Pamela Hill Institute

When starting an aesthetics business, as with any type of business, it is important to know your community intimately.  Knowing your clients and potential clients will help you serve their needs when they become clients, and help your marketing efforts as you reach out to them in customer gathering exercises.  Of course, if you are opening your business in a town that you already know well, you have a leg up. If it is your home town where you grew up, or once you’ve lived in for several years, so much the better.

If you don’t already know the town as well as you should, it is time for investigation. That means the town in general and those things related to the business of aesthetics as well.  Find out how many medical spas, day spas and related businesses the town has and get an idea of their clientele.  Look at where they are advertising and check back and see how long they’ve been with various media.  It is a good best that they only continue with advertising methods that have proven to work for them.

Take a look at the services offered by day spas and medical spas locally. What products and services do they emphasize?  Are most of the clients there for facials?  Waxing?  Look at the package deals they offer, and especially any newspaper ads, flyers or coupons.  Becoming a one time customer to get an idea of how they operate will be a small investment that might be worthwhile.

Next, become involved in the community.  What organizations and activities do you normally participate in?  Church, charities, sports, education?  The more people you get to know through networking, the better for your business later.  If you are going to be involved in fundraising for a charity event anyway, make sure that you have business cards with you to give to anyone you talk to when the time seems right.  The same with church, the PTA, the Spanish language class or yoga class you were considering taking, and even those folks you meet in the grocery store. Many business people have a “three foot rule” which means, if they are within three free of you, you give them a business card.

Doing your research on the community you plan to do business in is always a good investment of your time.  Know the area and you’ll have more success in business.

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The old saying goes, you can’t stop a man (or woman) with a plan. In business, writing a business plan is essential.  If you intend to borrow money to start the business, whether it is from a bank, from the SBA or from relatives or friends who believe in you enough to invest, a business plan is essential to show where you are going and how you intend to get there.  Here’s what it should include.

The Market Area

The market area section should have an overview of the community.  Demographic information you can obtain at the local library or from the chamber of commerce will show growth patterns.  An overview of the community itself will show the need for your type of business now and in the future as the city grows.  Age trends, class trends, financial and income trends of the population both now and in the future should be taken into consideration.

The Competition

What other businesses will you be competing against?  Analyze who they are and what their strengths and weaknesses happen to be.  Consider yourself an intelligence agent, just like James Bond.  Find out how long the competition has been in business, and if possible through checking Dunn and Bradstreet ratings and other financial sources, how much income they earn in general terms.  List the competition in your business plan and outline what you will be doing differently from what they do, and what you can offer clients that they cannot offer or do not offer.

The Principals

The principals are the owners and the key personnel involved.  Most business plans include resumes or biographical information on the main people who will own and operate the business, listing their qualifications, their strong points, and the reasons that they are headed for success.  If you have a partner, or have chosen key aestheticians to work with you, this is the place to list them.

Financial Information

How much money do you have?  How much do you need?  This means you, personally and the business itself. During the ramp up period when the business is getting established, how much money will you need to have set aside in order to survive until the business is paying for itself and paying for you as well.  

Marketing Information

How will you promote the business?  What action will you take to acquire clients?  It isn’t enough to just say “I’ll buy some ads” or “I’ll print some flyers.”  A marketing plan that uses all tools at your disposal, including grand openings and other event marketing, press releases, brochures, personal selling, networking, community involvement by you personally to spark word of mouth publicity, public speaking, and paid advertising are all essential.  This aspect of the business plan needs to be thought out very carefully and it may be wise to consult with professionals, such as marketing professors at the local college to get an idea of their thoughts on the matter.  Reading the popular books on the subject to learn about such topics as branding and top of mind awareness are necessary to have a successful marketing campaign.

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Aestheticians are clinical professionals who provide a variety of services in a spa setting, concentrating on skin care.  The services they provide can include various methods of hair removal such as waxing in a day spa and intense pulsed light therapy or laser treatment in a medical spa.  They can perform different types of skin care including microdermabrasion and chemical peels, exfoliation, facials, waxing, and even the application of permanent make-up.  The goals of the aesthetician are to make the client look better, make the client feel better, and provide the client with education on methods to achieve optimal skin health.

Beauticians Cut and Style

The beautician cuts, styles and utilizes other methods to care for hair and performs basic beauty steps such as make-up application and manicures.  Older clients have probably gone to beauticians, also known as cosmetologists, all of their lives, but may only recently have become aware of the profession of the aesthetician.  

Spas have existed in the United States for over a century, but the day spa concept went through a renaissance in the 1980’s and 1990’s, becoming more popular than at anytime in our history.  Then in the 1990’s the European concept of the medical spa moved from Italy to the United States and caught on light wildfire.  

