Day-in-the-Life Spa Business Owner
Have you always dreamed of owning a spa business? Wonder what it's like on the day-to-day to keep things running smoothly at a Glosshouz Spa Center? Eventually, it takes two! The Business Owner and the Spa Manager.
Read this article to learn more.
Running a spa center this size is fun and immensely rewarding, but it requires some major organization! As an overview, Glosshouz is a multi-million dollar spa operation. Per our 2023 FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document) our single location did $3.3 Mil in revenue in 2022. We are a membership spa and two thirds of all our revenue is generated by our BFF Savings Program member guests and the rest are regular repeat customers or guests for special occasion spa days. We provide wonderful all-day spa packages from 2 - 8 hours long for our special occasion visitors and out-of-towner guests (my favorite). Glosshouz is about a 4000 SQFT spa center and has spa treatment rooms, medspa rooms, blowdry bar, salon, nail stations, pedicure platform, ladies lounge, party room, kitchen, laundry operations and refreshments bar!
As a Glosshouz Spa Center Franchise business owner, you must manage and oversee the business while ensuring that the Spa Center Manager on-location receives the attention and resources she (he) needs to ensure clients receive a wow experience at Glosshouz! In this blog post, we will take a closer look at a typical day in the life of the Spa Center Business Owner versus the Spa Center Manager.
Day-in-the-life Spa Business Owner
7:00 AM – Coffee and review your bank accounts
The business owner doesn't need to do this daily, but I do it out of habit. I hear many business owners do this too! Also, it is good idea to check for any erroneous charges and make sure bills are going through as expected. You never know when a payment method might be compromised and you have to update it.
8:00 AM – Texting with your Manager
A frequent occurrence daily is to check in with my Spa Manager and hear the latest team members news: news about clients' feedback, news about team members, news about booking parties, news about the numbers an achievements from day before or month to date.
8:45 AM – Team Huddle at the Spa Center (once per week)
Occasionally, I like to stop by the spa on my way to the gym to get in a workout. Daily Exercise - Up to you! This gives me a chance to say hi to the team and pick up my mail.
A morning workout can help you start your day with more energy and focus.
10:30 AM - On your Laptop
Weekly work for the business owner may include activities such as:
Paying scheduled bills - for BOTOX & fillers, quarterly taxes etc.
Planning a maintenance visit - You know...blow out the dryer vents now and then or call the plumber.
Checking on your ad spend - making sure your getting in new visitors for your ad spend
Planning an event or open house for fun advertising and bonding with your guests
Posting a job ad for your next great hire
Looking at your revenue numbers and updating your forecast; checking on your income statement, balance sheets, and cash flow
Meeting with product vendor partners occasionally to enable them to help the spa team keep learning and growing in their careers
As well, the spa center franchise Business Owner might have a monthly meeting or more with your Spa Manager to plan and execute many of the above activities.
12:00 PM – Lunch Break
I don't always eat lunch, but if it's nice out, I'll walk my Luca, English Cream Golden Retriever (pictured above)
1:00 PM Time to Plan to Grow
Reflection on the spa growth and progress and reflecting on ways to optimize performance is always a good activity. If you are a Glosshouz Spa Center Franchise owner, we will have online tools and financial benchmarking data to share to help you optimize your franchise location business performance.
Next, we'll take a look at the daily activities of the Spa Operating Manager. To be certain, when you are first getting started opening a Glosshouz Spa Franchise business, it is not unexpected that you will also perform the role of Spa Manager for 6 months or more until you have a thorough and comprehensive understanding of spa operations. You will want to be well-equipped to guide your business and personnel by first-hand experience!
Day-in-the-life Spa Center Manager
7:30 AM Arrive at the Glosshouz Spa Center
Time to turn on the lights! Glosshouz opens at 9:00 AM on most days. When the Spa Manager arrives, she (he) performs the daily opening checklist. Things like: get the infused spa water ready, turn on the signs, start the music, turn on the wax pots, count the cash drawer, check the schedule for any notes or anomalies, notice if spa packages or spa parties are planned and who's on point! Once the spa is turned on and ready, she'll update the breakroom whiteboard with the numbers from yesterday and todays activities. This will be reviewed in the "Daily Huddle".
