← Spa Marketing Made Easy | Spa Business Growth
Spa Marketing Made Easy | Spa Business Growth
SMME #422 Growth Through Acquisition with Susan Wos of Salonspa Connection
00:39:02
Growth Through Acquisition with Susan Wos of Salonspa Connection
Loading summary
Transcript58 lines
- [00:01]
Danielle Warner
Hey, are you in APA yet? The ATTO Professional Association.
- [00:04]
Susan Bosch
We just launched it this year and.
- [00:06]
Danielle Warner
Our members get access to a library of masterclass recordings with resources, of course, that we are adding to every single month. A webinar vault of educational training from leading industry experts and brands. An online community hub designed to develop and nurture real relationships with other aesthetic and wellness professionals. Small group pods that meet monthly in a mastermind setting to develop and nurture relationships and connections. Even more massive discounts on auto aesthetics, coaching, consulting and courses, and so much more. All of this for only3.97 a year.
- [00:45]
Susan Bosch
So what are you waiting for? Go to attoesthetics.com and click on ADO.
- [00:50]
Danielle Warner
Professional association right there at the top and join today.
- [00:54]
Daniela Warner
Welcome to Spa Marketing Made Easy, a podcast for spa owners who want to step up their leadership and business skills and step into the role as Spa CEO. I'm your host, Daniela Warner, CEO of ATTO Aesthetics and founder of the Growth Factor Framework program where we teach, coach and guide spa owners in scaling their spas to the next level of growth and unlocking freedom in their life and their business. I I'm so glad you're here. Now let's dive into the show.
- [01:25]
Danielle Warner
If you're looking to add $100,000 of revenue or more to your spa in 2025, listen in because the strategy that we're going to share around growth through acquisition could be the game changer in your business that catapults you to the next level. Now is this strategy going to be easy? No. Is it going to take time? Absolutely. Is it worth it? 100%. And I believe with my whole heart that this strategy can be such an incredible way forward for all parties involved. So listen in to this conversation right here on the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast with Susan, the founder of Salon Spa Connection, as we unpack this strategy and walk through the process of buying or selling your spa. Now, Susan is a former hairstylist and salon owner who now sells beauty industry businesses all across the US she's been doing this selling businesses of all shapes and sizes since 2019 and now has a team of 17 brokers and assistants. So I really hope you enjoy this episode. I'm really curious your thoughts on it. If you guys are in the Spa Marketing Made Easy for Facebook Group post in there, feel free to send me a DM on Instagram, on LinkedIn, which is where I'm really spending most of my time these days. But I'm really curious your thoughts on this strategy. Whether you are a Solo wanting to sell or whether you're a multi six figure spa or seven figure spa looking to grow. Super curious. Want to know more about it? This is really a topic that's been on my mind especially for the past six months, and I feel like we.
- [03:10]
Susan Bosch
Are at that point in time that.
- [03:12]
Danielle Warner
This is the year that this is going to happen. So enjoy this episode and make sure you let me know your thoughts.
- [03:19]
Susan Bosch
All right, Susan, welcome to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast. I am so excited to have this conversation with you. I think that, you know, we, we talked last year and I was like, oh, I really like this woman. I want to figure out, you know, how it's going to make sense to get you on the podcast, share the incredible work that you've been doing. And I'm actually so glad that it took until now to get you on because I think the timing is absolutely perfect for what we're seeing in our industry. So welcome.
- [03:47]
Thank you. Danielle, thank you for having me. I'm really excited to have this conversation today. I think it's something that not a lot of people are talking about, but something that every, you know, solo esthetician needs to know. Every business owner, spa owner, salon owner. So thank you very much for having me.
