Moving your salon in the direction of wellness
The UK health and wellness market in 2019 was valued at around €24 billion (according to Statista) and isn’t showing signs of slowing down. Shifts in attitudes surrounding mental wellness are at the forefront of personal and corporate cultures, while client awareness and spending is moving towards experience-based services.
Time-honoured techniques such as meditation, reiki, yoga, ayurveda, acupuncture, hypnotherapy and energy balancing are no longer considered a compartmentalised lifestyle choice; clients are embracing infusing wellbeing techniques into their daily life.
Market trends are showing clients are interested in slowing down; taking time out to connect with loved ones, spending time in nature and enjoying a digital detox. But how does a salon that provides “traditional” beauty services tap into this market?
Salons should consider taking a leap into a more complementary, spiritual and holistic approach to the services they offer. Expanding your knowledge into these techniques assists in your own personal growth too, while adding extra skills to support your clients on their journey.
A good first step would be to enrol in meditation coaching, because it’s generally a one-day course and would allow therapists to add a meditation to the beginning of treatments. They would also then be trained to hold group meditation sessions, which you could take out into the community.
The financial outlay of leading meditation sessions is very low. However, in my four years’ experience I’ve learned that it is an extremely refined skill and professional standards need to be maintained. We teach a one-day accredited Meditation Teaching Diploma at The Mindful Space Wellbeing Company for £285. The awarding body is The Complementary Medical Association and the course is fully insurable.
New experiences
Offering experienced-based services requires innovation; think about attending wellness festivals and exhibitions you would usually overlook. Dedicate some time to discovering wellbeing product ranges you could stock and books to place in your reception or relaxation areas, invest in professional accredited training, work in partnership with corporate businesses, go into office spaces, look into pop-up events, run workshops, and get outdoors.
Look into initiatives like Street Wisdom, a global mindfulness organisation that I joined in 2017 as a volunteer. They support you in holding walking events in your own area, and while this perhaps isn’t an obvious introduction into experienced-based services, the events are popular and free and could well lead to potential new clients for your business.
To enjoy life to the full our physical, mental, spiritual and emotional elements need to be balanced and nurtured. Being honest, could you be offering more to ensure your clients achieve this balance without them having to go elsewhere?
Gail Donnan owns The Mindful Space Wellbeing Company, a wellbeing centre, yoga studio and accredited training school. She is the author of The Gateway – A Journey to re-claim your power from stress and anxiety, a volunteer for Street Wisdom and a regular guest speaker on wellbeing and mental health.