We’ve made it to the last post of the 4 part series in InSPAration Management’s blog on gaining financial health! So far, we’ve covered having a budget and your profit and loss statement. Then on Friday, we read about managing your spa inventory, which is very important when it comes to breaking down your spa budget plan and calculating what to spend for necessities. Finally, here is the last strategy you can utilize to achieve financial stability for your spa business!
4. Expense management tips
Guest supplies:
- Avoid using paper goods such as cups and plates. Use glass instead, or washable and durable high-end plastic. This will represent a big savings over time.
- To save on laundry, only offer robes to spa guests who are having multiple treatments.
- Use paper for waxing clients; this will save on wear and tear of your linen and laundry.
- Control the spa team’s intake of the refreshments. This can get very expensive if you are supplying the team with snacks and gourmet drinks.
Paper copies
Place PDF files of all your client files online and recommend they go to your website to download spa forms for them to print, complete, and bring with them. This will save you a large sum of paper and ink and time. Or, they have the option of completing them online and emailing them to you.
Supplier’s contributions
Your suppliers can contribute to your spa event, samples, and training. Make sure you set up a meeting to discuss their contribution to help you cut expenses. Sampling can be very costly without the vendor’s contribution and, to sell, you must be able to sample products.
Gratuity processing fees
This is a cost that many spa owners do not take into account. When a guest gives the gratuity on a credit card, the spa owner pays a credit card processing fee on that transaction, therefore increasing your cost. Some spas are enforcing cash-only tips. Consider charging the card processing fee out of the gratuity prior to paying your team in order to avoid this additional cost to payroll.
Bartering to cut cost
You can barter many services to cut cost. For example, your bookkeeping and accounting cost can be bartered. Your fresh flowers, refreshments, graphic design, website updates- almost everything you need can be bartered. That automatically provides you a 50% cut on cost. We encourage you to build bartering relations to cut your cost.
The spa industry is filled with right brained people, and that is fine- but if you want to be a successful business person, you need to fall in love with numbers and look at them often to measure your success!
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What if you’re brand new to the spa business and just opened, or are considering opening, a new spa? Is it worth the investment? Check out InSPAration Management’s Feasibility Study to learn everything and avoid costly mistakes!
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