What’s new? What’s now? What’s hot? What’s not? Have you asked yourself these questions lately? If you’re looking to sustain, grow, or expand your business in 2008, these questions should be on your mind. I started thinking about this in June of this year!
As this year comes to an end and the new year approaches, it is an important time to evaluate where you are and where you want to go. Let’s take a closer look at this by answering this question: When reviewing your current treatment offering, what are your cash cows, stars, question marks, and dogs? Let me explain.
Cash Cows are low-growth, high share treatments and products. These established, successful treatments and products need less investment to hold their market share. Thus they produce a lot of cash that your business uses to pay its bills and to support other business investments. These treatments are those that are always booked and that have low cost attached. Think of waxing as one huge ‘cash cow’: skin and body care treatments that don’t require a lot of investment but give good return, especially when you retail the home care products needed to maintain the results of the treatment given. High profits here!
Stars are high-growth, high-share treatments and products. They often need heavy investment to finance their rapid growth. Eventually, their growth will slow down, and they will turn into cash cows. This might be an investment in a piece of equipment such as an LED unit, an ultrasound machine, or an oxygen and diamond-abrasion machine. You will need to advertise heavily to gain interest, which will cost more advertising dollars but the return will pay off handsomely.
Question Marks are low-share treatments that require a bit of cash to hold their share. You may be considering a new treatment therapy but not sure if the investment will pay off, if people will really buy it, or if it is worth trying to build into a star in hopes that it will become a cash cow. These treatments are those that we read about, see at a show, but are not sure if they will fit our target market’s needs enough to make the investment. More research has to be done on this one.
Dogs are low-growth, low-share treatments and products. They may generate enough cash to maintain themselves, but do not promise to be large sources of cash. These are the products that you are putting on ‘special’ during the holiday season.
At this point it is very clear that we want to focus our attention on treatments and products that fall in the ‘cash cow’ and ‘star’ categories.
Planning for the Future
Now, pull out your current service offering menu and let’s take a look. What do you see? Mark your cash cows, stars, question marks, and dogs. Now let’s think about what we need to remove and what can stay that represents ‘cash cows’ and ‘stars.’ Alright, now let’s take a look at what we should be considering for the future of our business success. What will be our most profitable treatment and products and how can we continue to design programs for success? Let me state at this point, “Business and the growth of it is always under construction.” It’s never-ending and to stay ahead of the market and a leader in your field you will have to constantly work at re-inventing yourself.
Who Do We Serve?
I don’t know about you, but I make many of my decisions with regards to what products and treatments to introduce in my business by the clients I serve, my target market. I ask, who are they, what do they need, how can I better serve them, and what can I do to keep them for life? Boy, that’s a lot but it’s business. Take some time and write a profile on your current client base. I define my clients in a few different ways:
‘A’ Clients make up about 30 to 40 percent of my business but bring in about 60 to 70 percent of my business revenues. They are monthly plus clients, purchase multiple treatments and products in a given month, and tell others about my business. During the holidays they love buying gift certificates and item gifts from me for their friends and family. I really listen to what they say, what they need, and why they want it.
‘B’ Clients represent about 40 to 50 percent of my business. They may only come in once a month and may still use a few ‘other’ products that they are holding on to, but I am excited as these clients offer me the opportunity to graduate them into professional skin treatments and products and slowly but surely I am winning them over and moving them into ‘A’ status.
‘C’ Clients tend to represent only 10 to 15 percent of my business. Usually in because they were given a gift certificate from a client of mine for a birthday or special occasion. These clients do not normally ‘treat’ themselves or view my services as necessities, but they still offer me the opportunity to win them over. At least graduate them to a ‘B’ client.
Identifying the different category of clients that I serve and listening to their needs helps me to determine what treatment and product offerings will be the best ‘fit’.
My clients as a whole are looking for relaxation, stress reduction, ‘Youthing’ treatments, wellness, and beautification. Based on this understanding, I know what to look for. I can make my decisions on new and sound therapies with this information in mind.
Take some time to review your current client base. Who are they? What do they need? Why do they need it? What are their demographics and psychographics? Are they LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) consumers? This is a growing and powerful group of consumers. They are interested in sustainability, wellness, and the preservation of our environment.
Staying Current, Staying Hot
Once you’ve defined who your client is and what they want, what are some of the new and profitable offerings in the industry that you should be considering? I’ve compiled some offerings that I have been researching and believe that you might find them to be a fit for your business.
Identifying a ‘fit’ is one of the most crucial aspects of our decision making process.
