Develop Your Medical Spa … How to Avoid the Pitfalls! By Alexis Ufland, Lexi Design Sunday, 16th December 2007

As Medical Spas move from a trend to a staple in the industry many doctors would like to create their own unique profitable business - Taking the correct and necessary steps during the development stage is essential to a Medical Spa’s success.

During the development of a Spa project, your money and time need to be managed efficiently. Even the seemingly smallest of errors can cause major financial setbacks if not implemented correctly from the inception. However, when strategically executed, a Medical Spa can lead to satisfied patients and huge financial gains. Here are the ten steps to developing your Medical Spa and how to avoid the common mistakes and pitfalls.

Step One:  Secure a Solid Concept
Pitfall:  Trying to be everything to everybody

Secure a solid concept. Your ‘concept’ is not just a ‘Medical Spa’. Even though Medical Spas are relatively new, they are rapidly evolving. Like Day Spas, Medical Spas are now specializing. Initially, Day Spas tried to be everything to everybody. Offering a wide spectrum of Spa services under one roof, some Day Spas offered Face Treatments, Body Treatments, Hair, Nails, Nutrition, Yoga, Alternative Healing, Pilates, Chinese Medicine, Tanning, etc.

Anything that was Spa-oriented was stuffed into a 2,000 square foot space with a fifteen-page menu of service and sometimes up to 65 different facials! The result was that everything fought each other and nothing was profitable. 

The Aesthetician didn’t promote the tanning bed. The Nutritionist didn’t like the Chinese Herbal Supplements.  The Alternative Healers didn’t like the chemicals in the Hair Treatments, etc. Today, you will see Day Spas and Medical Spas that specialize; they do one thing and they do it well. 

For example, The Skinklinic, NY, NY, focuses on clinical cosmetic treatments, Yanna, NY, NY, specializes in herbal face and body treatments and Sundari Spas concentrate on Ayurvedic Spa services and products, combined with Yoga.

Western Medicine is joining forces with Spa services, forming three main specialized concepts. Cosmetic Spas have taken the lead by joining Western Medicine with Aestheticians for complete cosmetic skincare. Other Medical Spas join the forces of Western Medicine with Alternative Healers such as Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, Massage Therapists and Ayurveda for different approaches to healing.

The newest concept is a Patient Specific Spa where Western medicine is aligning with a mix of Cosmetic and Alternative Healers to create a Medical Spa experience for a specific patient, i.e. an Oncologist, OB-GYN, and even Dentists!

On the flip side of offering everything, a common mistake is offering too little or nothing related to your practice. There is a fine line between being a Medical Spa and ‘sharing office space’. Prior to joining with another practitioner, you need to ask yourself a few questions.

How does this practitioner complement your practice? How are these treatments going to help enhance your practice? Will it generate traffic and/or revenue? How can you package your services combined with these treatments? Your ultimate goal is to secure a solid concept that complements your practice, does not compromise your integrity, but most importantly is marketable and will generate revenue.

ALEXIS UFLAND - Director

A respected authority in the Spa industry, Alexis Ufland has developed premier Spas across Europe, Asia and the United States. With a unique combination of creativity, development and operations, Ms. Ufland will create and implement a proven turnkey operation that guarantees success. Ms. Ufland has written numerous articles on Spa development and has been quoted in the top industry trade magazines as well as lectured at national trade events. She is currently pursuing certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. (LEED).

www.lexidesign.com