By Alex R. Thiersch, JD, Founder and Director of the American Med Spa Association (AmSpa)

Medical spas occupy a unique place between medical facilities and retail storefronts, and require unique solutions to be successful. Medical spa treatments are generally classified as medical procedures and are regulated as such, however since these treatments are by and large elective this also introduces very specific business realities that med spas MUST understand. The best med spas use the following keys to unlock their true potential.

Be Legally Compliant

Medical spa owners and operators must understand and follow the rules and regulations of the state in which they conduct business. This is easier said than done, as medical aesthetics practices are held to the same standards as more traditional medical practices. However, it is absolutely essential that medical spas are compliant. Consult with a local health care attorney if you haven't already.

AmSpa members can check their medical aesthetic legal summary or schedule an annual compliance consultation call with the law firm of ByrdAdatto for more information on med spa law.

Run Your Practice Like a Business

Although a medical spa is legally viewed as a medical practice, it cannot simply be run as an extension of a doctor's office or a plastic surgery center—it must be run as a separate business. It has to have its own business plan, its own profit-and-loss statements, and its own manager. A medical spa is a very different type of business than a doctor's office or a surgical practice, and it must be run in a different way.

Medical spa offerings are purely elective, and they do not deal with insurance providers. As such, they have much more in common with day spas and salons than with more traditional medical practices. Conscientious owners and operators realize this, and make efforts to fit into the retail market as much as the medical market.

Employ Traditional Business Techniques

Because medical spas are closer in form and function to retail outlets than medical practices, it makes sense that businesspeople are having a huge impact on the medical spa market. They create business plans, make budgets, create goals, and monitor the medical spa's day-to-day operations in ways that reflect the retail market. This results in success, because a large part of a medical spa business actually exists in a retail environment instead of hewing to the tenets of more traditional medical practices.

Find tools to building your practice profitably in the AmSpa store.

Invest in Good People

Medical spa employees should be knowledgeable people who are good at selling, who understand the business, and who believe in the products and treatments they're offering. Successful medical spas simply do not employ inefficient people who are not making them money. It's imperative that a successful med spa be able to turn its staff into a high-performing team.

Employ Sales Techniques

In traditional medical settings, salesmanship is considered gauche. However, as has already been established, medical spas are very different from traditional medical practices. The medical spa that sells itself and its services most effectively will be the one that rises above its competition.

Track Sales and Marketing Metrics

The businesspeople who have begun working with medical spas are compiling as much data as they can in order to determine what's working and what isn't. They track and measure everything the business does, and then they tailor their projections and goals accordingly. The ultimate ceiling of your medical spa practice's success could be determined by whether or not you are tracking and measuring key business metrics, and letting those results inform your decisions.

Find a Niche and Market to It

Many of today's most successful medical spas focus on a niche market. They concentrate on certain demographics or one particular treatment—such as CoolSculpting, laser hair removal, or injectables. Do your market research, find the gaps in your local market, and claim your niche.

Invest in Processes

Profitable medical aesthetics practices have processes in place to convert customer interest into sales. They tend to have initial interactions with prospective clients laid out, scripted, and rehearsed so the staff knows exactly what to say and do when somebody expresses interest in their services.

Attend an AmSpa Medical Spa & Aesthetic Boot Camp to learn legal and business best-practices and be the next med spa success story.

Have Fun

The best medical spas work hard to create a business that is efficient, compliant, and profitable, but they also understand that this is a fun business. They don't try to be something they're not, and they enjoy coming into work every day. They make the most out of their opportunity.

A medical spa is a complex business; however, as with most things in life, you get out of it what you put into it. Make the most of your medical spa and you can ensure success and a ton of fun to go along with it.