Top 5 Mistakes to avoid when re-opening your spa

With governments making efforts to resume economic activity in the safest way possible, businesses across the globe are slowly re-opening or preparing to re-open their doors. 

Most spas are understandably desperate to get some revenue in after weeks of inactivity. However, it is important to be mindful of the potential pitfalls of opening too hastily.

Read on as I take a look at the five big mistakes that spas should avoid during this critical phase.

1. Overlooking re-evaluation of treatment menus

The pandemic has affected people in a deep and unique way. With confinement, self-isolation and social distancing being forced upon the world, wellness has taken a whole new meaning, different from what we were accustomed to before the outbreak. Re-opening your spa without carrying out the necessary business review and without evaluating your treatment menu may lead to your service offering becoming irrelevant to your customers’ needs today, or the skill-set of your team that may have had to be streamlined. 

Tip:

Revisit your treatment menu and re-evaluate your offering. Only keep the treatments that would be most beneficial to a person who has endured the stresses of the lockdown. Study the business intelligence reports generated by your spa software so you can understand what your best-sellers were before the pandemic, and how they may have been affected by the pandemic.

2. Ignoring client needs and scientific evidence

Now more than ever, evidence, hygiene and safety play a vital role  in a consumer deciding to engage any kind of wellness provider. By ignoring client needs and the research available on the benefits of our wellness services, spas run the risk of working with erroneous assumptions and offering services that no longer match consumers’ new reality. 

Tip:

Research the wellness benefits of your treatments, find out what science says about how people’s wellbeing has suffered during lockdown, and from there see how your treatments could help. Speak with your clients and ask them what their wellness needs and  priorities are now. With your team, work this information into an adapted offering, your new Minimal Viable Product (MVP). Your MVP will be key in helping your spa gain valuable client feedback that you can then use to tweak your services to cater more effectively to their needs.

3. Succumbing to protocol mania

Lockdowns have provided businesses all over the world a rare opportunity to thoroughly evaluate their systems. The danger of this, however, is that too much time may be spent in coming up with hypothetical plans that might not work practically. In an attempt to put comprehensive systems in place and leave little to no room for error, directors may end up drawing up complex protocols and checklists that look impressive on paper but are near impossible to implement.

Tip:

While it is essential to be thorough in our assessments, be wary of creating exhaustive lists and protocols that may most likely set your staff up for failure. Leave room left for flexibility and adaptation as situations change with the progression of the crisis. Engage your current employees in the process and get their valuable input into the most efficient, realistic and safe way to serve your clients once you re-open.

4. Losing sight of the Balance Sheet

Now that several cost measures need to be factored into the delivery of treatments in a safe way, most spas are keeping a close eye on their Profit & Loss and cost of sales. This is great, as it is important to ensure quality service delivery while closely monitoring spa expenses. However, it is equally important to keep an eye on your balance sheet. 

As per a recent report by Deloitte, “in order to minimize working capital requirements during challenging times, it’s important to apply a coordinated approach that addresses all three areas [payables, receivables and inventory]”.  Spas must turn their attention to the balance sheet and ensure their financing remains intact during this survival phase.

Tip:

Consider alternate or non-traditional revenue streams, for example, memberships, affiliate programmes, and strategic partnerships instead of only one-to-one treatments. Additionally, try to convert fixed costs to variable ones wherever possible. Spas, in general, have high overhead costs. To free up working capital, we must explore a business model that is favourable to our balance sheet and industry professionals.

5. Backsliding into old norms

As humans, we have a tendency of clinging to what we know, of the familiar, and being sceptical or scared of what we don’t know, of the unfamiliar. We were plunged into a world of uncertainty overnight, and it is all too tempting to return to the way things were before. As lockdown restrictions slowly lift, we are already seeing many businesses jumping on the hope to slip back to ‘business as usual’ pre-pandemic, the only ‘change’ being the implementation of the necessary safety measures. 

Tip:

The world has changed in a deep and unique way. The pandemic and subsequent global recession have given rise to a new set of challenges that can’t be dealt with by old solutions. Find ways to stay innovative in your spa, keep updated on industry trends and come up with fresh solutions to tackle the new challenges the world is facing today.

Would you like to find out more about how your spa can best prepare for the post-lockdown world? Email me at [email protected] and let’s have a chat.