Business Setup & Expansion

Starting out, evaluating an expansion of your facilities, new geographic location or starting up a new practice are all areas that Beautiful forever has expertise and experience in executing.

Determine comfortability versus efficient

Fresh set of eyes to help spot those comfortable routines

There is a certain comfort in routine. The Beautiful Forever team provides a fresh set of eyes to help spot those comfortable routines which are no longer efficient or perhaps even necessary. Focusing on improving operational efficiency can lead to improved profitability, streamlined office management, and higher morale.

We have helped thousands of practices over the last thirty plus years do just that and by doing so, we have established the benchmark of operational excellence. The primary step in creating operational excellence is developing a strategic business plan to guide you.

Developing a business development plan

Having a business plan is essential

Whether you are running a practice or medspa, having a business plan is essential. This blueprint will guide your business, defining its structure, services, products, staffing, budget, resources, financial management, growth, and strategic direction. To successfully transition your practice into a profitable retail business, a well-conceived business development plan is essential.

A professional business plan is a critical element of your financial, marketing, and operational roadmap. If will assist you when you are seeking capital for start-up or expansion, will help guide and keep your business on track.

To create a successful and effective business plan, use a professional consultant who understands the fee for service cosmetic and aesthetic business, as well as the fine art of strategic planning. The Beautiful Forever Consulting team will bring their knowledge of cutting edge trends and innovations and their experience to the table and design a plan that gets results. You want a business plan with a strategy that will guide the evolution of your business for the short and long term.

Navigating through a cash based business

Your practice will need to master new skills

Let’s explore the cash based world of retail business. Medical school is not business school. In order to succeed in the world of retail, or to put it another way, to have a successful, profitable practice, your practice will need to master new skills.

In a reimbursement-based practice, there is minimal need for marketing, competitive analysis, location assessment, and differentiation. For the most part, patients are funneled to a practice by their insurance coverage, geographic location, and physician specialty. There is little the physician or practice really needs to do in terms of marketing in order to survive. Not so with a cash-based model.

To forge a profitable fee-for-service practice, you must understand the specific needs and wants of your target market, appeal to those needs and wants, differentiate your practice from the competition, provide your patients with an excellent value for their money, and make them happy so they provide you with a steady stream of referrals.

For assistance in these areas and others which will help you maximize your return on investment (ROI) while operating a successful, well-respected, and profitable practice or medspa, contact the expert consulting team at Beautiful Forever.

New expansion, second locations and relocations

The time tested slogan for successful real estate is “Location, Location, Location”

As your successful practice grows, you may think about relocating to a larger facility, adding on to your existing space, or perhaps even adding another location. The time tested slogan for successful real estate is “Location, Location, Location”. This holds true for successful medspas also. What is the right location? What about signage and build-out? What does it take to bring patients through the door?

Getting these things right can make the difference between a highly profitable, very successful practice and one that struggles to become established and profitable. If you’re going to make the leap into fee-for-service medicine and enter the aesthetics arena, you will benefit from experienced professional guidance and savvy marketing.

Since a medspa is primarily a “retail business,” the Beautiful Forever Team highly recommends that you select a location with great visibility and ease of access. This part of the process is best accomplished visually. You will want to understand the area demographics and do a competitive analysis before you decide on a location.

Staff selection tips

Your staff members are the face of your practice

Hiring the right staff members for your team is critical to the success of your practice. All the credentials in the world won’t cut it if the individual is surly, rude, or uncaring. Your staff members are the face of your practice. Patients spend a significant amount of time interacting with them and every moment of that time needs to be a positive experience. Staff is an investment. It is the face of your brand, your practice.

Making the right staffing decisions is key to a successful practice and it is worth the investment of your time and energy. With over three decades of experience in the aesthetic and medical consulting industry, the Beautiful Forever team can provide you with tips to help you identify great staff. They can also help you set up your new hires for success by developing a customized on-boarding process.

Developing an on boarding process

Bringing New Team Members On-Board:

Once you have identified a great new hire, you have to set them up for success. This is done by having a well-thought-out on-boarding process; A process that begins during the recruitment and hiring process. Many times, a practice does an outstanding job of selecting a new hire only to set them up for failure by abandoning them once they report to work.

The on-boarding and orientation process truly begins long before a candidate is hired. It begins with your website, where you should offer information about the culture of your practice, information your workplace, your mission statement, etc. When the formal offer letter is sent, you will want to include a copy of the company handbook and the necessary legal forms with the package. This allows the candidate the opportunity to review them before making a commitment. It also allows them to digest the handbook ahead of time so they are not overwhelmed with “housekeeping and policy” information on day one.

You will want to prepare for your new hire’s arrival ahead of time by having their email, log-ins, and other technology configured ahead of time. If you have a company intranet, you can offer your new hire access to videos and podcasts that review your company strategic goals, company values, employee testimonials, etc. ahead of time so they begin to feel part of the team before their first day on the job.

