How to Write a Successful Spa Business Plan in 2025

The salon and spa industry is known for high-quality services provided in a soothing environment. And customers love it. According to Statista, the spa industry is expected to grow to a market size of $156 billion by 2027 in the U.S. alone.

Your business could get a cut of that revenue. But there are different kinds of spas, and the type of spa business plan you’ll create will depend on what you want to offer and the kinds of clientele you plan to serve.

While opening a spa business, you will need to consider factors such as demand and the local industry. You’ll also need to think about your operations, management, list of services, and pricing strategy so you can be sure of everything you need before you open your doors.

Writing a business plan is your first step. To do that, you’ll want to dig deeper into market analysis and your financial plan, determine your target market, and build a business plan that guides your business from day one.

The following is a guide to help you work through your business plan step by step. You’ll also have access to templates and support, so you can get your spa started and keep your customers coming back for more.

What is a spa business?

Spa businesses can range from health-focused spas to salons that offer luxury services such as massages and acupuncture. There are many kinds of spas that you might want to open, such as:

Day Spas

Day spas typically offer non-invasive treatments and services. Some of them might include relaxation massages, facials, and nail services. They usually provide supplies for clients to stay comfortable, such as robes and slippers, wine, or snacks.

Medical Spas

Medical spas offer non-surgical cosmetic treatments. These treatments are often minimally invasive, involving injectables or stronger, medical-grade medications, chemicals, and supplies. Med spas can be more costly to start because the owners and their employees must have specific training and certifications to offer services such as dermal fillers, botox, and microdermabrasion.

Luxury Spas

Luxury spas are all about the atmosphere. They offer high-end services and take every step to make their guests feel pampered and relaxed. They may offer private treatment rooms, hydrotherapy pools, or even restaurants and dining halls where guests can eat healthy food during the day. Some luxury spas offer rooms for overnight stays, like luxury spa resorts.

How To Make a Spa Business Plan: 10 Key Elements

Once you know the type of spa you’d like to open, it’s important to take steps to create a business plan. Your business plan will go over many aspects of your business, such as your company description and operational plan. Some businesses like to use a lean business plan, which only covers the most important details necessary to operating a business. Others like to go into much deeper detail. What you do is up to you, but be sure to touch on at least the following 10 key elements.

Some key elements to include in your spa business plan include:

Company Description

The first thing to start with is your spa’s company description and executive summary. Give a brief history of your business in your company description, and write down a high-level overview of what your salon or spa is going to be in your executive summary. Talk about the unique aspects of your business, write down your mission statement, and identify any factors that could help you become successful.

Market Analysis

Another thing you will want to do is your market analysis. The market analysis looks at the local market—or, if you’ll work across a region or country, the entire area you’ll serve. With this analysis, you’ll figure out how your company is going to fit into the local economy and identify the target market for your services.

Industry Analysis

As a part of your market analysis, perform an industry analysis. This analysis should look at the local area and the competition you’ll face. Look at what’s driving interest in different spas in your area, as well as the kinds of therapies and treatments those facilities offer.

Customer Analysis

In your customer analysis, consider the kinds of customers that go to spas most frequently to find your target market. Usually, you’ll be looking at women between the ages of 25 and 44.

As part of the customer analysis, you can identify the services these groups will most likely seek out. You can also check to see if there is a gap in local services that your potential customers want. Get a deeper understanding of how these groups spend to make the most of your customer analysis and use the data to improve your business’s offerings.

Competitive Analysis

Finally, perform a competitive analysis. Identify key competitors that have formidable salons and spas near you. If they fit specific niches, it may serve your business well to aim for a different target audience. For example, if most local salons and spas serve younger women looking for nail services, you may want to open a relaxation spa with massage, facials, and related services.

Financial Plan

A financial plan is an important aspect of your business plan. It goes over details involving money, including outgoing expenses and financial projections. If you’re hoping to have investors support your spa as you open it, it’s a good idea to go deep into projected startup costs and show how you’re going to bring in revenue. The sooner you can project a positive cash flow, the happier investors are likely to be.

You will need a financial plan if you intend to get a loan for your startup. In your financial plan, mention the cost of salon and spa equipment, insurance, product expenses, and even the expected expenditure on marketing and employee salaries. Doing this gives investors, bankers, and others insight into how you’re thinking and the likelihood of your business becoming successful.

Marketing Plan

Marketing is how you’ll get your brand in front of your target audience. In your business plan, decide how you’ll market your business. Discuss options such as digital ads, SEO marketing, reviews and review management, local marketing, and other marketing strategies you’d like to use. Promotional activities, partnerships, social media marketing, collaborations, and special offers for new clients will all fall under this umbrella.

Not all spas will use the same marketing plans, but you can get a headstart on your digital marketing strategy by looking at your competitors’ websites, advertisements, and promotions. You don’t have to replicate them (it’s better to come up with your own promos and pricing), but you will have better insight if you do this research before you open.

Operational Plan

Your operational plan is designed to give you time to think about how your spa operations will run from day to day. You’ll consider factors such as employee management, financial management, quality assurance, and customer service in your operations plan. The key here is to figure out who will be running the business from one day to the next and to set up guidelines for what a normal day of operations looks like.

Management Plan

Your management plan looks deeper into the personnel who are running the spa. You’ll identify those who are qualified to become managers versus regular employees. You’ll set up the reporting processes and how to create a positive company culture through this plan.

Services and Pricing

Finally, you can’t forget to set up your own list of services and how much you’re going to charge for them. You should research the local market to stay in line with their pricing, but you will also want to develop a schedule of services that is unique to you or that has a draw that customers appreciate, such as being slightly cheaper or more luxurious than what other spas offer. Keep the local market in mind when you set your pricing strategy. If your prices are too high, your target audience may opt to stick with other brands.

The Importance of Marketing Research and Analysis for Your Spa

Conducting thorough market research to understand the spa industry landscape is the best way to get started with your business. When you understand the competition, what it offers, and how you can compete, you position yourself for success.

Market analysis helps to position your spa in a competitive market by uncovering consumer needs and preferences. For example, you may find that the local market doesn’t have any massage therapists; adding one to your salon and spa would be an excellent way to get immediate bookings. Similarly, you may find that local clients are spread thin across multiple nail salons, so you might opt not to offer nail services or only offer nail services that are unavailable at other salons.

By looking into the local competition, you will have the insight to make data-driven decisions about what you offer and be able to estimate the market for your new services.

Podium Templates and Resources

Downloadable business plan templates are an excellent resource for entrepreneurs. You can customize these resources to suit your own business needs, cutting down on the time it takes to create a business plan and helping you get down to business—fast.

To help you get started, our team at Podium has collected several templates and resources for you. You can download them to get a feel for the kind of business plan you want to build, and then get started ASAP. Just keep in mind that all businesses are different, and the depth of the content in your business plan will depend on what you need to have a solid vision and foundation for your brand.

Some resources you can use include:

• Podium’s Small Business Plan Template
• Growthink’s Ultimate Spa Business Plan Template
• Bplans Day Spa Business Plan Template
• Zenoti Spa Business Plan Template

Once you choose a spa business plan and get ready to put your startup strategy into action, consider this: good customer service could make or break your spa. As a part of your strategy for success, consider Podium. With Podium’s AI Employee, you’ll have around-the-clock support available for your customers. Podium’s AI Employee responds to customer inquiries, helps you keep conversations flowing, and ensures you have the right automations in place to get the bookings needed to support your brand. Watch a demo to see how Podium supports spas like yours.