Be a SWOT

Vivienne Braidwood considers the importance of strategy in growing your aesthetic business

The UK aesthetics market is evolving at a rapid pace generating over £3.2billion in 2023 and estimated to be worth £5.4billion by 2026. 1,2

This growth is fueled by many factors, notably:

• Technological and medical advancements: treatments are more accessible (safer, cheaper, less downtime, gender neutral outcomes)

• Consumer needs: Emergence of new treatments to cater for an aging, more obese population. Influenced by holistic wellness concerns and social media trends

• Increasingly crowded landscape: For example, 72% of private dentists and 47% of ophthalmologists now offer aesthetics services.

While this growth presents an opportunity for clinics, many of them are failing to capitalise on this. A recent study by Treatwell found the main issues that aesthetics business owners struggle with are financial stability, managing day-to-day costs, marketing and social media, hiring and staff retention, time management, new client acquisition. Data from other aesthetic software providers also supports these findings.

FAILING TO PLAN, IS PLANNING TO FAIL

There’s a lot of pressure on owners to make the right choices. At all times, they need to be very clear on where the business is going, how it will get there, where it is now, and what it will do next.

It all boils down to having a sound business plan, reviewing it and constantly adapting as you go. The strategic planning process involves setting long-term goals, assessing internal and external factors, and developing a roadmap to achieve those objectives. This critical management tool offers many benefits including:

Provides direction:

• Are you clear on your vision, mission, and values?

• Do you have a clear idea where you want to be in 12 -36 month’s time?

Make better-informed decisions:

• Do you evaluate your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats before making key decisions?

Fosters proactivity:

• Do you feel equipped to anticipate and adapt to changes in the market or are you simply reacting to them?

Alignment and optimisation of resources:

• How well do you organise and prioritise what needs to be done?

• Is your team working together effectively and harmoniously?

GET VERY HONEST WHEN SETTING YOUR GOALS.

Ensure the nature, scale and long-term goals of your business fit with your personal objectives, lifestyle preferences and resources. For you, it may be coming to terms with the fact that you want to keep your operations small and prefer to spend most of your time performing treatments, while others may wish to establish a team or eventually open up additional clinics. The latter would result in being ‘on call’ 24/7 and more time spent running the business rather than performing treatments.

CONTROL THE CONTROLLABLES

Difficult situations are unavoidable. While you may not be able to control what happens around you, you are in control of how you respond. Focus your time, attention, energy, emotion and resources on what you can influence. This will boost your resilience, reduce your stress levels and improve your performance, impact and likelihood of success. Try to understand the futility of focussing on things you simply cannot control and learn to let go.

USE THE TRIED, TESTED AND SIMPLE SWOT TOOL

SWOT analysis evaluates strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to inform strategic decision making, optimise performance and return on investment. Your ability to get curious about what’s happening around you will directly impact how effectively you apply this tool to quickly identify trends, to effectively evaluate options and ultimately make good decisions. Below are some useful prompts.

Strengths: Ask yourself what’s working well? Where do you feel you’re winning? What positive feedback do you receive from staff, clients, online. Perhaps you have a unique brand, are known for quality, innovation, speed, value for money. You may have other competitive advantages in terms of resources available to you or your natural charisma and ability to influence others. Exploit and use it all to your advantage, to differentiate and get ahead of the competition.

Weaknesses: What’s not working or is lacking e.g. abilities, skillsets, money, marketing or energy. Negative feedback from patients, staff, suppliers, business partners, online reviews will provide some insight. To overcome weaknesses, lean on each other’s strengths, learn from feedback and take corrective action including staff training on high impact areas.

Opportunities: What trends are in your favour? Who might most value your strengths? Be quick off the mark to pick up trends, win market share and stay ahead of the curve. Know when to diversify and when to exit treatments that no longer serve you. If clients trust you then implement a loyalty programme to encourage and reward repeat business, word of mouth referrals and increased average spend. An exciting development is the rapid growth of medical wellness and longevity treatments as consumers demand more holistic, health-centric approaches. What are you doing to capitalise on this?

Threats: Ask yourself what could go wrong? Who or what might challenge you - not just the competition but the economy, job market, consumer spending, legislative changes, trends you are unprepared for. Treatment lifecycles are shortening due to rapid technological and medical advancements and increased competition. Launch new ‘releases’ more regularly by reinventing existing treatments, upgrading your machines, or diversifying your offering. In a market where multiple sectors are converging, differentiation is crucial.

CONCLUSION

Strategy really is everything. Clinic owners that proactively adapt to changing trends, alongside effectively managing the strengths and weaknesses of the business, are well-positioned for future success and retain a competitive edge in this increasingly crowded landscape.

Educate yourself on the essentials of managing an aesthetics business and seek expert advice and support for the rest. Build a diverse network to help you, your team and your business perform better. Friends and family are a great source of emotional support while patients can help you with testing ideas, problem solving, referrals and acquiring new patients. Business mentors, professional networks, suppliers and your local authority offer resources including training in business management, industry insights, networking & recruitment opportunities and even financial support.

“Our data shows that the aesthetic businesses that thrive are well managed in terms of their processes, finances and ability to drive income through their patients,” says Olivia Silva from Treatwell. “The latter relies on excellent customer service underpinned by the right treatments and competent, well-trained staff. We can support clinics with boosting client reviews and with our marketing tools, analytics, education and social media support.”

VIVIENNE BRAIDWOOD

Vivienne Braidwood is a senior leader, business consultant and strategist. She is passionate about helping people, teams, departments, and organisations drive transformational change in culture, diversity, equity and inclusion.

SOURCES

1. https://www.axiomflux.co.uk/uk-aesthetic-industry-market-report-2024/

2. https://www.policybee.co.uk/blog/aesthetics-industry-statistics