Pitfall: Underestimating the synergy between your target market and your location- A Doctor's office is considered a destination- It does not rely on being in the hippest area of town, patients will travel to see the their doctor.
A Day Spa is different as its success relies on location. As a combination of the two, where do you go? A Market Feasibility and Competition Analysis is recommended prior to choosing a location. Many factors effect the selection of your location depending on your concept.
DEMOGRAPHICS Who is your patient? If you plan to offer expensive cosmetic treatments, you better make sure your surrounding towns can afford it. If you are an Alternative Healing Center with a spiritual flair, you probably don't want a location down on Wall Street.
STREET FRONTAGEIf you are a cosmetically driven Spa, you need a great location. Other factors can now affect your success. If you have a high visibility, Storefront space, you can rely on walk-in traffic. In addition, your retail area will entice the passerby to come into your Spa.
ZONINGYou will want to make sure that city/town zoning allows for a Medical Spa. This is a new business and many zoning boards do not understand what a Medical Spa is, so you may have difficulties even getting your zoning issues passed. Do this upfront. A good way around this is to collect zoning data from other existing Medical Spas.
PARKING AVAILABILITYPatients may spend, hopefully, 3 to 5 hours in the Spa. A massage seems to lose its relaxation qualities if the client needs to step outside to put another quarter in the meter.
By Alexis Ufland, Director at Lexi Design www.lexidesign.com 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). 
