If you are developing a new spa or have identified the need to improve your existing spa's business performance in a competitive market, at some stage you may consider hiring a spa consultant.

There are three key reasons why businesses hire consultants:

1. The required expertise in not available in-house

2. Additional time is not available to devote to the project

3. Additional staff are not available to work on the project

When hiring a spa consultant, it is expected they have the expertise to address specific requirements and provide solutions. The consulting engagement usually includes some verbal advice, however the key deliverables are usually in the form of written documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Intellectual Property Ownership

Ownership of the intellectual property (IP) contained in the deliverable of a consulting engagement is a key issue which cannot be overlooked by either the consultant or the client. Both parties may want to own the IP as it places them in a very powerful position, however on a practical level a compromise must be established.

"To own 100% of the deliverable, you pay the consultant to re-invent the wheel"

A client pays consultants for advice aiming to improve their business, their competitive position in the industry and their profitability, and the client naturally expects to own 100% of the deliverable. However to own 100% of the deliverable including the IP, every piece has to be developed from the beginning, uniquely for each client, making the consulting engagement prohibitively expensive as you pay the consultant to "re-invent the wheel".

Consultants typically keep a copy of client deliverables to reference during future engagements. For the consultant, this means they can offer much higher value to the next client as they can deliver IP which they were paid to develop for earlier clients. For the first client, their competitive position is eroded and for the second client it means potentially a cheaper consulting engagement by receiving a similar deliverable as the first client. This apparent conflict means that every consulting engagement will be a compromise of time, cost and IP ownership.

Consequences of Not Controlling IP

As a consultant, if you grant ownership of the IP and copyright to your client, making a copy or using a significant part of the material for a second client would be a breach of copyright. The penalties in each country are different, however for example, in Singapore this would be a fine of SG$50,000 and/or 5 years imprisonment for each copy (Source: Singapore Copyright Act (Cap. 63)).

A client who does not gain ownership of the IP and copyright, will be paying a consultant to develop deliverables which the consultant can freely re-sell to other consulting clients, who may potentially be the original client's competitors. Also, the client will not have the right to copy, modify and distribute the deliverables without the consultant's permission. Any breach of copyright could create a costly court battle resulting in potential fines and imprisonment.

Protection of copyright and confidential information varies from country to country, however it is a clear principle acknowledged under the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement which means you may expect similar regulations in all WTO countries.

Maximising Consulting Efficiency

In order to balance the needs of consultants and their clients with respect to time, cost, efficiency and avoiding any breach of copyright:

• Ensure ownership of copyright is clearly documented and agreed before the start of any consulting engagement.
• Use commercially available products as the basis of deliverables to avoid paying consultants to "re-invent the wheel".
• Focus the consulting efforts on the requirements which make your business unique.
• Make sure you have the legal right to copy, edit and distribute any deliverables including the ability for the spa or even a different consultant to edit and/or update the deliverables in the future.

Be Your Own Spa Consultant

If you do not have the additional funds to hire a spa consultant, you may be your own consultant by purchasing a "Site License" of Intelligent Spas' Spa Operating Procedures, Policies & Forms Manuals, which provides a word document so spas may customise the manual to incorporate their unique requirements.

Tips for Effectively Hiring Spa Consultants

Outsourcing a project is a big decision and often involves a significant investment and reward. To ensure you receive high value from the consultant, it is imperative enough time is allocated to the selection process. Too many clients are so anxious to get the results they miss this critical step and waste a lot of money paying for an unsuccessful project. There are two key documents to assist you to assess and recruit the best consultants for your requirements.

About Intelligent Spas
Julie Garrow, Managing Director of Intelligent Spas represented three of the big four global tourism, leisure and hospitality consulting firms in Australia and Singapore between 1992 and 2001.

Intelligent Spas is an independent research company specialising in the spa industry and publishes a range of Spa Business & Operations Manuals, Spa Consumer Surveys and Spa Industry Surveys to assist industry development, growth and performance, effectively providing research which businesses find logistically and financially impossible to collect. www.IntelligentSpas.com