It's been a roller coaster of 12 months for every business owner all over the world. One positive to come out of the last year is our industry has DEFINITELY grown from strength to strength and the power of connectivity and the zest of business owners helping one another has been tremendous throughout our industry. We now know we can not only survive during a pandemic but for many in our industry our businesses have never been busier!
Our clients and customers cannot travel or spend their hard-earned dollars overseas let alone interstate. Guests are spending more with us than ever before - it's incredible to see!
With this wonderful success boom in our industry comes many challenges - some positive & some negative. One negative we are seeing on a lot of the online forums is the staff shortage in our industry.
Many of our therapists have opened home business' or left our industry completely pre covid_ With this current industry boom, we have more guests than ever before but we are left with a skills shortage with every second business is currently looking to hire qualified and experienced staff.
So, what else can you do if you are in this fabulous position of being 'fully booked' & now turning customers away...
I believe it's time to start looking at services that don't need a therapist, how we can make revenue on our unused areas in our business, and invest in equipment
This is exactly what I am looking at in my business right now. have two successful Medi Spas in regional NSW. There is no one qualified on the radar for us to employ and we are 3 hours away from a major city. Not even our local TAFE will recommend students which makes it incredibly tough. With this in mind I believe our answer is to look for treatments and experiences that require no therapists as such, but ones where we can train a professional to assist in the business or bring in a new apprentice or retail trainee.
SOME TREATMENTS THAT I BELIEVE WE COULD ALL BE LOOKING AT IF OUR BUSINESS MODELS PERMIT ARE:- Relaxation massage loungesThere are fabulous options for massage chairs now, they recline, you can perform a facial in them, they can play music, they can blow oxygen at you. you can even add a TV but I also see that it saves our therapist's hands. and if you want to keep staff happy, often it's less massage on a day-to-day basis.
An LED light facial loungeA consultation can be held on the first visit with a qualified practitioner with a complete LED recommendation treatment plan for home & in the clinic, documented with the guest arriving each follow-up visit and looked after by the trained receptionist
After the initial consultation, your front desk team will be able to set up the client each visit and assist with the application of SPF / creams. I would recommend a regular check-in/phone call to ensure your customers are happy during their program by the qualified professional to ensure the guest's results are on track but your guest is relaxing in the massage chair under the LED & you aren't turning customers away'
Teeth WhiteningTeeth whitening treatment whilst your guests relax in the massage lounge. Teeth whitening is still very popular in many clinics but again I always recommend regular checkups as teeth sensitivity can happen often & use reputable brands.
Meditation loungesCompanies like Ginger & Me have mastered this with wellness & mindfulness a must for our stressed clientele. It's a great way to include this in your clinic as another added bonus. Again, utilizing your massage chair + adding on mindfulness experiences means you can keep adding more dollars to your business without a therapist.
Infrared saunas:The health benefits of infrared saunas is endless. These are an excellent wellness option that again only needs an operator to tum on & off & clean between. Excellent for clients on detox programs who may also be using your LED lounge for skin clearing/healing_ Many customers are having fat cavitation too & thus could be a great way to cross-promote with other nearby clinics to help each other's guests.
You can have a whole new *massage experience lounge service menu' the choices are endless add a face mask, add a foot spa treatment... the choice is yours.
Let your business continue to boom by adding in treatments that don't require a qualified expert but instead let your companies train your front desk team/trainees in how to operate and recommend home care recommendations.
We all need to start thinking outside the square a little to keep innovating our business' in tough staffing times