SKINFLUENCER

THE BUILDING BLOCKS

One of the biggest questions for salons wanting to build a business around hightech treatments is the cost of acquisition. Chloe Machin who launched I Am Beauty Body Studio in 2020, has had to navigate uncharted economic territory impacted by closures and uncertainty with her brand. She spoke to Ruby Feneley about how to decide on the right technology and pricing structure to get optimal returns.

Chloe Machin

How important is finding the right beauty technology for your business, and how have you decided on what to range?

“For us, the concept and positioning of the business lay in specialised, forward-thinking aesthetic innovation so it was paramount to align with leading beauty technology partners.

We needed the best beauty technology specialists – but as a small, start-up business we also wanted to ensure we had the best possible ongoing clinical and educational support for staff from our brand partners.

I resonate strongly with the notion that knowledge is power, and so while it was a priority to seek out hi-tech treatments and systems systems we also wanted to work with a technology partner that was equally as passionate about enriching the business owners and staff with knowledge.

2020 was a defining moment for beauty technology and along with the many adjustments and pivots the beauty industry has had to make, personalisation has been one of the most crucial areas of development for business owners.

Our main treatment modality and offering at I Am Beauty Body Studio, is based on a completely bespoke treatment - as such it was paramount that our technology system catered to the desire of individual customisation.

Not only are we passionate about providing our clients with state-of-the-art treatments, but our personal and business integrity rests upon knowing that the capability of the treatment systems are effective. I personally trial all technology systems before committing - an admittedly luxurious and unconventional approach to market research! However it has become an instrumental element in shortlisting our technology range and treatment offerings.”

There are costs associated with ranging more advanced technologies – how has offering advanced treatments helped you build your business and bottom line?

“From the early conception days of I Am Beauty Body Studio, we made a firm decision never to skimp on the expense of any of our equipment.

Innovation and beauty technology is our business model and so we curated a space and beauty offerings in line with our values and intention to seek out the very best technology and equipment to use in-studio.

So, we reverse-engineered our business model around our intention to become the leading pre-wedding specialist using non-invasive innovative beauty technology. Setting this intention and upholding this value has definitely been risky from a financial perspective.

As a practical example: we range some of the leading saunas on the market and were intent on understanding the sustainability efforts made in harvesting the materials sourced by those companies. Going through this process saw our initial first-choice, one that was cost-efficient and effective, became our last, and our start-up budget for the full-spectrum infrared sauna increased three-fold.

While that meant our treatment prices had to increase slightly we feel that this is something our clients care about, and are 100% confident in saying that we made a list of conscious decisions to make sure that we can stand behind the results and values of the technologies we offer.

We apply the same ideology and intent when researching and purchasing our crystals, which we also categorise as beauty technology, although a slightly more unconventional and holistic type! There is a consistent standard for every component of the business.”

Why have you decided on a lease/buy/payper-use model for your business and what do you feel the benefits of this have been?

“We decided to buy and pay off our equipment over 24 months and while the decision to open a beauty business during the current financial climate has not provided the most harmonious setting for a start-up operation, we are comfortable with our financial commitment.

We were able to negotiate a 12-week interest-free payment when we initially purchased our equipment. I find that often, concessions can be made in terms of payment when buying top of the range equipment and I would definitely encourage anyone to always ask! Making weekly payments on our primary technology devices keeps us motivated to reach our KPI’s and keep pushing forward.”