- [04:03]
So this is really like what you and I haven't talked about is really a win, win situation for everybody involved. So we're seeing obviously a lot of private equity come into the spa space, which is really transitioning into the health and wellness space. We're seeing so much wellness come into medical aesthetics. So we're really at this interesting shift in our industry that I think has been coming along for quite a while. I mean, back to. Not to go on too far of a tangent, but when I started in the industry, I was in medical aesthetics. And it was still, you went into the room and you pulled the white paper down and there was nothing fluffy or anything about it. It was, go sit on the chair. There is no, like bougie stuff, right? And we started to see this trend more and more and, and now I think we're really reaching that pinnacle where health and wellness is combined very much with medical aesthetics. But I digress. The point of this call is to really show this opportunity that we're seeing in our space. And it's not just for private equity. So private equity right now is really focusing on the medical spa space. They're focusing on spas, at minimum doing 1.5 million in, in top line revenue, but really looking at the kind of bigger guys that are doing 3 4, 5 million and above. And what about all of the other thousands of spas out there that are doing the hard work, that put in the effort, that have got their, you know, that, that initial, you know, maybe they got up to 60, 70, 80, $100,000, which is in my opinion one of the hardest parts to just get it off the ground. But now they're saying, how do I exit? What am I, how do I, how do I, this thing I've built has value. What do I do with it? And that's really where you and your business comes in. And it's not that you just help these solos. I know you help large spas as well, but kind of talk to me about what you've seen in 2024 and then moving into 2025 in, in this space, in the, you know, buying and selling space?
- [06:35]
Sure. Well, one of the main things is that, you know, outside of solo aesthetics businesses, there's a lot of people, you know, not necessarily private equity, but your regular investor types and, or the wannabe investor types that are moving into the beauty space in general. And so they are looking for high cash flowing businesses. You know, I would say that most of our larger businesses that are selling right now aren't necessarily going to private equity beat. They're going to like couples and they're going to people who want to own a business and they don't necessarily understand anything about the beauty industry, but what they know is that, you know, it's, it's a high level want. Right? It's not necessarily a need, but it's a high level want. And it's something that can be fairly recession proof because I mean, let's face it, there's nothing better than going in and getting your face all fixed up and getting a wax and getting, you know, Botox or whatever it is. And people understand that and they recognize that and we are AI resistant. So as we move into sort of the AI age, you know, there's not a lot of things other than I saw that was it the lash machine? But I mean.
- [07:47]
Oh yeah, come on, you know, like.
- [07:50]
That'S not going to be, I can't imagine a real thing. And, and so people, you know, just your regular person who is interested in business ownership is, is really recognizing the beauty industry as a whole as something that is extremely sustainable and something that could be very profitable.
- [08:07]
Well, even back in 2008 when there was the big crash, it was really only a year that we felt it in our spot, was like, oh, what's happening? And then all of a sudden we were back and with COVID you know, so many spas ended up doubling even with the restrictions that were happening there. And any economic book that you read, it'll say that we are, we're one of the first to feel it initially, but we're also the first to come back. And that's because when people actually realize what's happening, maybe they cancel their vacation, maybe they, you know, they're, they're kind of adjusting, but they want that human connection and human touch to feel good. They're looking at our services as a part of their health and wellness routine for overall care. And we saw that big time after Covid that they looked at it more as a part of their self care and health routine. Okay. And I totally agree. There are a lot of people interested in business ownership. That's an area that's definitely exploding right now. What I want to talk about today is really, and what I've been talking about with our students a lot is this incredible opportunity that we are in the midst of right now. And that is that there are so many solos out there who, I think our industry has this tendency to push that. That's what you do is you go and you become a solo. You rent a suite, you do your own thing. That's really hard. It's really hard because you are, what I say, just creating a really hard job for yourself. You're not getting the benefits of the freedom and the financial. There's a cap on what you can earn because you're one person. And so you still have to be in the room. You don't get to take the two weeks of vacation and still be making money when you're gone. You know, there's all these benefits that you're not getting. And it still can be a great model for the right person in the right season of life. But if you want to exit, what does that look like? You know, and I think there's a lot of solos out there that are saying, I don't want to do the marketing, I don't want to get out there and be the mayor of my town. I don't want to deal with taxes, I don't want to deal with my website, I don't want to build funnels, I don't want to do social media. Like all of these things that are a requirement and even more so a requirement to be seen and attract those clients. They just want to be in the room. They want to love other people, they want to do what they went to school for. Which is learn how to care for and treat and solve problems with the skin. And so the opportunity is for these other types of spas that are really building a brand, establishing who they are. They can build relationships. Buy the business of this solo esthetician who worked incredibly hard to build, bring that solo on as an employee, bring her book of clients and it really becomes this win, win for both parties.
