按摩店女老板的生意經：要有活力
Dinah Eng
2018-09-15
圖片：Benjamin Rasmussen
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沙恩·埃文斯后背受過傷，經常按摩有利于康復，但問題是，她付不起按摩的費用。難過之余，埃文斯也由此獲得啟發。她和丈夫韋恩取出投資和積蓄，開了一家名叫“按摩高峰”的會員制按摩公司，提供物美價廉的按摩服務。如今公司在美國和加拿大有147家品牌加盟店，2017年營業收入達到1.1億美元。 一直以來，我對健康和健身領域很感興趣，我出生在一個創業氛圍濃厚的家庭，在圣安東尼奧長大，從小到大目睹過父母在那里經營各種生意。高中畢業后，父親對我說：“你要么上大學要么找工作，我們沒有錢供你上大學?！庇谑牵以趫蠹埳险覚C會，在總裁健康俱樂部找到了工作。 上世紀80年代末到90年代初，健身房生意火爆。我晉升很快，也掌握了很多客服和管理的技巧。韋恩是我的同事，1994年時我們結婚了。 我21歲時，因下背部受傷疼痛難忍。后來我找到了一位按摩治療師，他告訴疼痛的根本原因是肌肉。在此之前，我一直以為按摩的作用是放松身心，不知道還有治療功效。按摩能帶來奇跡，但治療費用不菲，我沒錢經常做按摩治療。 2003年12月，為慶祝我的生日，丈夫在一家水療中心給我安排了一次按摩，但體驗并不好。失望之余，我不由得想到，要是有既平價又優質的按摩服務就好了。由于我們在健身房工作多年，很了解收入穩定的會員制經營模式。如果應用在按摩行業里，根本沒有競爭對手。所以我們決定創業。 有人說，遇見真命天子的時候，感覺就像被巨石砸中。想到成立按摩高峰的時候，我就是這種感覺。四個月后，我們投資25萬美元在得州圣安東尼奧市開了第一家店。 為此，我們取出了各自401(k)賬戶里的養老金，挪用了給孩子上大學準備的存款，還拿出了積蓄。為了降低成本，很多工作只能自己做。丈夫成了包工頭，我們親手給店里刷漆。 店里的家具是祖母留下來的。我們并沒有為了圖便宜買一大堆按摩用品，而是根據需要買必要的用品，因為實在沒錢。我們小心控制各種花銷，請不起人看孩子，也沒有經濟能力送孩子參加課外輔導活動，家人幫忙帶孩子幫了很大忙。 我們犯過很多錯。買過一些很便宜的鐘，給每間按摩室都配了一塊，來掌控時間。但是，客人在房間內聽到鐘走動的聲音，影響人放松。我們還鋪過地毯，可按摩用的精油會滴下滲入地毯，很難清理。我們設了五間按摩室，后來發現沒有空間存放按摩用品、清洗毛巾等用品，按摩師等客人的時候連坐的地方都沒有。洗浴室也比較簡陋，做不到人人滿意。但某種程度上說，第一家店還是成功了。九個月后，我們開了第二家。 開業第一年，公司營業收入36萬美元。我們原本希望，以平民化的價格吸引希望身心放松的女顧客，卻沒有料到，背部疼痛、纖維肌痛等其他病癥的男性和女性患者紛紛前來，想按摩理療舒緩病痛。他們沒有時間坐下來品茶，也沒空在蒸汽房里洗桑拿，只想通過負擔得起的消費，享受更多優質的按摩。 全城各處都有客人慕名而來，還主動詢問我們計劃今后在哪開新店。因此，我們開始授權得州的親朋好友，讓他們開設特許經營的公司加盟店。 2007年，我們請到一位有開授權加盟店經驗的業內人士，開始向全國擴張。從小企業轉型為特許經營授權商的過程中，遇到了形形色色的問題。 保持特許經營店品牌一致是關鍵。起初，一批加盟店請人建了自己的網站。我應該立刻讓他們關閉網站，但又覺得也許有機會利用加盟店網站為自己的網站導入流量。等到發現無助于導流時，公司已經蒙受很大損失。其實我應該采取更直接的手段管理品牌，當初只想著維護好跟加盟店的關系，結果品牌形象出現割裂。 2008年，我們開了一家供應鏈企業，給特許經營店提供全套解決方案，降低開店難度。新店開張48小時內，我們會派一輛卡車過去，車上滿載家具、潤膚液、工作服等足夠經營數日的物品。那一年，公司的盈利首次達到100萬美元。 當時我親自料理各類事務，幫助制定培訓計劃，為支持新的加盟店去現場工作、挑選產品、領導市場推廣活動，還處理法律問題等等。 盡管如此，我還是難以掌控加盟店的具體經營。去年，美國田納西州查塔努加市的一家加盟店意外關門，我們向該店突然失業的員工伸出援手。該店附近的另一家加盟店愿意聘請他們，我們家族的非營利組織無償提供每位失業員工500美元，協助他們渡過難關。 事業成功后，開始有人向我們咨詢怎樣經營品牌加盟業務。我的兄弟，也是合伙人格倫?弗蘭森向The Gents Place的創始人提供建議。The Gents Place是一家為上流男士美容服務的會員制俱樂部。2016年，我們同意合作，幫助他們成立品牌連鎖公司。 后來我們創立了新公司Elevated Brands，希望在一段時間內經營三到五個像The Gents Place一樣的品牌，在健康、健身和美容領域提供品牌授權。 對家族企業而言，平衡工作與生活是個難題。身為公司總裁，我回家之后不能和丈夫談工作?，F在，公司的戰略決策由董事會來做，并非我一言堂，這樣更容易確保只在辦公室討論工作。 我創立的公司秉持關愛他人的文化，代表了家庭的價值觀，我感到很驕傲。特別令我自豪的是能以此告訴女兒們，只要擁有夢想、熱情、勤奮，再做好周密計劃，就可以實現人生的目標。 最佳建議：企業領導者要健身養心、保持活力 按摩高峰聯合創始人兼總裁沙恩·埃文斯 年齡：48歲 來自：圣安東尼奧 每天開始工作前，先冥想十分鐘。 可以利用這段時間回顧反省，為工作做準備。 工作間隙做高強度健身訓練。 工作間隙可以健身30分鐘，包括力量訓練和有氧運動。運動可以產生更多能帶來愉悅感的內啡肽，讓你精神煥發，頭腦清醒。 接受按摩。 按摩能幫助你放松身心，放慢心跳，有助于減壓。 本文發表于2018年9月1日出版的《財富》，原文標題為《金手指》。（財富中文網） 譯者：Ty |
Shane Evans had a back injury that was helped by frequent massages. Problem was, she couldn’t always afford to pay spa prices. Frustrated, and inspired, she and her husband, Wayne, cashed in their investments and savings to start Massage Heights, a massage membership business that offers an upscale environment at affordable prices. Today the company has 147 franchisees in the U.S. and Canada and generated revenues of $110 million in 2017. I WAS ALWAYS INTERESTED in health and wellness and was born into an entrepreneurial family: My parents owned different businesses where I grew up, in San Antonio. After high school, my dad