Day Spa Expo 2008: Manufacturer’s Workshop

Part Two: Myths and truths about nutritional supplements

During the Day Spa Expo in Las Vegas last month, Sequence XO held a manufacture’s workshop to address the booming opportunity nutritional supplements have within the spa industry and the connection in enhancing the spa experience. One topic that received an amazing response dealt with the facts and myths of nutritional supplements. In this three part series we will cover three of the largest misconceptions surrounding nutritional supplements. Here’s Part Two:

Myth 2: The second largest misconception about nutritional supplements is that they are unsafe.
Myth Buster: The U.S. Poison and Control Centers notes adverse reactions to drugs are more than 800% higher than those to supplements.**

**source: Natural Products Association

Today more than 70 percent of Americans trust dietary supplements and 150 million use them to complement a healthy lifestyle on a daily basis. According to The Council for Responsible Nutrition, “when [supplements] are used properly, they help promote overall good health and prevent disease”.

In a recent article Vitamin Retailer interviewed industry leaders and Association members of the Natural Products Association (NPA) to help demystify some of the most plaguing myths surrounding supplements. One of theses myths is that supplements are unsafe.

The NPA noted that reports from poison control centers throughout the U.S. documented adverse reactions to drugs are more than 800 percent higher than those to supplements. Plus all new dietary ingredients are subject to FDA review before they are allowed in formulations. The FDA has also added strict guidelines on how supplements can be labeled, manufactured, and the types of claims that can be made for them.

Manufacturing is one of the most important ways to ensure efficacy and safety of a product. Make sure you are asking questions about the products you are carrying on your shelf. [Meet Sequence XO’s manufacturer]

The reality is that supplements are safe and help complement a healthy lifestyle, just find the facts in reliable sources.

Recommended sites:
www.crnusa.com
www.fda.gov
www.herbalgram.org
www.supplementinfo.org
www.naturalproductsassoc.org
www.ana-jana.org

In the next Nourish we will cover the third biggest misconception of supplements.
Stay tuned….

Blending beauty with health for good looking revenues

Keeping yourself and your employees healthy during a rough flu season is essential for business, not to mention the health of your clients. According to the American Journal of Health Promotions, for every $1 spent on wellness programs, employers can expect a return of up to $10 through lower medical claims, lowered absenteeism and improved productivity.

Did you know Google was an ISPA member? Companies like Google have implemented creative wellness programs to help benefit their employee’s health, which impacts work productivity in the long run.

Companies like Google have implemented creative wellness programs to help benefit their employee’s health, which impacts work productivity in the long run.
By being a member of ISPA, Google offers its employee’s onsite massages to encourage stress relief and better health. How creative will you be in keeping employee’s happy and healthy

Get Creative with Sequence XO – Living Zenfully Healthy! In an effort to keep your whole staff healthy and productive Sequence XO is glad to introduce our new wellness program. By becoming a wellness partner with us you will receive 10% off the wholesale pricing for your retail or back office use plus qualify for monthly drawings for your employees and customers to receive a free Spa Nutrition™ Essentials kit once a month.

Spa Nutrition Essentials Includes:
This beautifully prepackaged item retails at $89.95, which includes a 30-day supply of our three signature products for beautiful skin, pure relaxation and total body rejuvenation.

Radiance – the beauty beverage
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but it’s also in this small 8-ounce bottle. You think the outside looks good; just wait until you see what’s inside. Have a glass a day and help bring out some of that inner beauty. It’s a makeover from the inside out. Go ahead drink yourself beautiful.

Calm - the cool and relaxing effervescent tablet
Life can be tough. Work, kids, deadlines…you could probably use a nice backrub. No time? Okay, how about a drink? Good thing that drinking can be done anytime, anywhere. Drop Calm into a glass and watch your stress fizz away. It’s like a massage in a glass.

Fusion – luxurious and exotic antioxidants for total body wellness
Too much of a good thing? We think not! We scoured the earth to bring you the best that Mother Nature has to offer. When it comes to good health, there’s no such thing as overkill. Take Fusion daily with Radiance and Calm…you’ll be the most energetic-calm-beautiful-healthy-balanced-focused-nourished person on the block in no time. It’s everything you need, everyday.

