The Medspa Movement is Making Headway, Solana Medspas CEO Deilvers State of the Industry Report
The Medspa Industry is in its Infancy "In the bigger picture, the Medspa industry is still in its infancy -- in fact, the term Medspa or Medical Spa was only recently coined to describe a facility whose medical program integrates both traditional and nontraditional medicine and spa treatments under the supervision of a licensed healthcare professional.
Irvine, CA (PRWEB) February 7, 2007
John Buckingham, CEO and co-founder of Solana MedSpas, has released his comments on the state of the Medical Spa Industry. Solana MedSpas, based in Irvine, Calif., is the nation's leader in Medspa development, with 116 locally branded Medspas open or opening in 30 states.
"According to the International Medical Spa Association (IMSA), the Medspa movement has been closely linked to the growing baby boomer generation in the United States, consisting of persons born during the post-World War II birth rate boom from 1946 - 1964," Buckingham notes.
"Baby boomers are the wealthiest, best educated and most sophisticated consumers in history and at 78 million strong, they are the single largest consumer group in the U. S. today. They currently make up 51 percent of the total U. S. population and control 75 percent of this country's wealth. IMSA statistics indicate that 12,000 Americans turn 50 every day (1 every 8 seconds) and this will continue for the next 20 years. Americans over 55 will grow by 60 percent in the next 20 years and their buying power will exceed $2 trillion in 2007.
"Given these large figures, what is state of the Medspa industry today and what effect does this have on individual Medspa owners? Studies from medical and industry trade groups, along with independent research, indicate that this is a huge market, so why has individual medspa success been spotty and how can we explain the seemingly slow rate of market penetration?"
The Medspa Industry is in its Infancy
"In the bigger picture, the Medspa industry is still in its infancy -- in fact, the term Medspa or Medical Spa was only recently coined to describe a facility whose medical program integrates both traditional and nontraditional medicine and spa treatments under the supervision of a licensed healthcare professional. IMSA research shows that while traditional day spas number at least 14,000 in the U. S. alone, the retail medical spa number is closer to 1500.
"Like most emerging industries, the medspa industry has very low market penetration among consumers, with just a small percentage of early adopters embracing the treatments and technology. Of the more than 27 million U. S. women targeted, only one million are currently medspa customers, with the total market penetration estimated to be about 10 - 12 percent of the existing demographic potential. This rate of penetration can be attributed to several factors:
1) The technology and delivery mechanisms of the medspa as retail medicine are still years ahead of the baby boomer boom, which will be an expanding market over the next 20 years.
2) People have fears and misperceptions about medspas and associate aesthetic procedures with surgery and pain. Studies show that 95 percent of people prefer not to undergo surgery, so until the public is assured that these treatments are non-surgical with little or no pain and performed in a clinical, safe and legal regulatory environment, they may shy away.
3) The medspa business is fueled by word of mouth and personal referrals, so until the trickle becomes a mighty river, it will be the task of the medspa industry to educate the consumer.
Three Categories of Medspa Owners
"The good news is that peak demand for medspa services is yet to come, but the challenge is how individual medspas can prosper and thrive on the upward side of the life cycle curve:
"First we need to examine the three categories of medspa owners:
1) The wildly successful. These owners get in early, stake a claim, and are able to weather the ups and downs while they build a stable and loyal clientele.
2) Close to success, but hanging in there. In this scenario, the owners are on the right track but just need some extra tools and time before they finally hit the ball out of the park.
3) Unsuccessful / bound for failure. According to the Small Business Association, over 50 percent of small businesses fail in the first year and 95 percent fail within the first five years for a variety of reasons including undercapitalization, poor location, low sales, high employee turnover, poor management or lack of experience. In this respect, the medspa industry is no different from other business categories.
Four Key Components for Medspa Success
"The definition of a successful / sustainable medspa business model has four key components:
1) From the client point of view, a medspa needs to provide a menu of services that fits their expectations; a high quality client (versus patient) experience; real, repeatable results; safety; and practitioners with clinical credentials.