- [11:41]
Agreed.
- [11:42]
So let's kind of break down the business buying process of like, okay, how does this work? Because solo estheticians, I think if they're interested in selling, they don't know how to value their business. They don't know where to find someone to buy them. And I think it's the same way for spa owners that are saying, hey, I want to try this strategy. And you really, your company really kind of provides those solutions. You're the, the mediator, you're. You've sold over 150 businesses or probably more by now, right? Yeah. In the spa and salon space. And tell me about the types of companies that you're working with. Solos, mid sized spas. Like what is the normal person that comes to you?
- [12:37]
Well, we see it all and so we see the solo estheticians all the way up to, you know, multi million dollar businesses. So we definitely see a huge wide range. But the common denominator, the common denominator is usually the same as far as what is it you have to sell. So is it, you know, is it an equipment heavy business or is there actual, you know, revenue and something left over at the end, you know, a net profit? Are you able to pay yourself? And so that those are the things that really are looked at first. But yeah, we see the widest range that you could possibly imagine in the beauty.
- [13:15]
All in the. All in the spawn salon space.
- [13:19]
100 salon spa and barber. Yep. So we've sold online businesses before, you know, software, we had a talent agency, we've had a huge variety of businesses, but it's all in the beauty industry. And the reason, well, I'm a lifetime cosmetologist, I'm a former salon owner. And so I ended up selling my business on my own after I worked with a broker who just didn't get it. And we find that that is why people like us so much is because all of our brokers, including myself, were all salana spa experts. So we've worked in the field and so we understand not only the language but the value. And that's really, really valuable when we're talking to non industry buyers because most of the time, they're just looking at numbers and they don't understand the industry. We're able to talk to them about what to expect, you know, how to understand this terminology and then how to grow their business once they've bought it.
- [14:10]
Okay, so talk to me about the valuation, because for me, I've always looked at, you know, net profit times three, and so we're looking at kind of a multiple of two or three, depending on that. When you talk about equipment heavy, are you looking at, like an asset sale rather than the actual. Sometimes.
- [14:33]
Sometimes it really depends on the business. And so a solo esthetician's business is going to be looked at a little bit differently because you're looking at, you know, so let's say a spa owner buys it or another esthetician buys the solo aesthetics business. What we advise is to, you know, buy the equipment if this is something that you want. Obviously, if you're depreciating the equipment on your taxes, that's really helpful. So then you have a better idea of what the actual value is. So that's kind of where we go with the value of, you know, not only inventory, but, you know, any type of furniture, fixtures and equipment that you have. On top of that, if it's a solo aesthetics business, what we advise is to, you know, agree upon some sort of arrangement where you. The. The seller is compensated for the clients that actually take action for the buyer. And so that is somebody that comes in and that, you know, whether it's one time or six times, you know, that looks different for every single situation. But it's a matter of them agreeing upon, you know, what is fair for everyone involved. So let's say, you know, client a, she spends $2,000, you know, a year in the business. You know, if.
- [15:45]
That.
- [15:45]
If client A comes to the buyer, then the seller should be compensated X amount of dollars for every client visit. Or you can buy out an entire client list, which I don't necessarily like that because there's zero guarantee for the buyer. And so it just. It looks really different. It's a matter of everybody feeling like they've been fairly compensated for the transaction and really being organized. For a solo esthetician, you know, you've got to have all of those client files really, really well updated. You know, the notes, the email addresses, the phone numbers, you know, are you. Are they responding to you? Are these clients that haven't been in for a long time, you know, there's not a lot of value in just somebody's name and phone number Right. You're looking at people who are taking action on a consistent basis.
- [16:38]
A couple of questions there. So have you ever had anyone use this strategy that we're suggesting of actually having the solo join the team of the new buyer and transition into being an employee and help with that transition of getting those clients or patients into the new practice?
- [16:59]
Not personally, but I think that's a brilliant idea. As a matter of fact, I would love to start encouraging spa owners to do that. But no, we've never done that because usually that's a thing where, you know, there's an agreement, a private agreement, they already knew each other, or there was a conversation that happened long before, you know, we came into the picture. But I think that's a fantastic idea. And what an amazing way for spa owners to grow their business.