To inquire more on SXO’s wellness program or other business building tools please email or call Karen Lopez at klopez@sequencexo.com or (949)-608-7112. We look forward to speaking with you!

Day Spa Expo: Manufacturers Workshop

Part One: Myths and truths about nutritional supplements

Last week during the Day Spa Expo in Las Vegas, Sequence XO held a manufacture’s workshop to address the booming opportunity nutritional supplements have within the spa industry and the nutrition and spa link. One of the most responsive topics was the myths and truths of nutritional supplements. In this three part series we will cover three of the largest misconceptions surrounding nutritional supplements.

Myth 1: Nutritional Supplements are not regulated
Myth Buster: The truth is the FDA and FTC have regulatory authority over the supplement industry.

Myth Buster – Nutritional Supplements are indeed regulated

The FDA and FTC have regulatory authority over the supplement industry to ensure that they’re safe, properly labeled and the claims associated with the product is substantiated, which is also policed by the FTC. Much of the debate that surrounds this myth is due to the confusion of how exactly nutritional supplements are regulated in the United States. Many people forget that nutritional supplements are considered a natural food product and not a drug, so in essence the FDA regulates them as a food items. Though supplements are not regulated in the same manner as drugs, supplements are subject to some of the same types of controls.

Another area where the FDA has established quality is via manufacturing regulations called GMP’s or Good Manufacturing Practices. Manufacturing under these strict guidelines allows the FDA to have more regulatory authority over the supplements that hit the marketplace. “An extremely high percentage of the dietary supplements on the market today are safe and efficacious and are produced in pharmaceutical qulatiy facilities”, said Andy Fox, president of the Natural Products Association-East in a recent interview with Vitamin Retailers publication.

Meet Sequence XO’s Manufacturing Partner:

In our efforts to provide the most comprehensive Spa Nutrition products we adhere to the strictest guidelines put forth by American regulations. Sequence XO products are manufactured by Robinson Pharma, Inc. Our nutritional manufacturer is a certified GMP manufacturing facility this is FDA inspected and licensed. Their quality management regimen is based on only allowing tested and approved ingredients to be used within their establishment by qualified and trained operators, in a clean and sanitary environment. Beyond Robinson Pharma’s certification of cGMP they have also been issued a Drug Manufacturing License by the state of California. This government standard is considered the most rigorous and is clear demonstration of our commitment to effective and quality products for you and your clients.

Spa Nutrition: A new product on the retail shelf but not a new philosophy

Many of you may be wondering what role nutrition and nutritional products play in your spa experience. Spa associations, magazines and even spa professionals have chimed in about the nutrition and spa connection in recent months. It’s no secret that nutritional supplements are a new venture for the spa industry but its philosophy has been around for years. Take skin care for an example. Popular brands have incorporated vitamins, minerals and herbal extracts into their skin care lines because of the many well known benefits in keeping skin looking and feeling younger.

Well, today spa goers and enthusiast have begun to capture an ‘inside-outside’ approach to beauty. In a recent study by Mintel’s Global New Products database has picked up on a consumer trend requesting the same food-based ingredients in their skin care to be a part of their inner beauty regimen via nutritional supplements, cuisine and beverages. When asked, the consumer reported that the most comprehensive skin care regimen was the ‘inside-outside’ approach.

As more consumers become knowledgeable on the inside-outside approach to health and beauty, they will turn to their trusted health advisor's to guide them in picking a product. How will you be prepared?

Spa Nutrition™: Nourishing the mind, body and spa atmosphere

When you think of spa nutrition, you may think of many different things. For Sequence XO, Spa Nutrition is approaching nutrition like a spa treatment itself. Take a quality nutritional supplement, add innovation, sexiness and luxury to it and you get Sequence XO’s Spa Nutrition. By creating products that fit within the spa atmosphere, they help enhance the spa experience of your guest to achieve pure relaxation, beautiful skin and healthy aging.

Let Sequence XO be your partner in Spa Nutrition. Still have questions please feel free to contact us at info@sequencexo.com or (949) 608-7112.

