to want to spend too much money).  This most often happens when an owner of a medical spa has had success with an advertising program and begins to believe that more is better.  The more I spend the more business I will have.  The problem here is with the relationship between how much you spend and how much you bring in.  So it’s great to have $100K of revenue per month but not so great if you need to spend $40K of radio advertising each month to get there.  The dilemma in this situation is that the more you spend the more revenue you have but the less profit you will have to show for it.

So what’s the solution?  From all of our data and involvement with Medical Spas, it is essential to identify a marketing budget that you can commit to financially and implement effectively.  This includes insuring that your business is capitalized at a level that allows for this financial commitment and you have hired the correct professionals to guide you through an effective implementation.

Interestingly enough Aesop knew a little bit about Medical Spas when he wrote “The Tortoise and the Hare” slow and steady wins the race!

FXA

The “Easy” Answer to Turning Around your Failing Medical Spa

I often speak to owners of failing Medical Spas.  They contact us hoping that we can turn them around, make them successful or at least bring them to a break-even point.

Most of the time when Acara assesses a Medical Spa we can quickly identify the “levers” to press that places the spa back on-track towards profitability.  Though it can be tough to press those levers when the same problem that got you into trouble originally still exists: you’re out of money.

The number one reason why Medical Spas fail is insufficient capital to cover the cost of doing business while waiting to achieve break-even.  Oftentimes, Medical Spa owners either believe (or are told by companies that don’t know better) that they will be profitable quickly thus they don’t plan for the right amount of money (working capital) in the bank on day one.

So, in referring back to the title of this post: “Turning Around your Failing Medical Spa” the “Easy” Answer” is experience and money!  I can guarantee you that without money to hire professionals who provide good advice, money to spend on a team of knowledgeable professionals, and money to launch a well conceived marketing plan you will not be able to turnaround your business and in the end the best decision would be to close your doors.

For those of you who know me as an eternal optimist, this post may sound a bit pessimistic, but I believe that it is important to identify the reality of the current situation of many Medical Spas.  I have incredible faith in the industry and believe most Medical Spas can succeed with the right dose of consistency in operations and well executed marketing.

So my advice for today, is to determine how you can re-capitalize your business and re-launch it.  But don’t go it alone. If you don’t have the experience and the money then just don’t keep going.

FXA

FXA’s Top Ten Reasons Medical Spas Succeed

I speak to numerous medical spa owners each week.  Many of them are experiencing great success.  With the ever increasing demand for minimally invasive cosmetic procedures you would think that all Medical Spas should succeed but they don’t.

What creates success?  How can you insure success at your Medical Spa?

Below are my top 10 reasons I have seen Medical Spas succeed.  This is based upon review of hundreds of medical spas nationwide.  The first 5 are in order of importance and then the last 5 are all equally important. 

1. Location
2. Capital
3. Passion & Drive
4. Experience
5. Sales & Marketing Program
6. Concept
7. Differentiation
8. Quality
9. Staying on Trend
10. Fair Business Practices

Location
This is the number one most important decision you will make as a Medical Spa Owner.  Once you have selected your location and built it there is no opportunity to change your mind.  There are so many critical factors to insuring a successful location that include: proximity to your market, accessibility to your location by your customers, visibility to increase marketability and the competitiveness of your market.

Capital
This is the second most important reason why Medical Spas succeed and the number one reason why they fail.  It is critical to have sufficient capital (money) to support your business as it makes its way to profitability.  This includes fully funding your marketing program, having a complete staffing plan and of course paying all overhead expenses.  Successful Medical Spas are not bootstrapping their openings and first 6 months of operations.

Passion and Drive
Opening a Medical Spa is hard work; you must have a passion for the business and a drive to succeed.  Startup businesses take long hours of intense work to make them successful.  Without passion or drive those long hours will be grueling but with it they will be memorable.

Experience
Medical Spas are complicated businesses combining the practice of medicine with a sophisticated service business.  You, your management team or consultants need to bring to the table the experience and knowledge to successfully execute your business plan and then consistently operate day-to-day.  Once you have a location and the capital, you need to then have the people that will bring it to life.

Sales & Marketing Program
Successful locations don’t open their doors and have the clients walk in wanting to buy.  Successful locations have savvy sales and marketing programs that are implemented consistently.  The marketing program should be generating the leads and the sales program should be capturing the leads converting them to consultations and then to clients.

Concept
This may seem simple but it is important to have a Concept that is clear and understandable.  Oftentimes described in your mission your concept should identify the type of service program you are offering, who will buy the services and at what quality level.  Medical Spas that have identifiable Concepts are able to position themselves within the marketplace more clearly and thus be more competitive.

Differentiation
Unless you’re the First to Market, it is critical that you differentiate yourself from your competition.  If there are 5 Medical Spas in your market, why will a client select yours over the other 4?  Without specific differentiators you will be lost in the clutter of the competition and it will be difficult to capture your fair share of the market.

Quality
As the Medical Spa world becomes more competitive you need to insure that the experience and services you provide are of the quality level that you communicate to the marketplace.  Your quality must match the expectations you build through your website and other marketing vehicles that communicate your location’s message.

Staying on Trend
Every year new technologies and techniques are being launched to increase the level of results you can receive at a Medical Spa.  Your client is well read and is seeking what is best on the market to accomplish the results they wish to buy.  Successful Medical Spas are continually identifying new trends and implementing them as part of their program.  It is important to do this before the competition so you can’t hesitate when launching new services.  It should be a competitive action not a competitive response.

Fair Business Practices
Whether building relationships with vendors, clients or employees, successful Medical Spas do this with integrity and fair business practices.  Negotiating fairly with your vendors, pricing fairly and consistently for your clients and managing consistently with your employees will create a long-term sustainable and succesful business.

FXA

Breathe Fresh Life Into Your Business: Attend an Industry Event

I just got back from IECSC in Las Vegas this past weekend.  I was there speaking Saturday morning.  My first talk was on “How to Open a Successful Medspa” and my second talk was on “How to Stay Competitive in the Medical Spa World“.  I was very pleased to see both of the seminars very well attended by owners and managers from all over the country.  If you are interested in listening to either of these seminars they are available from time-to-time in Webinar format, and there is a schedule of our webinars on the Acara website www.acaramedspas.com .

The Medical Spa Society (MSS) sponsors and arranges for all of the education at this event and they did a great job this year.  There were top industry experts and physicians that shared with the conference attendees their knowledge, insight and experience.

If you are seeking to grow or expand your business or believe that you may have lost some of the initial excitement for your business, there is nothing better than attending an industry event to breathe fresh life into your business.

To find out about future IECSC events and education provided by the Medical Spa Society visit their website at www.medicalspasociety.com .

FXA