It’s easy to get lured in and want to hop on the MedSpa bandwagon but launching without a strategic plan in place is like building a house without a strong, solid foundation.
Our team at Clarity Technologies has helped launch dozens of successful MedSpas and has provided consulting services to hundreds of providers, entrepreneurs, and private equity investors over the years. That’s why we wanted to share some of the most important factors to consider that will create a strong foundation and set you up for success.
1. Market Characteristics
The status, pace, and growth of your niche market are the most critical factors that will directly impact the success and profitability of your MedSpa. Take a pulse of what’s happening in your target area. Is the market already saturated? How many offices are currently in operation? How many have opened in the last five years? Are they expanding? What specialty treatments and services do they offer?
Identify practices that have demonstrated considerable success and learn from them. Take note of their infrastructure, marketing style, target clientele, etc. Your goal is to create a MedSpa that excels above the competition. There are a few ways to approach this goal. First, you can strive to meet the needs of your target clientele better than existing practices. This can be achieved by providing a superior patient experience: upscale office and treatment areas, knowledgeable and engaging staff, and personalized treatment plans.
Conversely, you can strive to meet a new need in your target population by specializing in a new area or offering unique treatment plans. The key is to identify an area of the aesthetics market that is underdeveloped in your local market—and capitalize on it.
2. Population Statistics/Ideal Client Avatar
Before launching a MedSpa, you’ll want to carefully define your target patient population. Where do they live? Where do they shop? Which restaurants do they frequent? Identify this population and research them extensively. Research to determine their average household income and their average monthly expenditures on aesthetic services, among their other discretionary expenditures. Consider what types of aesthetic services they are currently seeking and what types of services they might be interested in. Identifying and characterizing your target population will further help you define your niche market. If you can identify a need in your target patient population that hasn’t been met by the current market, you’ve accomplished the most important—and perhaps the most difficult—part of launching your new business.
3. Competition
Identifying and understanding your competitors is a critical factor that will directly impact the success and profitability of your business. What types of services and treatment plans do they offer? Are there any specialty practices already in the market that specifically focus on a service such as body contouring? We suggest you identify three to five of the most successful offices in your area, secret shop by calling the practice, view their website, take notes, and even visit the competition. How long have they been open? How fast are they growing? How many providers do they have? How extensive is their support staff? What is their patient retention rate, according to industry reps? By mapping out these details for each of your top competitors, you will begin to understand key elements you want to implement or avoid when opening your medspa.
4. Location/Potential Resources
Once you’ve identified your niche market and target patient population, you’ll want to make sure that the region you’re considering can support your vision. The area where you choose to launch is critical. It will affect your ability to staff, manage, and grow your business. What are the local demographics? Your staff’s ability to listen, engage and communicate with your patients is among the most critical aspects that will shape the success of your office. This begins with hiring the right people and training them well. The Clarity Practice Performance System features a comprehensive sales training course for every member of your practice. We highly recommend training your team you hire the right way from the beginning.
The accessibility of technical support for your equipment you plan to purchase, or have purchased is another important resource you’ll want to consider. Your equipment and supplies will need regular and established maintenance and support to ensure optimal performance. Most laser companies offer a maintenance plan, but they can be very expensive. It is important to find out how quickly support personnel can arrive onsite to troubleshoot or maintain equipment. Do they offer a loaner if repairs are necessary?
The potential for collaboration is one last element to consider before making the final decision on where to open your practice. Are there any practices in the area that offer services that would complement your services or specialty? Would a collaboration or referral system make sense? In some cases, it may be more beneficial to work with key competitors rather than against them. There may be an opportunity to offer patients a bundled promotion or personalized treatment plan that successfully incorporates the expertise of both practices. If this opportunity exists, you are capitalizing on existing resources and building upon them to maximize your profitability and success.
5. Personal Drive/Mindset
Your personal drive and mindset are key elements that will impact the launch and success of your MedSpa. If you want to have a high-performance practice, you must put in the work and train like a high-performance athlete. You’ll need to dig deep, roll up your sleeves, and be persistent.
That means not only mastering the clinical techniques, knowledge, and expertise, but also honing your business acumen and skills so that you can train your team the right way in sales, finances, and operations.
As a business leader, you’ll be required to make informed, data-driven decisions to support the growth and success of your MedSpa. This includes hiring and training providers and administrative staff, implementing efficient processes and protocols, creating a successful marketing plan, consistently achieving new goals in patient retention and conversion, and understanding key performance indicators (KPIs).
How Clarity's Practice Performance System Sets Your Future Medspa Up for Success
The Clarity Practice Performance System can help you set your future medspa or recently launched medspa up for success from the very beginning. In addition to the sales, finance, and operational training components that can set your practice up the right way to be both profitable and efficient, and the data analytics and business intelligence tools, Clarity Technologies clients receive ongoing masterclasses, webinars, and professional coaching/mentoring from the industry’s top practice consultants. The Ultimate subscription is perfect for new practices as it comes with several one-on-one consulting calls. We invite you to schedule a discovery call here to see how Clarity Technologies can set your future or newly launched MedSpa up to be as efficient and profitable as possible.