Spa Retail: Is your retail space giving you the right profits?

The opportunity to tap into a new source of revenue is here for your spa with retail products. Establishing a retail presence in your spa is not as scary as one might think. If you already have one in place, there may be some room for improvement. Retail products provide an opportunity for you to establish high profit margins with low overhead costs. This is a beautiful equation for any business owner. But, be careful how you plan, organize, spend and implement your retail presence.

Retail ideas every spa owner can use

• Practice the idea of having your therapists both incorporate and suggest the retail products you carry to your clients
• Allow all of your staff to use the retail products you carry. Selling products you believe in and are passionate about makes things much easier.
• Incorporate retail products to match specific treatments (i.e. stress aiding products with massages)
• Keep things simple and educate both your staff and clients on the products you carry
• Don’t keep your products in locked cases and provide samples when possible to allow your client’s to have an experience
• Provide specific products promotions during seasonal holidays to attract more traffic in your spa
• Take advantage of vendor collateral material and displays
• Consider investing in a retail sales manager/trainer
• Set sales goals and provide feedback to your staff
• Encourage product sales by your staff by providing them with incentives linked to sales figures they generate
• Prepare kits that incorporate several products you carry for a promotional price to allow customers to experience several products at once

Planning Your Spa’s Future

The New Year has snuck up on us once again and the time has come to evaluate our business. We all know that the market is currently on a downward slide, but it is during this time that we as business owners must work even harder to persevere. While the end of the year has typically shown a peak in business, unfortunately the beginning of the year has traditionally been a valley. However, just because business may be slower during this time of year doesn’t mean that there aren’t things we can do to stay competitive. The economy, market, customer and competition are constantly changing and evolving. If we don’t change and evolve our planning for business, we get left behind in the dust.

Writing a competitive strategic plan

When starting to write your strategic plan, whether it’s for the first time, or an evolution of a previous one, It’s always a good idea to take a step back and figure out what your are looking to accomplish. Are you looking to lower costs? Increase sales? Improve customer service? Enter a new market? Or all of the above? In any one of those cases, a strategic plan must begin with a goal in mind. Once that goal is established, it’s time to look within for change and growth. Running an internal audit will allow you to find things that may have run passed you during the year. As a business owner, your many responsibilities will deter you from catching smaller details that can be caught during your evaluation process. Below is a list of questions that you may ask yourself when you are in the process of a self audit:

- Do your revenues justify your costs?
- Have your marketing efforts brought you the results you wanted to see?
- Did you quantify your marketing efforts based on the revenues they generated?
- What worked well for you the previous year? Leverage it!
- What did not bring in the results you expected? Eliminate it!

Once you have taken a bird’s eye view of your business and evaluated your efforts, it’s time to start planning and implementing. Writing a strategic plan not only gives you a roadmap and direction for where you want to go and how you want to get there, it also allows you to budget accordingly. A good budget allows you to put your money to good use with more rewarding results.
Strategically planning for your business allows you to be prepared. It allows you to spend money accordingly and get the most out of what you invest. Additionally, a well designed strategic plan sets the foundation of how your year will turn out.

Don’t fall into the trap! Common Retail Mistakes

Retail as an afterthought
Many still don’t consider a true retail presence to be a lucrative opportunity. The reality is that selling retail products will bring you extra revenues with high profit margins. It is an option that should be highly considered. When implemented properly, a retail presence can generate revenues year round in a consistent fashion.

Improper presentation
If you are considering a retail section in your spa and you are not an expert in how properly to set up a retail outlet, get help from professionals. A retail presence goes beyond simply putting products on shelves. The positioning of the products is key, the lighting displaying the products is extremely important and knowing what products to carry is essential in a successful retail outlet.

Inadequate signage
Properly describing a promotion, sale or specific details of a product your selling is an art form. Too much information will detract from the product, while not enough information leads to skepticism. It’s a fine balance that will ultimately lead to established client trust and increased sales.

Products Displayed in behind locked shelves
When your clients walk into your retail outlet, they should “experience” the products you have available to sell, not just look at them.