a community of practitioners

Spa Job--Decent or Not So Much??

Hi,
i posted this once but I dont' see it on the forum, so....here goes again...

I've been an independent contractor to an Aveda Spa for the past 4 months. I am obligated to the spa 4 days a week, for 6 hours a day, including Saturdays. I get 50% of the fee, no benefits, so my own taxes, etc.

I average 4-5 clients per week. This feels pretty shabby, considering 1) this is an established spa with a marketing department 2) I give up HALF of what I make to the spa and 3) I don't feel as though this is a decent chance to build repeat business with only a timy handful of new business per week. I do have repeat clients and have been doing massage for 10 years. I'm not sure if hanging in there will be 'worth it" (needs to start feeling like that soon, very soon) or if this is just a dud job.

in my previous spa position, I averaged 10 clients per week as a baseline and that was doable, meaning I could survive and it felt worth it to give them my time and the same commission.

The spa I'm in now is upscale, in a very affluent neighborhood. I had higher expectations of the spa pulling THEIR OWN weight so that *I* could pull mine by getting people to come back.

What do you think? Is it the time of year?

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by lee kalpin on October 25, 2010 at 5:28pm

The main advantage of working for a spa is that they do the advertising and have a reputation that brings in the clients. That, of course, is why you are paying them 50% - because there is an expectation that you will be reasonably busy without having to do any advertising.
It may be the time of year.
How is the rest of the spa doing? Are the estheticians and other service providers busy or not?
Have you looked at their advertising? Does it look as if it should be effective? Can you look at the appointments for the previous year and see if this time of year is usually slow and if it picks up?
I think it might be a good idea to speak to the manager about your concerns and your expectations.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by shannon egan on October 26, 2010 at 12:05am

lee kalpin said:

The main advantage of working for a spa is that they do the advertising and have a reputation that brings in the clients. That, of course, is why you are paying them 50% - because there is an expectation that you will be reasonably busy without having to do any advertising.
It may be the time of year.
How is the rest of the spa doing? Are the estheticians and other service providers busy or not?
Have you looked at their advertising? Does it look as if it should be effective? Can you look at the appointments for the previous year and see if this time of year is usually slow and if it picks up?
I think it might be a good idea to speak to the manager about your concerns and your expectations.

Thank you, Lee! I appreciate your echo of my sentiments about what I expect the spa to be doing, in exchange for 50% commission and no benefits. I did hear that the summer through October was slower, but when I attempted to nail down when I might expect to get significantly busier, I got a vague ":around the holidays" answer...I did attempt to clarify whether that meant mid-November or early January, and got a mouthful of marbles in response, lol...followed by a song and dance about getting my hands on the hair designers so that they will promote me, or dusting off the massage chair and offering freebies in the waiting area, etc. They seem to want to keep tossing the ball back into my lap, which is not working for me.I want THEM to do the marketing work.

I requested a meeting with the manager to discuss the situation, so that should happen this week.