Even ten years ago, spas were primarily viewed as luxury reception rooms and pampering palaces for the rich, powerful and famous, who went there “to take the waters”, but today, they are viewed as an integral part of people’s health and beauty routine – at home, at work, on holidays and on the road. Day spas are growing so rapidly that there are ones to fit your needs and expectations within driving distance: fabulous day spas are located in luxurious hotels, picturesque villages around town or within the neighborhood shopping center. Whatever your taste and comfort level is, all salons have one thing in common and that is to refresh, tranquil and coddle you.
A lot of average women nowadays get manicures every week or every two weeks, massages every other week, facials once a month. But there are still some people for whom this experience is rather new, a special luxury, a rare treat. Many have their first taste of the spa only when they get a gift certificate. Either way, the day spa is the place to go for one or two treatments, it is a mini-getaway for couple of hours where you can retreat from your daily routine.
There are couple of reasons why day spas became that popular with the people all over the world. We are living in the world where only the fittest survives and in order to fit in and succeed in the continuous round of events and constant flow of life one should be strong and healthy. It’s advertised plus we all understand without any PR involvement that usually physically attractive and well-groomed people have more chances to succeed and it’s natural for people to try to be healthier, more beautiful, more attractive and therefore happier.
There’s no denying of the fact that today the beauty does play a very big role and such a trend makes life a paradise for all the salons and care-centers that are opening new branches every day if not every hour. Plus another peculiarity of our modern life is that people are looking for the tranquility, however finding tranquility on the busy streets of the city is as challenging of a goal for most busy urban dwellers as finishing the Olympic Marathon. And is there a better place to find tranquility and repose than a spa or a day spa? The answer is no, of course.
An interesting fact is that even though women are generally considered to be the “caring after their looks” lovers, more spas these days are aiming programs at men, who are attracted to spas with medical facilities in higher numbers. They also want to experience the truly renewing and revitalizing treatments that offer the opportunity to be indulged in pure relaxation.
So the conclusion is that the beauty salons and day spas in particular are developing rapidly, will develop in the future and will turn into a big empire. For sure, this fact is obvious even to those who understand nothing in SWOT analysis or economical forecasts. We are living in the era of the beauty industry prosperity, and it even seems sometimes that the world lives following the saying by Peter’s Almanac that is as follows: ”Always remember that true beauty comes from within — from within bottles, jars, compacts, and tubes.”
The day spa is an all-encompassing experience, and a much bigger investment of course, it’s a great way to jump-start a diet or make a major or minor lifestyle change in a supportive environment and that’s right what the humanity needs for the next 50 years.
Starting a small business is always risky, and the chance of success is slim and improbable. However, if you are starting a new day spa current statistics prove that you will do much better than your counterparts because beauty industry is the one that’s worth investing in nowadays. But as for me when starting up a day spa business one should consider much more than just statistical and economical factors because it’s not easy to create a little oasis of tranquility and it really does need a special creative approach.
If I was to design a day spa for young people I would definitely open it in a section of the city that is renown for its funky shops, good clothes boutiques, universities and dorms and night clubs because in such parts of the city the youth usually looks for a place that will rock their world in a gentle and comforting way.
What one usually sees at the day spas is an associate that’s greets you at the door wearing cottony black or white yoga-inspired gear. He is usually barefoot and ushers the client into an inner sanctum of soothing colors, sounds, smells and diffuse lighting. But my day spa will be a bit different, even though it’ll be designed to be an island of tranquility I still want the young people to be its dominant clients and without a shadow of doubt, young people want something different than soothing colors and white flowers on the window sill, they need something “freakier” as you may say it. The young generation goes to the day spa to relax but even the relaxation may be fun and that’s what I’m going to offer to my clients.
My day spa will be a middle sized place, the walls will be light blue because blue is the color of understanding, health, tranquility, protection, peace and general happiness, another color that will be used in my wall décor will be cheerful sunny yellow that is an attention getter. The walls will be also punctuated by Zen-inspired photos and an eclectic array of comfy furnishings that will look both appealing and relaxing, I may also put some bright pictures of abstract artists on my walls because those always add a lot to the interior.
The public lounge area will offer an inviting vinous upholstery sofa and armchairs with a lot of colorful pillows on them, and after you change into your robe and slippers you will return to this space for a soothing foot soak and couple of face-cleaning masks.
The ceiling will be white but there will be couple of round lamps to light the room, it’s possible that the lights will be light yellow or light blue in order to make the rooms more appealing for a demanding young person. The floors will be covered with ceramic tiles that can be used to enhance and beautify the room, I may chose some kind of a theme pattern for the floor, maybe some fruit to make even the floor in the room lively and funky.
Lovely white, yellow, blue and pink flowers will sit on a counter top, along with 3 silver candle holders. A CD of Sting, Brian Adams or Dido will waft in the air at the entrance and, if you gaze up, you’ll see a skylight revealing the looming sky above because the building in which my day spa is will be either one-stored or on the roof because there’s nothing more relaxing an exciting than the view of the sky.
The music will of course be played during the treatments, especially massage, where the point is to get away from stress. But as everyone’s tastes are different there will be a rich CD collection to chose from: nature sounds and opera, popular singers and Gregorian chants, hip-hop (if somebody finds that relaxing), ska and even punk rock music. The therapists will be savvy and they will do their best to quickly adjust one’s environment.
Of course my day spa will be able to offer all kinds of treatments, starting with facial cleansing with a variety of products, massage, waxing, body wraps and finishing with manicure, pedicure, skin exfoliation and solarium. The robes and slippers of different colors will be offered and so one will be able to chose the color that suits him/her perfectly.
If I plan to design a day spa especially for young generation (age 18-27) it will be a very hard task to cope with because even though young people seem easy to approach in real life they tend to be even harder to satisfy than older people, probably because of the skepticism that’s peculiar to the young generation. Anyways, I will try to use my creative design ideas to attract the clients to my spa and of course I will hire professional highly-motivated employees that will help me make my business a profitable one.