Small day spa with rented treatment rooms

Local clients booking regular treatments, plus gift buyers, couples and groups celebrating special occasions.

A price per treatment, product sales, memberships and packages, and gift vouchers. Growth comes from adding therapists and rooms.

• Treatment skills or experience managing skilled therapists
• Scheduling and basic bookkeeping
• Marketing and client care

• A municipal business licence and a public health inspection may be required, so check locally
• Therapists must meet provincial regulation for massage or esthetics, and Quebec has its own rules and French-language requirements
• Commercial general liability, professional liability and property insurance, plus WCB or WSIB once you hire
• Lease commitments and fit-out costs before you have steady bookings
• Whether GST/HST or provincial sales tax applies to your services, and when to register

Startup costs are estimated at typically around $25,000 to $100,000, depending on your premises, fit-out and equipment. Lease commitments and fit-out costs come before you have steady bookings, so it helps to plan for that gap.

Monthly revenue is typically estimated at around $6,000 to $30,000, depending on how many rooms you run, whether you treat clients yourself and how full your bookings are. The estimates assume at least about 30 hours a week.

Check whether you need a municipal business licence and a public health inspection locally. Therapists must meet provincial regulation for massage or esthetics, and Quebec has its own rules and French-language requirements. Also check insurance, WCB or WSIB when hiring, and GST/HST or provincial sales tax.