Assessing Risk In your Day Spa

Have you been receiving as many letters, postcards and emails about how hard the recession is hitting Day Spas as I have? One thing I know for sure is that whatever you decide to do to grow your business; you need to carefully analyze both the opportunities and the risk to your business. Adding a new service that is based on a new product or piece of equipment? How about new employees and services? Do employees, independent contractors or even booth renters ever drive on your behalf, perhaps, for example, to a supplier to pick up supplies as part of their responsibilities? What may seem a quite ordinary activity, can create a risk to your business. What is risk? Quite simply, risk is the instance or event that affects your financial or operational status. Good risks result in good outcomes like increased profit or cash generation, and bad risks mean you have a loss.

Spa business operations and protocols change more frequently than most other businesses. It is simply the nature of a capital intensive operation offering multiple service categories. You are doing something new all the time! To make sure you are protecting yourself, and your employees while creating better career opportunities, growth and profit, use the Four-square Risk Tool I have created below to think about managing the risk in your business. Each box represents an area that change affects in your business, and the list below contains a few of the associated risk management tools you can put into place.

Human Resources Terms of Employment Non-Compete/Non-Disclosure Policies and Procedures Employee Handbook Performance Management Recruitment and Hiring Practices Employee Retention Plan	Property and Liability General Liability Professional Liability Property Insurance Workers Compensation Major Medical Insurance Security Alarms and Equipment
Public Relations and Advertising Communications Management Brand Development and Management Charitable Donations Awards and Recognition Advertising Claims Services Product Lines Marketing Plan	Regulatory and Tax Issues Type of Business Licensing Operational Protocols Inspections Code Enforcement

When you bring on new employees, incorporate new product lines for services or retail, implement new equipment or make other changes to your business, take the time to check off the areas these changes may impact, and take action. Whether it is simply calling your insurance broker or updating your marketing plan, you will be in a better position to manage the risk that every change brings.