High quality and reasonable prices seen as key to success of spa company
MONTRA Health & Spa Co plans to launch an average of one branch a year from 2016-20, spending less than Bt2 million per branch. It also aims to research and develop spa products for the domestic and overseas markets, especially Asean countries.
This is part of its business plan to grow revenue by 10 per cent a year on average, company director Sutasinee Klinsamorn, 38, said in an interview with The Nation.
Sutasinee decided to resign from the company she worked for previously to establish Montra Health & Spa in 2010, confident that the demand for massage and spa services would enjoy strong growth among both Thais and foreign tourists.
“Thailand is well known for massage and spa services. I also loved to go to massage and spa shops every month, and as a result I decided to start this business, as I also wanted to be an entrepreneur,” she said.
Sutasinee and her partners raised about Bt2 million to open the first Montra branch at CentralWorld, covering 120 square metres.
“We started our business in a year when the country was facing political problems, and the next year – 2011 – there were floods. As a result it took us three years after opening the first branch to generate enough revenue to expand, recording revenue of Bt700,000 a month.”
When the first branch began to make money, the company opened a second branch at the same location, CentralWorld, but in a new area of the shopping centre to serve strong demand in that location.
Up to 70 per cent of the customers at both branches at CentralWorld are foreign tourists.
With the initial success in the two branches at CentralWorld, the company invested Bt2 million to open a third branch at Central Ladprao last year. Up to 80 per cent of the customers at this branch are local shoppers, and the rest foreign tourists.
The company launched its first massage and spa products early this year, including massage oil, soap, balm, and room spray. The products are sold at its three spa branches, but the company also plans to distribute them to modern-trade outlets and export them.
Before offering them at other outlets, though, Montra plans to develop more products, aiming to have more than 10 on the market by 2017.
Currently, 90 per cent of Montra’s revenue is from its massage and spa service, and the rest from its spa products.
Sutasinee said the key to running a successful spa business was to make it both convenient and relaxing for customers, so the company also charged reasonable prices.
“On average, our customers spend about Bt500 per head per time. We want to change the belief that a quality massage has to be expensive,” she said.
By 2020, the company plans to have at least eight branches, both in shopping centres and in standalone locations, she said.