8:45 AM Daily Huddle
The Daily Huddle is an essential part of Team bonding and focus for the day to set everyone up for success. In the huddle we'll review service standard reminders, who has new clients, who has non-members, what is our product focus to sell, and so on. Everyone arrives 15 mins before their scheduled shift for the daily huddle!
9:00 AM Greet Your Guests
Our first clients of the day will arrive, and it’s time to greet them with a smile and make them feel welcome. This is what sets us apart at Glosshouz: our welcoming and inviting attitudes.
In fact, we get compliments and online reviews saying just that all of the time. At Glosshouz, we like to say we are a "spa for the people". Not just the elite or privileged. At Glosshouz, there is something for everyone to enjoy!
Depending on the services guests have booked, you may need to give them a brief consultation before beginning their treatment. Every new client deserves a welcome bag, a spa tour and a complimentary mimosa (over 21 yrs!). Over time, you'll get to know these women (and men) well as they develop into your friends!
10:00 AM Plan Team Trainings
Always learning, always growing. The Spa Manager is responsible for taking care of the team! That means constantly training and practicing to be the bet at all of the services we provide.
10:30 AM Ordering Products
It takes a lot of different "backbar" (those items used to complete services) to provide spa and medspa services at Glosshouz. The Spa Manager is responsible to make sure we don't run out of anything! Don't worry, we have a process for that.
11:00 AM Interview for New Hire
The Interviewing and Onboarding of new team members will be continual over time as you grow the spa revenues. You may go from 15 to 35 or so employees over time. The interview process is an important first impression of how your company operates. You'll want to determine if your new hire is right for your company culture. Will she (he) fit in? Do they represent the Glosshouz brand of over-the-top friendly? Don't worry, to help you with hiring we have a process and forms and checklists for this. As well, the Spa Center Manager is responsible for checking in with team members for 1-on-1s regularly and Performance Reviews periodically. We like to develop a cohesive and enthusiastic team who all know each other well and work proactively as a team to take great care of our guest clients and each other!
12:00 PM Time for lunch
The Spa Manager has to be fueled. Choose something healthy off the Glosshouz Spa Refreshments Menu or bring your own and get from the breakroom fridge. Either way, this is also a good opportunity to visit with a few team members in and out of the breakroom.
12:30 PM – Afternoon Appointments
As the afternoon begins, more clients will have booked throughout the day and they are arriving for their scheduled appointments. The afternoon shifts of Glosshouz Team Members may be getting started as well. You may also need to manage any walk-in clients who require last-minute treatments.
1:00 PM – Calls and Marketing Activities
The Glosshouz Spa Manager also helps answer the customer texting notes and phone, book or reschedule appointments, and so on. Most importantly, the Glosshouz Spa Manager is a great delegator. She (he) will get good at having the Team constantly working on all types of activities around the spa. Cleaning, inventory, training, "spa readiness" (resetting lockers and spa relax room), and more.
A regular routine for Glosshouz front desk team is to also follow-up on marketing leads and check-in with our two-week medspa clients. We want to make sure everyone is loving their BOTOX and other medspa results!
2:00 PM or 3:00 PM Head Home
Though it can be arranged many ways, the Spa Manager usually begins the day at Glosshouz and the Assistant Managers take over the floor around 2 or 3 PM in the afternoon. The evening shift will also perform the closing activities and checklist and make certain the spa is entirely back to organized and spic and span to start the day fresh tomorrow.
After a long day of managing your spa, it’s time to head home and unwind. You can use this time to spend time with your family, catch up on your personal life, or prepare for the next day.
Running a spa business requires a lot of dedication and hard work, but it is very rewarding as well. If you are passionate about the aesthetics and wellness industry, owning a Glosshouz Spa Center Franchise might be right for you.
When you're ready, Contact Us about beginning a your very own Glosshouz Spa Center Franchise.