Esthetics: A Rich Boss

  
      Imagine getting a job at luxurious spa with all the bells and whistles and now you finally feel at home in the esthetics world. Bliss, I know. What could be better than a spa that carries four skin care lines, a nail collection, hair products and even custom art work? Butter cookies and coffee for the clients, sparkling wine and cheese, this was luxury at its best, or was it? This happened to me, I thought I landed in esthetics heaven, a perfect place to hang my license!
      I soon realized, after I witnessed the revolving door of technicians, that this lady did not have a business plan at all. Instead she wanted to shop, she didn't have a plan in the works to grow the business, but she kept buying and buying more things. We had four skin care lines, but we didn't have enough clients to turnover all those products on the shelves. We had an overflowing hair line bursting from our shelves and yet most of those pretty bottles sat as statues because again we didn't have the customers to sell the inventory. We had a make-up line, but the owner played with the make-up more than she tried to sell the services. Finally, the last straw for me was when she decided to incorporate a doggie line into this luxury spa.
        Unfortunately, this was not a place I could work and feel confident that I would have a job at the end of the year. I say this because it felt like this spa was doomed before it got its start. This was a lady with zero spa industry experience, and in everything she did from buying four skin care lines to trying to wax people herself (without a license!) it was clear that this was a sinking ship! This owner reminded me of a teenager with a credit card a never ending limit. I am not sure she ever had a budget or a way to turn money spent into income.
       Many of you aspiring estheticians will never experience this particular situation because I would say with confidence that most spas are run by industry people (thank goodness!). If you do encounter a situation like this one, where the owner is not in the spa industry proceed with caution because in the end, the spa I worked for had to close up shop. This owner should have started with a business plan instead of randomly spending money like a Las Vegas winner. If you ever find yourself in this type of situation, please take a moment to pause before accepting that offer, it might be better to wait for the next offer than work for someone like this who spends more than they try to grow the business.