You might consider preparing checklists for use during on-boarding so no vital information is overlooked. Another concern that is often overlooked is communicating with existing team members. Be sure you prepare your existing staff members for the addition of a new team member. Select the new hire’s orientation buddy ahead of time and communicate with that individual as well as with the new hire’s supervisor.

You should also ease your new hire’s first day concerns by providing them with the following information ahead of time:

  • Tell them what to bring along on day one.
  • Where should they park, if they need a parking pass, provide it ahead of time.
  • Who should they ask for in the lobby?
  • Is there a cafeteria, where is it, how much time do they have for lunch, is there a refrigerator/microwave/etc. available if they prefer to brown bag it? Maybe offer
  • Where are the rest rooms?
  • Is the office usually chilly? If so, suggest they plan to bring a sweater or if you provide uniforms, let them know and have them sized/available ahead of time. No one likes to stick out by being dressed differently on their first day.
  • Let them know who their immediate supervisor will be, and be sure that person will be on site during their first week. Starting a new job and having your immediate supervisor absent is like going to the prom without a date. Very uncomfortable.
  • Let them know that they will be assigned an orientation buddy (a peer) who will be there to help them with things during the first week or two.
  • Let them know how payroll works, when they get paid, what they have to do with time sheets, etc. Are paychecks mailed, direct deposited, etc. Everyone wants to know about their pay, but no one likes to ask.

On day one, help your new hire get started on the right foot. A little thoughtful advance preparation goes a long way:

  • Have their desk or office area set up, including name plate for their desk/office if applicable.
  • Have their business cards and ID badge waiting.
  • Their email accounts, phone voicemail, etc. should be set up and printed instructions available on how to use them. (You can review the instructions verbally, but with so much new information to absorb on day one, a printed reference is helpful.
  • Provide guides for any software that he/she will be using.
  • Show her where the copy machine is and how it works. Do the same with other equipment they will be expected to use. Again, printed references are helpful as information overload is to be expected. Encourage questions and don’t rush the training process. You want your new staff member to feel comfortable and at ease with the equipment and with your willingness to answer questions.
  • Introduce him/her to all staff members and of course, encourage your existing staff members to make your newest team member feel welcome.
  • Introduce the orientation buddy—a person you have hand-picked for their friendly demeanor and knowledge of your practice. Chose this person carefully so your new hire is welcomed into the team by someone that is dedicated to the practice and reflects the characteristics you value in a staff member.

Check in with your new hire often to be sure things are going well. Use your interactions as a learning process to evaluate your on-boarding process, and your practice. A new hire provides a fresh pair of eyes. Ask what those fresh eyes are seeing and really listen. Probe beyond the expected response of “everything’s great” to find those helpful nuggets of insight. Your staff is your most valuable resource, make certain they understand how much you value them.

Facility Renovation and Optimization for Profit Maximization:

Ideally, your medical spa should be located separately from your existing Medical Practice. This allows the patient to feel that he or she has entered a “Spa,” rather than a medical office. First impressions are critical. Your medical spa should have the ambiance of an upscale, soothing environment. Think relaxation. It should be warm and welcoming and spotlessly clean.

If you are renovating a portion of your existing facility, you will want it to be a separate suite with its own entrance if at all possible. It should be treated as a separate business with its own business plan. While you can combine back office functions such as accounting, purchasing, and even appointment booking, it is a very different business than a medical practice. This new business should have its own branding, including a different name and logo than your medical practice.

As you renovate, keep in mind the things that provide a positive ROI, such as retail display space. You will want to include an area for retail product sales. You will also want to design your space for efficiency. For example, can your spa check-out area double as your retail space so that the same staff member can handle both? This is an area where a staff member routinely engages the patient one on one, providing an excellent opportunity to educate the patient about the products your MedSpa offers which complement the treatment the patient has just had. Remember, educate the patient, don’t sell them. You want the patient to know that these products will help them maintain the benefits of their treatment.

How you display your products is also important. If you display them improperly, you are wasting money. Customers should be able to easily reach the products, which should be displayed at eye level, especially your hero product. Lighting is also an important consideration for product displays. Avoid displaying product in direct sunlight where is could melt or suffer discoloration. Instead, design lighting which shows off the display rather than detracts from it.

Make sure your display is clean – no dust!—and that it is well stocked, organized, and that its appearance is refreshed often. Consider seasonal displays.

While you want your medical spa to have an upscale feel, don’t go overboard on spending money on excessively fancy furnishings and over the top interior design. Put money into good quality furnishings, soft lighting, and up-to-date colors. Often, money is better spent on marketing than going overboard on interior decorating.

Also remember, you have a story to tell. Use posters, images, and graphics to help tell that story. The use of signage and collateral sales materials (brochures) in your waiting area can help educate patients and increase sales.

Beautifully Profitable

Forever Profitable

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