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Christmas stress

What do spa therapists find most challenging about Christmas?

business insights & tips spa & salon industry news Dec 13, 2021

When we asked therapists what they find most difficult about the holiday season, there were two sides to the story:

  1. Making the most of the business opportunity
  2. Christmas burnout

At this time of year, we’re all incredibly grateful for the business rush, but we’re also overwhelmed, exhausted, and pretty tentative about the ongoing risk of infection courtesy of Covid, especially when it comes to vulnerable clients. So what helps and what definitely doesn’t?

What do therapists need over Christmas?

Help maximising the business opportunity

After the difficulties of the last couple of years, the Christmas rush is welcome from a commercial perspective, but it’s a lot to handle. All of us want to make the most of it, but sometimes it’s as much as we can do to get through the day. Then we want to make sure we’re not spending all of January redeeming vouchers - which is great, but tricky for cashflow.

A little understanding

It’s not just spas that find it tricky to manage the expectations of clients, colleagues, friends, family… or the internet. Lots of us feel as though we’re running on empty. However, spas are still very much subject to the Covid fallout - infection control, staff shortages, high demand and limited capacity. We don’t always please everyone, and while we all know no one wants to hear another Covid excuse, sometimes we just need a little understanding.

A break

Our jobs are very rewarding, but they’re also both physically and emotionally demanding. In an ideal world, we would be having a break a little and often, but it’s not so easy in peak money-making season. There’s a bank holiday or two coming up though - we’re nearly there!

Time to plan ahead

The mad rush is wonderful but we also need time to plan ahead. The feast and famine nature of things has made it very hard for business owners and individual therapists to organise business plans and personal finances. A little time to think about how we can make it all work and keep business flowing in the quieter months of the year is very much needed!

What do we not need?

More things on our to do list

It’s all very well wanting to make the most of the season, but the to-do list is already jam packed. No one needs more added to it - it’s getting overwhelming. What we need is to identify the must-dos v the nice-to-dos.

More worry about Covid

Covid appears to be here to stay in one form or another, and for those of us who work in environments where infection control and risk management are part of our daily lives, it’s a particular problem. We don’t need new variants, and we certainly don’t need histrionics around it. We need a sense of control and understanding that gives us the power to make informed decisions for our own wellbeing and those of our clients. If you feel that way, you might find our course in Cross Infection Control helpful. You can also tune into our Infection Cross Control Webinar, which is available for FREE until the end of December.

Client complaints

Is there anything more disheartening than client complaints? Especially online where it’s largely too late to rectify any problems and it appears as a one-sided story? Short of responding kindly, if you’ve done your best, there’s not a lot that can be done about these.

Injuries

Injuries are a common problem for therapists. We definitely don’t need them in the busiest season, but that’s when they’re most likely to occur. Is there a little space in the calendar for preventative physio or a massage or two for yourself?

Staff/colleague resignations

The industry has been plagued by the ‘great resignation’ and it has an impact on everyone. If someone really wants to leave their job or the industry then it’s a shame for all of us, but they have every right to do so. That said, if we can help colleagues to fall back in love with their work, it would mean the world on so many levels! We had had some ideas you might find helpful.

COULD THIS HELP THERAPISTS FALL BACK IN LOVE WITH THEIR WORK?

We certainly don’t have all the answers to these stresses and strains, but we do know what this time of year feels like in the spa industry and we have a few tricks up our sleeves for helping with both the business and self-care side of thingsw. So, we have put together a downloadable booklet to support spa therapists through the festive season. We hope you find it helpful.

DOWNLOAD OUR CHRISTMAS SURVIVAL GUIDE

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