This week, we move into phase three of the Keys to Launching a Medspa series. Part one of phase three consists of architectural and interior design, building your brand, marketing and promotions plan and service development.
Architectural and Interior Design
Once funding is secured, you can begin both architectural and interior design. Be very critical in designing the conceptual layout — what will the flow from the reception area to the waiting room to the procedure/treatment rooms be? It is up to you to dictate and for the architect to develop for you. For interior design, consider your color schemes, interior specifications, furniture and fabric specifications and pick out any art and accessories to make the space feel complete.
Build Your Brand
When creating your brand, first think back to your USPs and points of differentiation that were identified during conceptualization. Once they are finalized, you can then build off of them to create your brand. Come up with a unique name and ensure that you can protect its trademark. Work with a designer to create your logo. Once the logo is designed, you can then develop the medspa’s website and any printed materials such as brochures, counter cards, business cards and appointment cards. Speaking of the website, it should be designed in a way that reflects the look and feel of the spa’s interior design. It should create a feeling of “Oh, I’ve been here before” when clients first arrive at your practice.
Marketing and Promotions Plan
Investing in a pre-opening promotions plan is imperative to your medspa’s success. You want to start generating buzz for your business before you even open your doors. Post-launch, Acara recommends doing a bi-monthly plan. Bi-monthly promotion plans that start at the beginning of the calendar year are good for seasonality, ensure that the promotions get updated regularly and allow for the plans to be highly detailed and well-constructed. Don’t forget to have a highly detailed marketing budget. You should know exactly how much you are going to spend. The average medspa spends about 10-15% of their projected sales on marketing and promotions.
Service Development
To create a service menu, figure out exactly which services and procedures your medspa will offer. Once that is finalized, choose the products and equipment that are needed to perform the services on the service menu. The market for products and equipment in the aesthetic medical industry is highly saturated. Don’t let that overwhelm you. Make sure you shop for them based on what you want to accomplish as defined in the service menu. Additionally, you’ll want to define the retail program. We recommend choosing one to two main product lines and any appropriate ancillary lines.
Make sure you’re caught up on the rest of the series! Read our previous posts on the five Cs of financing, parts one and two of phase one, and phase two.
