Sauna/steam room business

[Dr Malik]

Me and friend were discussing that how good an idea it would be if there was place where you can just go in to a sauna or steam room without having to join a gym. Not having to pay a monthly fee, open at convenient times and cater to specific customer needs. It seemed a good idea but......would it be profitable, what kind of costs we will be looking at and is it really a good idea??

Just to mention we have a place we can rent, a cellar of an existing hair salon!!

Please comment

 

[kevin.doran]

In my opinion, you've already hot the nail on the head: nice idea but unlikely to be profitable.

I can't imagine the setup costs being nice then there's the monthly utility bills.

 

[Dr Malik]

Thanks for reply.

What if we could keep the set up costs low, also the rent for the place would be really cheap.

There definitely is interest there especially when it is marketed towards women only.

Agreed it will be really difficult to make it profitable.

 

[Garage Runners]

I have a infared sauna at home which is a two man size and it is perfect to warm up when froze solid.
Was cheap 2nd hand at £300 as seen for £1k up.
However if you had a bank of 5 of these, at 5k plus running which I guess to be a fair bit.
A place/shop to house would be 300-400 a month for one of those 'been empty for ages shops' plus rates.
It gets all a bit too hard to get a return.
5k alone on saunas at what a fiver a go is 1000 customers just to cover initial purchase.
Please don't feel I'm trying to shoot you down, but maybe think of ways you can cross sale and add value to the idea.
Maybe a unit which has room for a class as well as a sauna bar.
Or maybe something like a nail bar and sauna where you could possibly rent out a desk for a self employed nail artist.

Just a thought
Dave

 

[MikeAppleton]

I think you're onto a winner if you can remove the need for staff, so a completely automated process where people can pick up a card, load it with money, swipe the card for access etc etc. I'm unsure whether the business model would actually legally require someone on site though.

 

[Dr Malik]

Thank you for your replies, really appreciate the differing opinions.

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]

Greece has had these for years, I don't see why it won't take off in this country.

Personally though, I'd have to insist on CCTV through-out! Got to make sure they're paying for their usage

Nah only joking there...

 

[A760]

Well, you can learn a lot from countries like Finland and Estonia(place I'm from), as sauna originally came from there. I haven't yet seen any good saunas here in the UK, since all of them are built incorrectly. Some are too cold, some too hot, some too uncomfortable, cheap, ugly, dirty and so on.
Sauna traditionally is the place for rest, so there is a lot of opportunities where to get income from.
Massage room, beer machines, small cafe, sunbeds, expensive accessories for sauna from Finland or Estonia.
As I remember, we have 6 different saunas.
Average, wet, infrared sauna, cold sauna , steam , salt sauna.
Plus, there should be 2 pools, one big with warm water and small with cold and open plan jacuzzi with water massage.

But you will definitely need a lot of money.

 

[templateagreements]

Personally I would combine this with a self-service tanning salon. In Sweden (where I live), all of the tanning salons are self-service and are very successful. They have stand-alone saunas too but these tend to be by the sea so that you can walk out from the sauna, have a dip in the (very cold) sea and go back in again. They are very popular. I think in the UK to achieve the margins that you need, it should be something that could be sold/seen as a luxury (rather than something offered as a cheap alternative to a gym or home based sauna), and should be incorporated with another/other similar services to increase foot traffic. Don't forget you might also need to build a decent changing room, toilets and a couple of showers. Not easily done on the cheap...

 

[hipwuk]

Wouldn't you need to install shower facilities too? I personally wouldn't have a sauna and not showering afterwards...

 

[AlexandraS]

These are absolutely huge on the continent (Benelux/Germany) so the idea isn't alient to people, HOWEVER - in my experience the Brits have a far greatly reduced capacity for marching around naked in front of strangers (unless at a sporting event or for a dare obviously ).

So how would you do this? Swimming cossie central? Naked Tuesdays?

They tend to be done on the continent with a lido effect, you know - laze around on a deckchair for an hour or two reading an aspirational mag and sipping a buckwheat juice and then in and out of saunas/steam rooms/plunge pools.

 

[mhall]

A quick search on the internet tells me that there are loads of saunas around - "for gay and bisexual men". Looking at the companies involved it's a multi multi million pound industry but I am guessing the men don't just go there for a sauna. Fascinating stuff.

My problem now is how to explain my internet history to hubby !