Business, Dec 2020

The Year Of Lemonade

December 1, 2020 | by Aleks Vranicic

Why selling branded skincare products in your spa is a good idea

When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade! I think we can all agree that 2020 has served the world a massive lemon. State shutdowns have forced businesses to close, and sadly some will never reopen. The service industry has been one of the most impacted by the shutdowns. Still, there are opportunities that come from major disruption.Those creative enough to recognize those opportunities are making various lemonade flavors from the lemons they have been served. Good entrepreneurs and savvy business people virtually always find a way to make even the worst situations work. Here are my thoughts on the best lemonade you could make right now.

SURVIVAL MODE

When the shutdowns started last March, online sales spiked. According to SAP Commerce Cloud Customer Systems Insights, e-commerce sales were 63.6% higher in 2020 than in 2019. Spas that had an online presence and ecommerce capabilities have weathered the storm better since they could shift their sales focus to product sales when they could not provide in-person service. Since e-commerce was their primary revenue source, spa owners were made to transform their business model online.

“When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade! I think we can all agree that 2020 has served the world a massive lemon.”

[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,4,5,6,7″ ihc_mb_template=”3″ ]

Spas that did not have an online presence struggled as they were not creating any revenue that would have been needed to invest in digital technology to build an online business model. Unfortunately, many of those spas have closed their doors for good.

The spas that already had e-commerce capabilities had to improve their product selections to better merchandise online. If they were licensed to sell national skincare brands, they competed with hundreds or thousands of websites selling the same national brands at discounted prices. This strategy is a race to the bottom of who can sell the product the cheapest. It is not sustainable for creating value or profits for a business.

The spas that did not have an online store had a significant disadvantage as they now had to catch up, create an eCommerce site, and build an online presence so customers could find them.

AN ATTRACTIVE SOLUTION

To make lemons into lemonade, consider the following. You can sell highly competitive national skincare brands online at the lowest price to compete with other sellers, or you can build equity in your business by selling your unique skin care, makeup, or body line. You see, when you sell someone else’s brand, you are growing their company and their equity, but when you sell your own brand, not only are you making a profit from the sale, but you’re also creating equity in your business by having products that carry your brand.

When you sell your own brand of products, you also get to make all the decisions. You decide the sale price instead of a national brand where the MSRP price is set for you. Should you want more profit than the retail price bears, there are no ways to really generate it without creating additional value separate from the product.

Traditionally, the additional value came from the spa service you provided, but unfortunately, many of those services are severely limited during a shelter in place mandate. Once this lemon of a situation passes and the service side of our industry is able to operate again, you can be in a better situation to reward those that work with you. This is one of the joys a business owner experiences.

How do top companies attract top performers? They offer higher pay and better benefits. Wouldn’t it be a game changer to pay higher sale commissions? The industry standard is a whopping 10% commission on retail sales, which doesn’t really scream motivational incentive. But, if you had your own brand and could set your MSRP, you could potentially pay 15%, 20%, 25% or even a 30% commission on retail sales and still have a healthy bottom line.

HOW TO GET STARTED

If the concept of having your own brand is starting to sound appealing, you will have joined the growing population of skincare professionals that feel the same way. Getting started is as easy as doing an online search for “private label skincare.” Some companies offer affordable getting started programs so that you could be up and running for as little as $500.

It’s incredible how a single decision can produce so much potential. It’s possible to be in control of your product sales and improve your bottom line. It’s possible to attract top staff and reward them with better pay so they help you grow. So, what are you waiting for?

[/ihc-hide-content]