Spa Supplies
Spas are big business now, long gone are the days of the dodgy male only massage parlour. Now spas are popping up all over the place capable of pampering us from head to toe with various products in the name of rest and relaxation. You don't need to set up a spa yourself though to benefit from the upsurge in popularity of the luxury spa.
If you can find the right range of products you may be able to get yourself "in" with one of the larger chains or hotels. If not there are plenty of opportunities to benefit from the increased awareness of spas and their treatments. Some ideas might include: -
Sell to, or through Trainers
Sell to, or through spas
Set up a specialist shop
EBAY
Set up a website
Sell through gyms/yoga studios
Advertise in local paper, or in health related magazines
As spa culture becomes more wide spread there are lots of courses available
both to train the spa operatives, and for private customers who want to learn
how to give treatments to their loved ones. These trainers are a godsend for
you; they need products themselves but also have a steady stream of clients
that will be interested in equipment and consumable products. You can find
them in the Yellow pages, or advertising in local publications, book an appointment
and get talking, find out what they need and how you can help them. Naturally
there would need to be something in it for them, spell that out clearly and
you should soon both be making money. You can of course work with several trainers
to maximise your earnings.
Working with spas is similar except of course that you need to get in front of the owner, or buyer. This will be easier if you can get a personal introduction, which you may be able to effect through one of your trainer contacts. In the event that you can¡¦t get an introduction; speak to the receptionists and explain that you would be interested in talking to whoever orders the supplies, equipment etc. you will usually be able to get the contact details of the right person. Obviously in this situation you will not offer anything that might be seen as a bribe. Work out where you might be able to apply volume bonuses and take samples for them when you first meet. This kind of preparation will show that you are serious and give you more of an edge. Remember that they may not buy straight away but if you leave a good impression they may give you a chance when current stocks run down, or if they expand, so stay in touch every 3-6 months.
Another approach with spas is to offer your products to their customers. In this instance you may want to offer the spa a cut of your profits, pay for display stands at reception, and/or the cash register, offer more expensive items on consignment etc. If you can minimise the risk to the spa of losing money, and offer the potential to increase their revenues it will be hard for them to say "no" to you.
A shop may not be the obvious answer for this product line, but I believe there is sufficient interest from professionals and amateurs to explore this option. You would need to promote the business heavily and/or seek a prime location which will require a higher investment, but a shop allows you to show a greater range of goods. You could for example have treatments and consumables on the ground floor and equipment such as massage tables, scoops, spatulas, towels etc. on the upper level(s). Promotion can be done through all of the other distribution methods to maximise your customer flow. You should also consider membership or repeat purchase discounts to reward your bigger customers.
EBAY is a great place to sell spa type products. You my need to be creative with your descriptions, but many people buy presents and treats for themselves through this channel. Remember to brand your adverts, keep several product lines running, and link everything back to your website, or physical shop.
Websites are great for large ranges; you can display your products in an organised systematic way, at minimal cost and in a manner that allows your customers to browse exactly the things they are looking for. Nobody wants to search through 50 pots of mud for wraps when they are looking for tweezers or a massage table. As we say in our "finding customers" pages you will need to promote the site to ensure sufficient visitors, and if this is your main distribution method then some kind of payment gateway is a must.
Gyms and Yoga studios may not be the obvious places to sell spa products, but typically they are populated by a more affluent, educated demographic. Their members know that they need to look after themselves and understand the benefit of working out to relieve stress. It is a short jump from there to massage and other therapeutic treatments. You might want to offer a range of products at the gym checkout, backed up by some leaflets to one of the spas, or trainers that you work with. Talks to the gym/studio manager about what they would be willing to experiment with, and as per selling through spas try to find ways to minimise their risk, and maximise their revenues. Look for the win: win.
Advertising should work for both equipment and consumable products. Be clear what it is you are selling. Include your website address, and or a phone number so that you are easily contactable. Try to target your ads if possible to life style segments of the newspaper, or lifestyle related magazines. If you can write an article about spas, or spa culture of persuade a friend to do so then you may be able to directly promote your products for free, and if not at least advertising next to such an article will increase your response rates.
You will need to do some research to understand what your product range will be. Are you going to just supply consumable items, or will you also supply equipment and specialist furniture? Make a few visits to a few spas and observe what is being used (trust me this bit will be worth the whole exercise). Once you have a list of items that you want to supply then you can start your hunt for suppliers.
Some examples from www.alibaba.com
Oils - 322 companies selling 384 products
Massage tables - 109 companies selling 299 products
Footbaths - 262 products from 87 companies
www.google.com has 2.5 million entries for massage tables, which drops to 638,000 if you add the word suppliers. You can trim this further by searching on country names or even city names.
Read our pages on "finding suppliers" to make sure you give yourself the best shot at doing a good deal.
Don't just do the research bit and then give up. The massages and other treatments are nice but you should list this as a research cost and aim to at least make it back.
Many buyers will contact you some time after your first meeting. Make sure you stay in touch with them regularly, but don't hound them. Every 3-6 months should be plenty.
Larger items might carry a higher margin, but a steady stream of repeat orders for consumable items can generate a far greater total return.
There is a lot of work in finding your product range, which will put many people off of this business line. The more comprehensive your range the better your chances of success.
There are spin off businesses here, write a guide of the best spas or spas in a specific area for example.