said, “You either need to go to college or get a job, and we don’t have the money to send you to college.” So I looked through the newspaper and found a job at a President’s Health Club. The gym business was on fire in the late ’80s and early ’90s. I worked my way up the ranks, learning customer service and management skills. Wayne, my future husband, came to work there, and we were married in 1994. When I was 21, I experienced a lower back injury and was in excruciating pain. Finally, I ended up going to a massage therapist who recognized the issue was muscular in nature. I’d always thought a massage was just a way to relax and didn’t know that it had real health benefits. The massages worked wonders, but treatments were expensive, and I couldn’t afford them often. In December 2003, my husband arranged a massage at a spa for my birthday, and it wasn’t a good experience. I was so disappointed that it made me think, There’s got to be a way to offer great massage services at an affordable price. With our gym experience, we knew about membership-based, revenue-recurring models. There wasn’t any competition in the massage space, so we decided to start our own business. Some people say that when they meet their significant other, it hits them like a ton of bricks. That’s how I felt getting the idea for Massage Heights. Four months later, we opened the first location, in San Antonio. It cost $250,000 to do it. We cashed out our 401(k)s, our kids’ college fund, and our savings. We kept the cost down by doing a lot of our own work. My husband was the general contractor, and we painted it ourselves. We used furniture I’d inherited from my grandmother. We didn’t buy in bulk, which would have saved money, but bought supplies as needed because we didn’t have the cash. We had to watch every expense. Family members were a big help with our kids, since we couldn’t afford sitters or send them to a lot of extracurricular activities. We made a lot of mistakes. We bought cheap clocks to monitor the time in each treatment room, but you could hear them ticking, which didn’t make for a relaxing experience. We laid carpet down, but essential oils would drip and get into it. We had five treatment rooms and realized there was no room for supplies, laundry, or a place for therapists to sit while waiting for clients. One bathroom wasn’t enough for everyone. But somehow, it became a success. We opened the second location nine months later. Our first year’s revenue was $360,000. We thought we’d get women coming in just for relaxation at an affordable price, but men and women came with back pain, fibromyalgia, and other medical ailments, looking for therapeutic relief. They didn’t have the time to sit and have tea or hang out in a steam room. They wanted a great massage more frequently at an affordable price. Customers started coming from all over the city asking about our expansion plans, so we started franchising to friends and family in Texas. In 2007 we found someone with franchising experience who helped us move forward nationally. Transitioning