The Aesthetician and the Beautician Are Natural Allies

The aesthetician and the beautician are natural allies and colleagues, whether in a day spa or a medical spa environment. They serve essentially the same clientele and both have the best interests of their clients at heart.  Both also are regulated by government in most if not all states, in addition to applicable local ordnances.  While a beautician would have to go through an entirely new training and licensing process to enter the field of aesthetics, in many jurisdictions the aesthetician is already qualified to perform the services of the beautician.  And in those jurisdictions where she is not already considered qualified, the addition of this credential can be acquired rather quickly, allowing the aesthetician to perform these services for clients as well.  

Should an aesthetician decide to add the services of a beautician to her resume and list of services provided, it is a good way to ensure that aesthetics clients continue to receive the high level of service that the professional wishes to provide, simply by providing those services herself.  This is a win-win situation for the aesthetician and for the client.

Insurance often seems expensive until you need it, and then it seems cheap, or at the very least, worth the price.  Ask anyone who has been in an auto accident who had good insurance, and then ask the same question of an uninsured driver.  Of course, in most states auto insurance is mandatory and the aesthetician in a medical spa setting sees it as an option.  It can, however, be looked at as an option that the professional clinician is well advised to have.  

Medical doctors for years have budgeted in malpractice insurance because society has become more litigious over the years.  When someone can spill hot coffee on themselves at the drive-through of a fast-food restaurant and then win millions of dollars from the resulting lawsuit, you know that placing your fate in the hands of a jury and the arguments of two lawyers is a lot like rolling dice in Las Vegas.  

Since we are talking about your livelihood at the very least, and your life savings if a court finds against you should a client claim damages, having professional liability insurance should be high on the list of any aesthetician.

A Medical Spa Is Different From A Day Spa

A medical spa is different from a day spa, so the insurance requirements are also different.  A medical spa incorporates services and procedures that are, in most  states, considered to be the practice of medicine.  Clinicians performing procedures under the supervision of a physician need the protection insurance offers, just in case.

What About A Rider On The Doctor’s Policy?

Many people wonder why it is not simpler to get a rider on the medical malpractice insurance the medical doctor affiliated with the medical spa is carrying anyway.  This idea is good, but most carriers do not offer this service.  The price of medical malpractice insurance for physicians has skyrocketed in recent years due to the many lawsuits – some thought to be frivolous – that have been filed.  

Packaged Deals Mean Deep Discounts

Generally insurance coverage can be acquired in a package that includes business office coverage: business personal property, slip and fall, hired and non-owned auto, valuable papers, advertising liability, computers and other areas will all be covered.  If this is combined with Workers Compensation coverage discounts usually apply.  If any health or life insurance policies for employees are provided by the medical spa, then the same carrier generally will write all policies again offering major discounts.  Whatever the source however, liability insurance is something all aestheticians should look into for safety’s sake.

Intense pulsed light, or IPL, is  commonly used by aestheticians and other practitioners to remove body hair through focusing optics and a specially constructed xenon flash lamp light source. This technology is also employed in treatment of skin centered medical disorders such as  sun damage induced uneven pigmentation and vascular changes,  poikiloderma of civatte, extreme acne, Rosacea,  capillaries and telangiectases, vascular birthmarks and  pigmented birth marks. This  treatment technology incorporates what is known as dual mode filtering, an important advance which results in more safety of the client and more effective treatment than previously used systems.

How The Process of IPL Works

Focused  broad spectrum light  in IPL treatment is applied to the skin surface by use of either a hand-held wand or an articulated arm. The intense light  waves travel through the skin tissue  until it strikes hair shafts or the bulb of the hair, the hair root itself.  The hair root is where the highest concentration of melanin is. When light strikes the melanin, which is dark in color, the light is then converted to heat energy, which vaporizes the hair shaft. Intense head radiated by the hair will then destroy the entire hair follicle.

Intense Pulsed Light Is Of Short Duration

Light pulses produced by the IPL devices are of short duration which keeps discomfort to a minimum. Clients may experience a slight irritation which is much like a minor sunburn. At worst a small amount o blisters can occur.  Men tend to have more discomfort since men’s hair is thicken than women’s.  Also treatment of sensitive body areas such as the face and the chest can result in minor pain, much like that which comes from waxing. The pain, however, does go away quickly.  UV skin damage is avoided through filtering of the IPL wand.

Popularity of Intense Pulsed Light Is On The Increase

The popularity of IPL is increasing.  The cost is low and the procedure doesn’t take a lot of time.  It also compares in a favorable manner to laser hair removal which is a much more expensive process which takes more time.  Most people consider the results to be roughly equivalent.  Most clients who undergo intense pulsed light treatment report good results, and in the hands of a skilled aesthetician the procedure is safe for most skin types. The popularity is bound to continue to grow.