2) From the owners' point of view, the medspa needs to generate revenue levels relative to cost structure that allows for break even in one year; higher frequency, lower price point services that keep utilization levels high; a motivated owner / entrepreneur to drive client growth and satisfaction; the ability to differentiate quality, service and safety vis-à-vis the competition; and strong marketing / advertising to effectively deliver the message to the target customer.
3) From a service provider point of view, the medspa needs the tools, standards, protocols and properly trained staff to ensure delivery of best practices and consistency of results.
4) From a regulator's point of view, there needs to be a system of oversight that protects the public's health and well-being, as well as safety assurances regarding training and credentialing," Buckingham states.
Klinger Advanced Skin Care
Richard Rakowski, Chairman / CEO, Klinger Advanced Aesthetics, adds his thoughts to Buckingham's comments. Klinger is a medical development company that is defining the standard of care in the highly subjective medical aesthetics arena through affiliations with leading medical institutions such as Johns Hopkins and the Science of Beauty testing, proprietary IP, technology, and specialized products and services.
According to Rakowski, Klinger is taking aesthetics to the next level with its proprietary Advanced Skin Care positioning and branding.
"Advanced Skin Care adds the medical component to traditional treatments," Rakowski explains. "For example, Klinger has redefined "facial" to include Botox and laser procedures. By positioning their facility as Advanced Skin Care, medspa owners can drive frequency and volume to their client base, while presenting the customer with the perception of less financial and physical risk.
"Klinger's unique expertise consists of subcomponents on the medical delivery and consumer side. The sweet spot is that baby boomers don't believe they need to age the way their parents did and to this end, they will deploy whatever tools are available."
Five Key Trends Driving the Medspa Industry
Rakowski notes that Klinger has identified five key trends propelling the medspa industry:
1) The spending power and intellectual bent of baby boomers is a major force in the medspa movement.
2) Interventions such as surgery are considered too risky by baby boomers, which fuels the desire for injectibles. Indeed, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, surgery is down and noninvasive procedures are increasing.
3) A meaningful amount of capital is being earmarked for intriguing new technology such as facial fillers, new molecules for topicals, body sculpting and energy-based procedures.
4) The expectation of clinical efficacy for beauty procedures. Medicine predicates expectations of repeatability and safety along with the need to establish how to assess a client's needs, how to deliver service in a repeatable way, and ultimately how to satisfy the client. Klinger is developing the standards and measurability to confirm efficacy and ensure safety.
5) Age management / solutions for a lifetime. Klinger emphasizes the post-procedure care that the consumer does at home. They also address the thousands of products on the market that make various claims by conducting research to find out if the product really performs.
"How does all this translate to the medspa model? Since ancient times, women have always had a beauty toolbox. Now the toolbox has gotten bigger, better and more scientifically based. Market penetration develops organically. If a product or procedure works, women will participate and market penetration will happen," Rakowski concludes.
About Solana MedSpas
Founded in 2003, Solana MedSpas is the nation's foremost medical spa developer, with a growing network of locally branded facilities across North America. Under Buckingham's leadership, Solana MedSpas has forged a new market segment and medical spa model by combining leading edge aesthetics and wellness technologies with traditional spa therapies. In a short period of time, Buckingham has branded Solana MedSpas as a leader in medspa development with an emphasis on regulatory compliance, healthcare innovation, education, integrity and customer service. Solana MedSpas provides the industry's only model for a legally compliant, competitive and forward-thinking business in all 50 states.
Websites
For more information about Solana MedSpas visit: http://www. solanamedspas. com (http://www. solanamedspas. com).
For more information about Klinger Advanced Aesthetics visit http://www. klinger. com (http://www. klinger. com).
CONTACT:
Linda Arroz 818-752-9168
Kyrian Corona 818-753-9444
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