Tanning/med-spa franchising

[InfinityGal]

I'm looking for people who are interested in getting involved with a new tanning/med-spa hybrid. There is a fantastic high profile company in Los Angeles diversifying from tanning by incorporating med-spa services who are seeing tramendous success. If you are already doing this or would like to get involved, please drop me an e-mail. VERY LUCRATIVE OPPORTUNITY.

[Christine]

I have been doing this for the past 15 years. I have been a para-medical aesthetician for longer than that. If you need any advice let me know.

If you don't know skin and are not a para-medical aesthetician yourself, you must have a very good raport with an M.D. and make sure he or she has good malpractice insurance. You must be able to pay the high medical spa insurance premiums not to mention the cost of medical grade equipment.

Your biggest competition will be the local M.D.s who are opening MedSpas by the tons in many areas. Dr.s are leaving the practice of medicine due to exorbitant malpractice costs in many states to open spas and practice skincare. (all those BoTox parties) Lucrative? Yes. Lots of work and liability not to mention finding good para-medical aestheticians who wont damage your clients skin doing medical grade treatments. (or take your clients with them when they leave)

You will need a fairly quiet room or two to do the services. All those noisey
tanning bed fans can kill the mood.

And again, why franchise if you can do it yourself? What franchisor can take the time to find and qualify a local M.D. whom you can trust, that will oversee your site and review your records on a regular basis as required by law? What happens if you have a disagreement and the M.D decides to dissassociate themselves from you?

Pay franchise fees, high insurance, and the M.D.'s fee and if you are not an aesthetician, hiring a competent para-medical pro can add up. You must be able to justify higher prices to cover increased ovedhead and know enough to be able to supervise that area.

And if you are not an aesthetician how will you know if the services are well done and if it is worth the 50/50 or higher split the employee would want to work for you? How will you address any concerns or complaint a client may have if they don't see the results they think they should? Remember, many medical grade proceedures are minimumly invasive and need followup.

Another point to ponder is where are you going to find and buy quality medical grade products and some equipment can only be purchased by or through your M.D. There are also various state and federal licences and requirement to consider.

Add to your franchise fees all of your other overhead and check out your M. D.'s credentials very carefully. Many states require the Dr. be on site during certian proceedures and on site at least so many hours or days a week.

It will also change the way you do tanning, because you are now a medically surpervised facility and that also applies to how people treat their skin. Remember tanning beds are considered medical devices by the FDA. I have worked very hard in the tanning industry for 20 years to promote good skin care and have combined the medically supervised skin care aspect with that for the last 15.

You can do well if you know what you are doing. BUT... If you are not a skin care specialist and don't know what your machines and products do to someone's skin, the largest organ of the human body, then think very carefully about your responsibility and liability before introducing spa (a word I don't use, because it means there are water treatments involved,
1. A resort providing therapeutic baths. 2. A resort area having mineral springs. etc.) Unless you are going to provide wet services I wouldn't call it a spa.

Just my humble experience. Look before you leap. Go have a few services yourself to see the differences in cost, competency, and product effectiveness. For the sake of the tanning industry don't just slap the name med spa on the end of your marquee if you are not going to offer actual medical grade, medically supervised "spa" services, we have enough problems already.

C

[engfant]

Oh yeah, I'm starting to offer foreskin cleansing and assreaming. BIG BUCKS.

[dcjjp1]

In my area, you'd probably be profitable... LOL!

[dsuriff]

My tanning salon is called Splash TAN & Laser SPA. I have a medical director over my salon and we offer laser hair removal. We have a $125,000 k medical laser by candella for which you could perform many medical treatments but we only offer hair removal with this device. Finding an estetician and medical director is a challenge and varies by state. I don't know of any other tanning facilities anywhere that offer laser hair removal but lets face it billions are spent every year on beauty and why not capitailze on every aspect possible.
We also offer White Science Teeth whitening, aqua detox, and botox parties. Botox parties alone bring in an average of $4,000 dollars in 3 hours once a month.

[Matthew]

Originally Posted by dsuriff

We also offer White Science Teeth whitening, aqua detox, and botox parties. Botox parties alone bring in an average of $4,000 dollars in 3 hours once a month.

