What it takes to open a wellness center
To open a wellness center, you first need a room. The square footage? It depends on the services you intend to offer. Well-being is a very broad definition and therefore includes all those services designed to make a person feel good, so it is up to the entrepreneur to choose which and how many services to offer.
A wellness center does not necessarily have to be gigantic: the important thing is that it is well positioned (in a central area and preferably on the ground floor). Reserved for each service offered a special room, perhaps furnished with a theme. The internal structure must allow guests to feel at ease and guarantee a certain discretion.
Attention to hygiene and order and the presence of competent and affable staff are the minimum indispensable requirements of every structure of this kind.
Requirements and procedures to open a wellness center
To open a wellness center it is necessary to have a beautician’s diploma, that is: have attended a course of studies at least three years recognized by the Region; have passed the specific qualifying examination.
It goes without saying that in this sector the skills acquired during the ordinary course of study are not sufficient: therefore, free rein to the experience at an already established beauty center and to continuous refresher courses.
The bureaucratic process involves:
VAT number opening
registration with the Business Register as a craft business
request for health clearance to the ASL complaint of starting activities to be presented to the Municipality in which the wellness center is located, including the supplementary documentation request for authorization to exhibit the sign, to always be presented to the Municipality regulation of INPS and INAIL positions
How much does it cost to open a wellness center
Opening a wellness center requires the preparation of spaces, the purchase of materials and machinery that are often very expensive. As always happens for this kind of entrepreneurial activity, the main advice is to proceed step by step: initially you can open a small wellness center and manage it yourself or with one or two units of staff and then, once you have meshed, expand yourself by enlarging the premises and enriching the offer.
Let’s look at some figures using a standard beauty center as a reference. Most of the rooms are generally intended for the beauty area , with cabins equipped for various face and body treatments, hair removal and weight loss. The cost is around € 2,000 per square meter .
A 20% of the surface is destined to a relaxation area (turkish bath, sauna, whirlpool and so on), for which about 2,500 € per square meter are needed.
For the fitness area, 15% of the beauty center is enough, including both the environments dedicated to personal trainers and the actual equipment. Cost: € 1,000 – € 2,000 per square meter
Add to this the costs for the bureaucracy, the utilities, the possible restructuring of the premises and the minimum initial investment for a wellness center of about 500 square meters immediately stands at € 750,000.
Franchising
Faced with not insignificant costs, the franchising formula appears as the ideal solution for those who wish to open a wellness center, but do not have the necessary resources or who, beginners in the sector, need support.
With the franchise, in fact, also a typically artisanal activity based on personal skills, such as aesthetics, “dresses” in safety, thanks to a complete tutoring system that supports the franchisee from the design of the spaces to the preparation, up to to daily management.
Incentives and privileged conditions for the purchase of materials and relationships with suppliers, constant professional updating are just some of the advantages. Others are identifiable in the return given by the use of a known brand, the possibility of having the exclusivity for the brand in the area of competence and, very important, the opportunity to exploit the marketing tools and advertising designed by the parent company and provided to affiliates, often for free.
Absolutely affordable planned entrance investment: from € 10,000 to € 50,000 depending on the brand and the services offered, clearly we talk about small beauty centers that can offer some specific services. But as mentioned above, if the activity is profitable, it can be the launching pad and then get bigger and add more services.
