April 7, 2016

Franchise Growth in the Massage Industry

how to franchise my massage business

Why has there been so much significant growth in the Health and Wellness space of franchising?  The market segment has literally catapulted onto the global franchise scene and become one of the most substantial industry segments with in the franchise category.  Clearly, this was driven by the massage segment in franchising, led by Massage Envy, Massage Heights, Hand and Stone Massage and a myriad of other significant franchise brands in the space.  What was not long ago looked at as a holistic, cult like following, maybe one step away from scientology sort of service segment now is as mainstream as they come.  In 2014, Personal Care Services ranked as the third largest category of franchise growth with six different massage brands leading the way.  (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240720)

The massage category alone has grown to exceed $3 billion in annual revenues and has experienced an amazing 13% year over year expansion from 2009-2014.  (http://www.ibisworld.com/industry/massage-franchises.html)

So what was it about the massage franchise industry transformation that worked so well with today’s consumer and franchise investors? 

1.      Modernized Branding – if you look at the successful massage franchise brands, they all have one thing in common, they look clean, professional and modern.  They get to the point as to what they do and how they are different from other massage services, while also being extremely clear you wouldn’t think to associate these brands with a truck stop massage parlor.  They are places that professional people spend time in, families, respectable people and therefore work in any neighborhood and look good in any investor’s portfolio.

2.      They Mastered the Fast Paced Consumer – people just don’t have time any more for elaborate services that take more than an hour.  We want things fast…our food, our cars, our technology and our massages.  The processes and packages were refined to make sense for today’s consumer who is always in a rush and needs good service on a time clock.

3.      Massage Franchise Brands Committed to Technology – all of the top franchise brands invested in online scheduling platforms, mobile apps for ease of access, loyalty marketing platforms and other technology tools which make it easier, simpler and faster for the customer to come in again for a massage. 

4.      The Membership Program Works – we’d seen it in virtually every other industry, why not massages?  With the membership platform in place, the massage franchise industry turned the business into the gym model.  People happily pay membership dues to get better deals on frequent massage services and the business benefits from more continuous cash flow and customer traffic. 

Altogether, it has been truly a specimen in market management and today, the massage franchise market is as strong as ever.  For more information on massage franchises, contact us:

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