Starting a spa or infrared sauna business in the United States or Canada can be challenging. Arranging for the right collection of spa services might include cosmetic treatments, personal care, and alternative medicine practitioners. Generally, a spa may include massage therapy, saunas, steam rooms, and/or whirlpools. Before opening your infrared sauna spa business, consider the services you’re interested in offering and what you want to accomplish.
Saunas fall into the category of ‘day spas’ and ‘personal care services’ as opposed to ‘beauty salons’ or ‘hair salons’, although they are occasionally combined with these. Before starting your infrared sauna spa business, there’s some paperwork you need to get out of the way. Firstly, you need to find out if there are any local licenses or regulations which will apply to your spa business. Knowing these will help guide your business space development and how/where/what services are offered. Next, you’ll need to incorporate or register your business with the government and lastly, you’ll need to get set up with the relevant tax accounts and know what amount needs to be collected.
When it comes to therapeutic treatments which infrared saunas can sometimes be portrayed as, you’re responsible for ensuring all legal and regulatory requirements are met. If you have acupuncturists, aromatherapy practitioners, chiropractors, homeopathic doctors, naturopathic doctors, and/or massage therapists, you will likely need verification of certification and licensing from a regulatory body. To this point, any medical device you use for medical purposes needs to be verified by the appropriate parties or agencies in government. What we highly recommend before starting is to speak with a lawyer skilled in small business law to ensure all paperwork’s completed.
Among all this, you also need to find a space where you know you’re going to be safe and appropriate to operate. You may have multiple options to choose from or you may not. The bottom line is that you set up a space you know is going to be ideal for finding and treating customers, and which is in line with your personal branding. To that last point, there’s no shortage of places to go to enjoy an infrared sauna or spa treatment. If you want to differentiate, that comes in your branding. Things like a name, logo, website, social media accounts, and registration of your business name all needs to take place before you open for business. Consider inspiration from similar businesses, media or books you’ve read, or elsewhere. Define what you want to represent to your clientele and what your objective is in serving the community around you. Budget-wise you will also want to set aside the necessary funds for advertising and marketing.
How much it costs to open a day spa can vary however it’s not uncommon to see start-up costs creep up to $90,000-$100,000 and above. This will be needed to lease your space, purchase equipment, handle payroll, marketing and advertising, furniture, insurance, and relevant business permits. If you don’t already have funding, you’ll need a plan on how to get it and where. Planning’s a time investment. It doesn’t cost any money. Invest your time in planning though and you may be able to avoid a lot of trouble coming down the line.
Contact a representative at Steam Sauna today to purchase steam rooms, traditional saunas, infrared saunas, and other spa rooms which can be customized according to your business needs.