Treatment Therapies for Consideration
Functional Water
The extensive benefits of low pH water have been studied worldwide. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated these benefits. However, Japan, Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom have taken a leading role in its use in many different industries from medical, skin science, and agricultural to food preparation. There is a growing body of evidence from journals and clinical trials to substantiate the antimicrobial effects of low pH water while proving to be safe and non-toxic. The benefits for offering functional water therapy in your treatments and selling these units for at home care are numerous!
Functional Water Therapy offers:
-excellent astringent properties, tightens follicles (pores)
-super skin hydrator
-soothes cuts and scrapes
-great after extractions and shaving
-relieves and soothes sunburn
-great for Athlete’s foot
-enhances the penetration of other products
-antimicrobial on contact
When antioxidant properties are added to Functional Water Therapy, the benefits are:
-reduction in fine line and wrinkles
-decrease in discoloration
-increase in collagen production
-elimination of free radical damage
-improved skin softness and smoothness
-diminishes age spots on face, neck, and hands
-improves overall skin health and condition, revealing a more youthful appearance
Functional Water Therapy is the way of the future and will be included in more treatment therapies as we continue to learn more about this therapy.
At the Speed of Light
Light Emitted Diode (LED) therapy is here to stay and as we recognize its true benefits, more treatments will include this non-invasive therapy. There are many different light therapy devices on the market. You really have to do your homework, but it is worth the research.
Benefits of LED are:
-reduction of fine lines and wrinkles
-lessening of age spots
-evenness of skin tone
-refinement of large pores
-increased production of collagen fibroblasts
-anti-inflammatory, great for rosacea
Light Therapy offers you the opportunity to introduce ‘skin fitness’ to your clients.
Sound Therapy
Ultrasound is gaining ground in the skin care industry as we learn more about its properties and the way that we can incorporate it into our treatments. With ultrasound, we can offer both face and body treatments that offer the following benefits:
-deep skin cleansing
-better product absorption
-firming and toning properties
-cellulite reduction
-skin clarity treatments
-lymphatic drainage
Body Works
For those of us considering to introduce enhanced body therapies, infrared therapy will be the answer. This thermo treatment allows you to offer your client therapeutic body treatments even if you don’t offer wet treatments and body therapy. Research is coming out to support the benefits of this thermo therapy and its worth considering.
Benefits of Infrared Thermo Body Treatments:
-fat burning properties
-increased metabolism
-weight loss/inch loss
-reduction in cellulite
-relaxation and stress reduction
-improvement in skin condition
-reduction of aches and pains
All of the aforementioned therapies are on the horizon and fast becoming treatments of demand. These therapies are forecasted to become an integral part of our industry and will be incorporated and layered in with treatments currently offered in our practices. A new offering coined, ‘Energy Aesthetics’, will see these modalities combined with energy work such as color therapy, sound therapy, aromatherapy, Reiki, and more. It will be for each of us to determine which will be the best ‘fit’ for our businesses and how we will best serve our markets. This is a new dawn in our industry and one that presents exciting opportunities for those who are progressive and thought leaders.
Plan to Succeed!
Take this information and set your strategy in place. Who are you? Who do you want to become? Who do you serve? How do you serve them best? How can you ensure your business sustainability? What will your success feel like?
Action Plan
Map out the next 18 months. What treatments do you want to introduce based on your research findings? What seasonal treatments will be best? What are your ‘Hallmark’ treatments (cash cow therapies)? What time lines do you have to work with? What are your resources? How can your vendors and product suppliers support your endeavors? What more do you need to know?
Sound like a lot of work? Not at all! Begin with one step, just make sure you begin! Here’s to your continued success!
Motivating, dynamic, and inspirational all describe Nina Curtis’ interaction with audiences during seminars, lectures, workshops, and keynote speeches. Curtis’ enthusiasm and sincere desire to move her audience to action has captured the attention of many corporations looking for leadership and consulting in the areas of corporate communications, sales force, and technical training.
Nina Curtis is the founder and president of the Nile Institute, ‘A Source Vitál’, located in West Hollywood, Calif. and Curtis Communications. Known as the “Esthetician’s Esthetician”, Curtis has a twenty-five plus year history in the professional skin care industry, where she is respected as an innovative skin care specialist, educator, lecturer and businesswoman. Originally licensed as a cosmetologist, Curtis has obtained certification in Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Acupressure, Energy Modalities, Reiki, and Color Light Therapy. Curtis has trained throughout the United States, France, Germany, Australia, and England. She received her Bachelor degree of Science in Management and her MBA from Pepperdine University and is also a graduate of the Lynwood Business Institute. For more information, you may contact Curtis via e-mail at curtiscomm@earthlink.net.