- [17:27]
And. Right. Because the new employee is already paid for. I mean, I think there's obviously some hiccups that can happen on, like if you're used to being the owner and then you're merging into someone else's business. But these are all things that can be navigated and discussed in advance to ensure, like a smooth transition. I want to give just kind of like an example. Like, let's say we have a solo esthetician who's doing maybe 80,000 a year, profiting maybe 20,000 a year, has 20,000 of equipment. What are the types of things that we're looking at to actually price this as a business owner?
- [18:15]
Right. And so you say, Annette, does that include, you know, we're, we're looking at where is that money going? You know, is the net the only thing that the esthetician is gaining or is their cell phone built in? Is there car insurance built in? So we see a lot of.
- [18:32]
You're looking at like the add backs as well.
- [18:34]
Absolutely. Yeah. And so where, you know, is how much is it actually costing the esthetician to perform these services? You know, taking away marketing, taking away all that. So it kind of depends on the buyer. So an individual buyer would be different than, say, an employer buyer. But we're really looking at what is the actual cost of doing business here. And so it, it really depends. You know, the net is great, and so the more net the better. But so many business owners, whether they're solo estheticians or spa owners, there's not a lot of net there because there's. They're either paying themselves a lot, which is okay, because that's an add back too. But a lot of times the net is really low. And so we really need to look at kind of what are the mandatory expenses here in order to arrive at a fair market value for the business.
- [19:21]
And are these being funded through SBA loans, through seller financing? Like, how is the actual structure? Are they all cash sales? You know, depending on the size of the business, what are the different structures that you're seeing?
- [19:36]
All of the above.
- [19:37]
All of the above.
- [19:38]
Literally all the above. And it, and that's dependent on business size, you know. And so if you're looking at a solo aesthetics business that maybe is $50,000, a lot of time that can be arranged either an all cash deal or a seller financing type of situation to where, hey, we'll pay you, you know, $50,000 over the next year, two years, based on, you know, criteria A or we will just pay this to you regardless of what happens. And so it's, it's every sale, every business is super unique. And so it really is a matter of what is actually going on, what is the arrangement in the agreement between buyer and seller. So, yeah, absolutely. Sba, you know, seller financing, all cash it. We see it, we see it all. And typically deals do include some sort of seller financing. You know, it's kind of unusual to have a deal that is all cash or all sba. Usually there's some sort of seller financing involved.
- [20:39]
And so to clarify, for those that are not familiar with seller financing, it's essentially you're paying the seller is the bank. And so you would maybe like, let's say we have a $50,000 business, maybe you as the buyer put down $5,000, $10,000 so that esthetician gets that initial chunk up front and then you would have a deal that, hey, come join my company. I'm going to pay you this amount as an employee and separately, I'm going to pay you $2,000 a month for the next X amount of months with this percent interest to be able to pay down the remaining 40,000 that I owe you for the business. And so presumably like the goal is that you're always increasing the profit from your purchase. And so that employee, the goal would be that that employee that you purchased the business from is generating enough to pay for herself and to pay for the cost of the business that you purchased. And so it makes it a really incredible. Like that solo esthetician who sold the business is probably getting paid more than she's ever been paid and is also. So she's, you know, getting the benefits of all that hard work that she put in up front. She's getting to do what she loves, she's getting paid as an employee to do it with the people that she's already built in. Right. What, what do you see as the, like, hiccups that could happen in a transition like this?
- [22:33]
Oh, gosh, there's, there's many things. I mean, the most important thing is that everybody sees the same value. Right. And so the buyer understands what the seller has. The seller understands what they're selling. So I think the major hiccup is when the seller thinks that they have something that they don't. That's, that's usually the biggest. And then, you know, it's our job to kind of go, okay, here we have this, this and this, this is what we feel it's worth. And it's up to you to either agree with that or work towards understanding that we can't create something and sell something just because you think it's A, B and C. And I think that.
- [23:13]
It'S a natural tendency to think that your business is worth more than it actually is because it's so, so much time and energy and effort and we put so much of ourselves into building these things. And oftentimes the hard work is just learning that skill set in the beginning, putting yourself out there, which is always uncomfortable. But my understanding is that we want to be able to pay, we want to reap the benefits in about three years. Is that the kind of model that you're looking at?
