A wellness business venture can be both a rewarding and profitable endeavor. In this detailed guide, we’ll show you how to navigate through the perils of launching your own successful wellness business, as well as provide you with useful business ideas you can use to launch your own operation. 

How to Start a Wellness Business: Complete Guide

Looking for a guide on how to start a wellness business? We don’t blame you. Projections estimate that by 2027, the wellness industry is set to rake in over 8.5 trillion dollars (or, for Erewhon shoppers, 212.5 billion jars of sea moss gel), making it a highly lucrative endeavor for those with the right business savvy. 

9 Steps To Open Your Own Wellness Business

Starting a wellness business requires more than just an idea and a dream, but below we’ve outlined the steps you can take to turn those ideas and dreams into a profitable reality. 

Start With An Idea

Every good business plan starts with a good idea. (Or sometimes, even a bad one!) Think about what your passion is in the wellness industry and what you can bring to the table. Do you want to focus on nutrition? Spa treatments? Skincare? While it can be tempting to choose a venture that will bring in the most cash, picking an idea you can envision yourself doing for the long-term will likely be more sustainable. 

Conduct Market Research

Whether you want to get into the massage business or start a yoga studio, it’s important to do your research. Does your local area have a need for the services you want to provide? Is it already saturated with entrepreneurial hopefuls in your field? Look up your competitors, see what customers have to say about their services. Can your business provide something theirs can’t? Consider your target audience, and how you plan to cater to them. 

Choose Your Sector

When considering how to start a wellness business, take note of what specific services you can offer. Catering to a niche can help make your business unique. Are you a massage therapist who can specialize in treating physically disabled patients? Are you a meditation coach who can help those with PTSD? Do you work better with children or the elderly? A niche can help you better reach your target audience and let you provide a highly specialized service they may not be able to get elsewhere. 

Develop a Business Plan

Take time to outline your business plan and explore all the necessary steps to creating your own wellness company. Write out your executive summary, including key points such as your mission statement, business objectives, target market, products and beauty services, and financial projections. 

Outlining your goals and a timeline to hit your milestones will better prepare you for the future of your business—especially when approaching investors. This is also where you can outline the most important details of your budget, like how much you’ll spend on staff, permits and licenses, rent (if any), and other operational costs. 

Figure Out Your Finances

Once you have a plan and a location in mind, it’s time to figure out how you’re going to fund it. The cost of opening a wellness center can get pretty pricey—depending on the location and services offered, it can range anywhere from a few thousand dollars to millions. You can try applying for a business bank loan, seek out loans from friends or independent investors, or even try crowdfunding your business. You’ll also need to take your employee payroll into consideration, as well as any emergency funds you’ll want to set aside. 

Find the Right Location

Is your wellness business a physical location? Or will your operations exist online? For some, the answer might be both, but if you plan on opening a physical location, details like how far you are from your competitors, or how local you are to other public spaces and pedestrian traffic all play a part in the success of your business. 

A physical location also means considering more overhead costs. For example, renting a space for a wellness studio in Los Angeles or New York City can be astronomically more expensive than in places like Wisconsin or Montana. 

Get the Necessary Licenses, Permits, and Insurance

Before you can operate a wellness company, you’ll need to make sure you’re legally allowed to perform the advertised services. (For example, without an esthetician license, you won’t be able to perform laser treatments.) Regulations for permits, licenses, and insurance vary by state, so be sure to check your specific state’s wellness center requirements first. 

Hire and Train Staff

The team you put in place to help run your business is as important as the business idea itself. Taking time to hire and train staff with the right qualifications can make a world of a difference in the flow of your daily operations, as well as the client experience. Depending on the type of business you’re running, you may need a customer service team, a marketing team, and a trustworthy administrative staff. 

Market & Launch Your Business

Market, market, market! It’s not enough just to know how to start a wellness business, you have to know how to sell it too. Utilize every tool (within your budget) that you can. Establish a social media presence, build a brand image—and if you can afford it, try taking out print ads like billboards, bus stop benches, or even newspaper ads to help spread the word about your business. In some cases, offering influencers free products or complimentary services in exchange for a review can help boost your presence (though, make sure they’re not taking advantage of you). 

[CTA_MODULE]

7 Wellness Business Ideas

The wellness business encapsulates a number of different industries and fields, each delivering specialized services to those who seek them out. Some common wellness business ideas include:

Yoga Studio

Yoga studios make for a flexible wellness business idea because you can open a physical studio for your services, or simply run a digital one online where you can cater to your clients directly in their homes. You can also curate a specific experience, like puppy yoga or hot yoga, to help set your business apart from the rest of the standard yoga studios. 

Massage Therapy Center

Massage therapy is a hands-on (pun intended) way to manipulate your clients’ muscles into healing. If you have the right training and a comforting bedside manner, opening a massage therapy center can be a promising career path. Massage therapists can either work out of an office, a spa, their own home, or make house calls. 

Spa and Wellness Center

Not all wellness business ideas have to target highly specific clientele. Establishing a spa or wellness center where clients can come to address a number of issues can also make for a promising venture. You can offer services like deep tissue or head massages, skincare treatments, mud baths, acupuncture, meditation, aromatherapy, or hydrotherapy. As long as your budget can support it and you meet the necessary wellness center requirements, you can provide clientele with a one-stop shop for all their physical, mental, and spiritual wellness needs. 

Fitness and Personal Training

Fitness and personal training studios can be another lucrative avenue into the wellness business. If you love physical activity and have a knack for bringing out the best in others’ personal fitness, opening your own studio might be the right career path for you. You can work as an aerobics or spin instructor, bodybuilding trainer, or simply provide basic cardio training for those looking to stay active. You can also offer digital training where all your classes take place online, which can reduce the cost of renting and maintaining a physical studio. 

Mindfulness and Meditation Center

Mental health is just as important as physical health, and honestly the world could probably use a few more of these places! Mindfulness/meditation centers offer clients a peaceful retreat where they can work on their inner selves. While it’s possible to hold meditation courses online, a dedicated physical space allows you to better control the environment for your clients, letting you more perfectly curate their meditation experience. 

Nutrition Center

Nutrition is one of the key aspects of wellness, as what we consume is often directly linked to the health of our bodies. A nutritionist can help people adjust their diets to incorporate a more healthy lifestyle, recommend the right supplements, or serve as a weight loss coach for those struggling to shed pounds. Nutritionists can work out of medical offices, spas, or gyms, or travel independently to clients. 

Alternative Medicine Clinic

If you’re interested in a more holistic approach, alternative medicine clinics can also provide clients with a specialized wellness experience. Whether your goal is to provide herbal remedies, acupuncture, sound therapy, or all of the above, an alternative medical clinic can give you the freedom to approach healing in your own way (that is compliant with your state laws, of course!). 

[CTA_MODULE]

Take Your Wellness Business to the Next Level with GlossGenius

Footing the cost of opening a wellness center is only the first step (and it isn’t all spa days and manicures!) Much like any business, it takes time, patience, and hard work to grow successfully. 

Our platform allows beauty and wellness professionals to run your entire business in one place. With features that let you manage appointments, process payments, run payroll, and support your client relationships, GlossGenius is your go-to tool for all your business needs. Even though running a business is hard, GlossGenius is here to help make it easier. 

‍Start your free trial to grow and glow with us today!