Missing Out on Family Events Fueled Mom’s Desire for Business Ownership
A high-pressure sales job in the competitive corporate arena, coupled with a young family, was simply unsustainable for Lisa Vukonich. At the time, Vukonich was working as an enrollment manager at a higher education institution in Phoenix, where she felt pressured to work long and grueling hours. As a result, she was missing out on important school functions and family events, and unable to be the mom and wife she wanted to be.
In 2005, Vukonich turned to her boss and friend, Erin Owens, who was running into many of the same obstacles. After talking over lunch, the duo decided their corporate America careers and cushy salaries weren’t worth missing out on life’s most important moments and decided to leave their gigs to pursue their own venture together as founders of Fuchsia Spa.
Entrepreneurship is Second Nature
Owens comes from a household of fruitful entrepreneurs. Over the course of her career, she spent time working in various industries including thoroughbred racing and higher education, deep down she knew business ownership was her true calling.
“We put in a lot of hours for an amazing company, learned a lot, and were given a tremendous amount in return,” said Owens. “However, what you start realizing is that you come up with all of these ideas and all these great execution plans, so why not do it for yourself, and for your own dreams? That way, when you walk away from it, it’s yours.”
With the diverse set of skills and experiences she had acquired over the years, along with her entrepreneurial spirit, Owens was ready to apply those skills to fulfilling her own dreams, rather than someone else’s.
Breaking Into the Lucrative Skin Care Industry
The pair shared an interest in skin care, which led them to look into several thriving spa franchises before ultimately deciding to build their own concept from the ground up. Deviating from competitors’ membership-based day spa models that seemingly focused heavily on massages and offered “one size fits all” services, Vukonich and Owens built Fuchsia Spa around results-driven skin care and aesthetics.
“There isn’t really another membership-based spa concept out there that places a true emphasis on results-driven skin care. In fact, when we started looking into spa franchises, there were none that offered facials as the core of their business,” said Vukonich. “We found this surprising, particularly because skin care is the most lucrative area of the spa industry. If you look at the average revenue per visit of a skin care guest versus an average revenue per visit of a massage or nail client, it’s quite different.”
Since its inception in November of 2006, Fuchsia Spa has focused primarily on filling this gap in the spa industry by staying at the forefront of aesthetics and by offering some of the most advanced treatments available, including dermaplaning, microdermabrasion and microneedling.
Surviving the Recession
This unique day spa model proved successful for Fuchsia Spa when the recession hit and dozens of spas’ doors shuttered around its Mesa, Ariz. location. “We felt extremely fortunate to be able to come out on top. Making it through the recession without having to lay off any employees or cut hours, was a true testament to the business model we had built,” said Vukonich.
Fuchsia Spa reported $1.156 million in gross sales in 2014; up 14.68 percent from 2013. Aesthetics/skincare made up 47.43 percent of Fuchsia Spa’s service revenue in 2014, followed by massages at 30.72 percent and nail services at 21.85 percent.
With the day spa’s exponential growth year after year, Vukonich and Owens decided it was time to finally start letting others share their dreams and become owners of their own Fuchsia Spa. In December 2015, long-time Fuchsia employee Shauna Owens, 30, and her sister Marissa Owens, 28, opened Fuchsia Spa’s first franchise location on High Street, a premier urban dining and entertainment destination in northeast Phoenix.
Teamwork is Key
Vukonich and Owens accredit only a portion of Fuchsia’s nine years of success to the skincare-centric spa services menu. The duo has not only remained hands-on at the ground level of the business, but also realized it takes a team to be successful.
“With just two of us carrying out an initiative, it will never be as successful as it would be if a whole team was carrying it out. To this day, I think that is what makes us different. We rely on a team approach to be successful,” said Owens.
Looking to Grow
Fuchsia Spa was named after the delicate, vibrantly pink fuchsia flower. Part of the flower family, the fuchsia flower differs from most other flowers for its unusual and exotic look and shape. True to its name, Fuchsia Spa breaks the traditional day spa mold by offering affordable, results-driven skincare services in an unpretentious setting.
“We are looking for business-minded individuals to grow the concept while staying true to Fuchsia Spa’s core values and vibrant energy,” said Vukonich. “We have grown our first location big by staying small. Our goal as a franchised business is to never lose touch. We want to stay close to our franchisees so that they can grow as well.” said Owens.
The company is looking to attract the attention of professionals who are eager to become a part of a unique day spa concept that stresses aesthetics and skin care maintenance – a lucrative, yet untapped area of the spa industry.
Fuchsia Spa is a fresh and exciting concept in the early stages of franchising, offering interested franchisees their pick of exciting territories. Additionally, the day spa’s business model offers multiple revenue streams, including skin care, massages, waxing and nail services; monthly recurring income through memberships; and retail products including the Fuchsia Advanced Skin Care line, available only at Fuchsia Spas.
“We are dedicated to making sure our franchisees have all the right tools for long-term success, and we are committed to providing ongoing guidance and support every step of the way,” said Owens. “We have had extremely fun and rewarding experiences during our time as owners of Fuchsia, and our hands-on approach will ensure that others will have the same wonderful experiences.”
For more information about getting into this lucrative and untapped market contact Fuchsia Spa, please visit www.FuchsiaSpa.com.