- [23:51]
Depending on the size of the business, the smaller businesses, it would be a lot faster than that. But your businesses. Yes, absolutely. Three years is a good timeline.
- [23:59]
Okay, so let's walk through just kind of a high level overview of what the process looks like. If someone, let's say someone is coming to you to sell, what are the, the stages or steps that someone would go through? And if someone is coming, you searching for a business to buy?
- [24:20]
Okay, so selling what we start with is usually a consultation. And so that is myself and, or one of the people on our team. And we are talking to the seller. And so we're trying to understand their goals, we're trying to understand their expectations, because that's really important. One of the things we ask always in that first meeting is how much would you like to get for this business? And so we understand going in kind of what they have imagined the value of their business to be. You know, we're asking all kinds of questions. And so we want to know about the lease, you know, or is it a building that they own. We want to know about the landlord, we want to know about employees and, or revenues, you know, just give us an overview. After that consultation, we send a non disclosure agreement and then we ask for the finances and we ask for a balance sheet, you know, PNLs, tax returns and lease because we want to look at the overall health of the business. We then perform a valuation and then we meet again. And so we go over, you know, we already understand what their expectation is on selling but now after the valuation we have a good idea of what the fair market value is. And so we then meet again, go over the valuation and we say this is what we feel we could list your business for. And so it's kind of up to the seller at that point to either go, okay, you know, maybe I have a couple of years left in me, I can really, you know, hit the business hard and grow the business or all right, fine, I'm ready to be done. And so that's kind of the tipping point. After that value or after that second consultation it's like, well, if you want to move forward, this is what this looks like. And so we've got three options for sellers. So we've got, you know, a very simple DIY type of service. And so basically we list them, we advertise, they handle everything. Then we have obviously the broker service, which is the full service where sellers don't really have to do much other than answer questions and help, you know, with getting information. And we kind of have this middle ground, what we call broker light. And a lot of solo stations go into that category because they don't, you know, it's hard for us as brokers to, when we're selling a solo business to really follow up if there's some sort of like, you know, agreement between the seller and the buyer on I'm going to make X amount of dollars over the three years on these clients. So we typically steer them towards broker light and that sort of, you know, you get a lot of the benefits of broker services but you can do add ons. So like NDAs, you know, we can send NDAs, we can pre qualify, we can do comprehensive business memorandum. So that's kind of where we go with our sellers. We try to guide them and give them as much information as they can. And we try to really set their expectations in line with reality because it's not usually a fast process. And so, you know, finding buyers is quick. It's the buyer decision making process that takes a long time and then if they need to obtain funding, that takes a long time too. You know, SBA typically is a faster 90 days, right?
- [27:22]
At least, yeah.
- [27:24]
60 to 90, depending on the lender that you're dealing with. And if you got a good relationship with your bank, that's. That's great. So for the buyer, when buyers come to us, you know, it depends on again, what, what package the seller has chosen. So we'll just talk about the broker package because that's where we're most involved with buyers. So with our buyers, they come in, submit their information, they sign an NDA and then we have a conversation with that buyer. And so we don't reveal what business this is until we are satisfied as brokers that this buyer isn't going to be a harmful person to the sale. And so that we look them up on social media, you know, we've got their NDA, which is cool, but we want to understand who we're talking to. And so we call the buyer, you know, we set up a meeting or have, you know, a text exchange in order to have that phone call or zoom. And we are looking to pre qualify that buyer. So we want to gauge level of interest, right, Ability to pay for this. You know, why? The first thing we ask buyers is what interests you about this business? We want to understand up front what their main goal is. And usually they tell us so much just in that first question. And so for a buyer, you know, we're having that conversation. We if they pass, I always say if they jump through our hoops, we will provide financial information. So P. Ls, we will provide that SIM. We call it comprehensive business memorandum. And then we say, let us know if you have any questions. Usually at that point they'll either have more questions or they want to move forward to meet the seller. And so we help arrange that seller conversation. You know, if they like what we, if they like what they see, we give them a letter of intent template if they don't already have one. A lot of our savvy buyers have written many letters of intents and so they don't really need it. So they would submit a letter of intent. We would then go to the seller, say here, this person wants to buy your business. This is what they're offering. And that's kind of a negotiation period. You know, not typically the first offer is something that the seller loves. And so there's quite a bit of back and forth between, you know, what does this look like, the time frame? And if the seller wants to accept a letter intent, then we get an attorney involved at that point. Because we're not attorneys, we're not accountants. We are intermediaries. And so we help, you know, then work with the buyer, the seller and the attorney to get the letter of intent signed and then take it through due diligence all the way up through the sale. So there's kind of a long answer, but that's generally speaking.