from being a smallbusiness owner to being a franchisor brought different problems. Brand consistency is key, and early on, a group of franchisees hired someone to create their own websites. I should have shut that down quickly, but I thought we could leverage what they created to drive traffic to the site we managed. By the time I realized it wouldn’t work, it had cost us a lot of money. I should have been more direct. I wanted to protect the relationship, and instead, it caused a rift. In 2008 we started a supply-chain business to provide a turnkey operation to our franchisees, making it easier for them to open. We have a truck that rolls in 48 hours after the floors go down, loaded with furniture, lotions, uniforms—everything needed to make a location operational over several days. That year, we made our first million in profit. Back then, I had my hand in everything. I helped create training programs, worked in the field to support new franchisees, did product selection, headed marketing efforts, and dealt with legalities. It can still be hard to control how our operators run their businesses. Last year a franchisee in Chattanooga shut its doors unexpectedly, and we offered to help the employees who were suddenly without jobs. Another franchisee nearby offered to hire people, and our family nonprofit gave each employee $500 to help mitigate the pain. Because of our success, people started asking us for advice on how to franchise their brands. My brother, Glenn Franson, who’s a partner in our business, started talking with the founders of The Gents Place, a members-only club that offers upscale men’s grooming. We agreed to partner with them in 2016 to form a franchising company. We then started Elevated Brands, with the hope of having three to five brands over time that we can partner with—like The Gents Place—to franchise in the health, wellness, and beauty space. One thing that’s hard with a family-owned business is work/life balance. As president of the company, I need to be able to go home and not have a conversation about work with my husband. Strategy decisions are now made with the board, not just by me, which has made it easier to leave work discussions at the office. I’m proud of building a company with a caring culture that represents our family values. I’m especially proud of showing our daughters that with a dream, passion, diligence, and a plan, you can do anything you want in life. Best Advice: Leading With a Mind-Body-Spirit Connection Shane Evans, CoFounder and President of Massage Heights AGE: 48 FROM: San Antonio START THE DAY WITH 10 MINUTES OF MEDITATION. It gives you time to reflect and prepare for work. DO HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING. Short 30-minute workouts with weight training and cardio will raise your endorphins, give you energy, and clear your head. GET A MASSAGE. It helps you relax, slows down the heart rate, and helps you reduce stress. A version of this article appears in the September 1, 2018 issue of Fortune with the headline “Golden Touch.” |