The Aqua Detox Scam
Stephen Barrett, M.D.
One way to scam people is to diagnose and correct a nonexistent problem. Aqua Detox practitioners do this by claiming to remove toxins and balance cellular energy. During treatment sessions, the customer's feet are bathed for 30 minutes in salt water that is subjected to a low-voltage current transmitted through an electrode assembly called an "array" (the dark cylindrical object to which the wire is attached). Aqua Detox International claims that the apparatus "produces a frequency of positive and negative ions, which gently resonates through the body and stimulates all the cells within it. . . . rebalancing the cellular energy, enabling the cells to perform efficiently and . . . release any toxins that may have built up." [1] During the process, the water typically turns reddish brown. Some marketers refer to the process as "ionic cleansing" or an "ionic foot bath."


Another marketer (Mobile Beauty) further explains that "the system draws toxins out through the soles of the feet" and that the "water changes color due to the release of toxic substances through the 2000 pores of the soles of the feet." It's treatment sessions typically cost £15 to £30. The company's Web site states that "You'll see the excreted toxins in the water. The water will change color and consistency—from orange, brown through to black." Yellow is said to come from the kidneys and bladder; orange/brown from the joints; green/dark brown to black from the liver, gall bladder and/or bowel; and white from the lymphatic system. Grease or fat particles may float on top of the water. According to the company, the process can be used to improve liver and kidney function; circulation; general metabolism; arthritis and joint pain; headaches; fatigue; irritability; menstrual pain; skin problems; mercury and heavy metal toxicity; food allergies, and poor digestion [2].

The above claims are nonsensical. Most of the listed conditions do not have a toxic basis. Positive and negative ions cannot "resonate" throughout the body in response to any such device. And the skin has no ability to excrete toxins. Real detoxification of foreign substances takes place in the liver, which modifies their chemical structure so they can be excreted by the kidneys which filter them from the blood into the urine.

The Aqua Detox is said to have been developed by "Dr." Mary Staggs based on "research" by Royal Rife [3]. Staggs, who is British, obtained two naturopathy degrees from a nonaccredited American correspondence school and appears to do most of her work in Spain [4]. Rife was an American inventor who, during the 1920s, claimed to have developed a powerful microscope that could detect living microbes by the color of auras emitted by their vibratory rates [5]. A survey by science journalist Ray Girvan has identified at least 19 other devices that are similar to the Aqua Detox [6]. Most of the devices sell for about £1,000.

Many skeptics suspected that the color change produced by the Aqua Detox was caused by rust (oxidized iron), rather than toxins. Ben Goldacre, who writes the "bad science" column for Guardian Unlimited (an online British newspaper), investigated by using a car battery to send current through two metal nails that he placed into a bowl of salt water. The water turned brown and developed some sludge on top. Then he sent a colleague to get "detoxed" and collect before-and-after water samples. Laboratory testing showed that in both cases, the change of water color was due to greatly increased iron content [7]. Thus it appears that (a) the color change is due mainly to the precipitation of rust created by corrosion of the electrodes, and (b) the water would change color regardless of whether or not a foot was placed in it.

The Guardian Unlimited article has had some impact on how the Aqua Detox and its imitators are marketed. Some marketers admit that the colors are due entirely to electrode conversion, and there is less emphasis on toxin removal and more emphasis on the "balancing" of "energy" that is not measurable with scientific instruments (and is therefore untestable.) But the bottom line is very simple. All such devices should be considered medically worthless.

References
Research for Aqua Detox. Aqua Detox International Web site, accessed Dec 27, 2004.
Miracle Beauty home page, accessed Dec 27, 2004.
American Cancer Society. Questionable methods of cancer management: Electronic devices. CA—A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 44:115-127, 1994.
Harris G. A detox to make your toes curl. Daily Telegraph, June 6, 2003.
Mary Staggs. Biographical information on Contact Reflex Analysis and Nutritional research Foundation Web site, accessed Dec 27, 2004.
Girvan R. Dodgy detox. Apothecary's Drawer Weblog, May 28, 2004.
Goldacre B. Rusty results. Guardian Unlimited, Sept 2, 2004.

[Din]

Nice find Matthew...