- [29:57]
But it's, it's important to know all of the steps because it's not just a, oh, I'm just going to go buy a business tomorrow. I mean, there's a step by step process. It's something that takes time. What do you see? You had mentioned earlier that you kind of help once the business sale has gone through. How are you helping and supporting those buyers after? What does that look like?
- [30:23]
So every buyer is different. And we give buyers a host of information, including. It starts with how to announce that the business has been sold. And so we have a video that we provide them. And so that is actually for the buyer and seller so they can sort of, you know, plan ahead and see what this looks like. Because if you have a sale that involves employees, there's going to be emotions, you know, there's going to be things that happen. And so handling that is super important. And that is really equal between the buyer and the seller in my mind. After that, we provide a list of consultants, we provide a list of education they can get, and we're there to talk to them, you know, for an extended period of time, say, you know, the next year. We want to provide resources for them and advice for them because truthfully, they may be a seller someday. And nothing is better than us seeing somebody who bought a business and thrives under it. You know, we don't want to sell a business and think, well, this buyer has no chance. You know, we want to be able to. We're non brand affiliated, right? We, we will provide resources all day, every day. And not, you know, there's no products that lead towards that. You know, we're just giving advice. And so if our resources that we provide our buyers are not what they need, we go out and find them. So it's people like you. You know, we will recommend people like you because you're actually there to help people rather than sell more skin care products, you know.
- [31:50]
Mm. So any other pieces? I feel like this is one of those things that I'm just like, oh, my gosh, we're going to see so much of this in 2025. 2024 was a challenging year. There's people deal. I mean, it's a whole host of things Right. People are dealing with inflation. People. It was an election year, which always causes uncertainty, you know, so there's. There's this kind of mix of things where people are at a place where they're like, you know what I've been through, Covid? I went through this. I kind of just want to take care of people. So I think we're going to see a lot of. Of business owners wanting to sell, and I think also there's going to be a lot of savvy spas that use a strategy like this to acquire. If you buy a solo esthetician's business that's doing 80 to 100,000 a year, in 90 days, you could add 100,000 in revenue to your business potentially. And in what other marketing strategy could you grow that fast? If you study businesses and look at, like, how are these other companies growing so quickly? They're not growing 10, 15% year over year. They're buying other businesses, buying that business for growth. And it's. It's kind of like once you understand this strategy and I mean, you could grow so quickly if you master that emotional intelligence, the piece of merging the. The employees together, getting everybody on. On board with the vision and mission of your spa. I mean, this, for me is like, one of the greatest competitive advantages if you master this skill.
- [33:48]
I agree. And I think there's a real lack of understanding of that in our industry. You know, we're not taught that from the beginning that acquire businesses is the way to ultimate wealth. I mean, it just is. And we. That's a lost concept on so many people in our industry. There's a lot of like, well, I'm going to retire and I'm done. I'm just going to shut it down. Or, you know, even business owners, there's so many. They're just like. It's like, are you kidding me?
- [34:15]
There's so much, like, get the value after all that hard work that you put in. You know, even. Even if you just sell for 20,000, $30,000, that's a huge chunk of money to be able to get. And think about what you could do with that, as that could be a down payment on a rental property or an Airbnb. That could be a car. That could be an incredible vacation. You know, I mean, there's so many different things that it could be simply by you putting that energy and effort forward and not just closing your doors.
- [34:51]
Yeah. And even digital assets. You know, a lot of people, there's. There's no way to really assign a value to Digital assets. But if they are producing business for you, that's valuable. You know, we've actually had sellers that are like, I don't really want to sell my Instagram with the business. And it's like, well, guess what? I mean, if that's a client funnel, that's part of the business. And so I think that's, you know, in my mind, you know, knowing the entire beauty industry and how, you know, all everyone is growing and working, aesthetics can be one of the most challenging to build clientele. So we definitely see a lot more in the spa space as far as solo estheticians being acquired. Hair stylist business, not quite as much. But I personally always feel like the aesthetics businesses are more valuable because it is such a challenge to grow in aesthetics versus, say, hair or, you know, barbering or even nail deals. And so, you know, there's so much value, even stuff that can't be, you know, nailed down, like this is worth $10,000. I mean, what. What spa statician wouldn't love to inherit a website that's producing or a Google business profile or a Facebook page that is actually paying off? So, yeah, that's. There's so much. Even if you don't think you have something, you know, talk to somebody who understands the value in businesses before you go.
- [36:11]
Yeah, so true. All right, so any last thoughts you want to share before we wrap this up and have every. I want obviously you to share where people can find you and get in touch with you, but any last thoughts around this conversation, this strategy, anything? I'm not asking to make this episode complete.
- [36:30]
I would say the biggest thing is just planning ahead, you know, really thinking ahead as to what is my exit strategy. If you are someone who owns a business or you're in a solo esthetician, what does it look like for me to retire? You know, a lot of people move or life things happen, you know, where they can't necessarily perform the services in that location anymore. And so always having some sort of exit strategy in mind and understanding getting your business valued early, that's probably one of the biggest things we see, is that people come to us too late. And so planning ahead, understanding, you know, we're working with a couple salons and spas right now to where they said we want to sell them for years. How much is our business worth right now? That's the best thing you can do. Absolute best thing you can do. Because then you know where to go, you know, what.
- [37:21]
What levers to pull to be able to get it.
- [37:24]
Okay, so I would say that's probably the biggest thing. If you're buying, you know, really understanding what it is you're buying and nailing down sort of a target business. We get a lot of buyers who will inquire about a multitude of businesses. And to me, that is someone who's not serious. Like, if you don't understand, like if you're not actually choo. If you chose a barber shop and a spa to inquire to, like, really, you don't. You don't fully understand what it is you want. So just that think forward thinking, I guess, is really the idea here.
- [37:55]
Love it. Okay. So I know you're gonna have a lot of, A lot of people reaching out, which is a great thing, A great thing. I, you know, a lot of our clients will call me an esthetician matchmaker, and because I found some, some SD besties in the world, and now I feel like this is such a needed connection to really benefit. It just feels like such a win win on so many levels. And you are that bridge. And so I want to make sure that everybody knows where they can find you, get in touch with you, reach out to you, learn how to value their business and start that relationship.
- [38:34]
Yeah. Thank you for that. So I'm. My last name is pronounced Bosh. Susan Bosch. A lot of people go, whoa. Or woos. It's Vosh. That's okay. Easy to spell. I'm on LinkedIn. My company is Salon Spa Connection. And so there's a variety of ways to work with us. We do have a free valuation calculator that anybody can use at any time. It gives you an instant result. And so that is on our website. You can consult with us at any time. We have people, we have representatives now all over the United States. We have a couple spa experts on staff. And so I would say book a consultation. You know, let us do evaluation for you. That's probably the best thing that we can do to help you. And you can either fill out our contact form or on our website, book a consultation. And that's always free because we like to help people.
- [39:25]
We will include all the links to your website, to your calculator, all of those things below the episode to make sure that our listeners can find those incredibly valuable resources. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you for what you're doing in the industry, and I'm so excited to see these win win relationships happen in 2025.
- [39:46]
Damon. And right back at you, Danielle. You're doing such an amazing service for everyone, and I really appreciate you having me on.
- [39:56]
Danielle Warner
Spa Marketing School is a new series brought to you by Auto Aesthetics where we share bite sized marketing strategies minutes or less to help you make more profit in your business. Watch us live on the Auto Aesthetics YouTube channel every Thursday at 11am Eastern Time. And be sure to hit that subscribe button. Here's to more profit in your business this year.