Semi-legit business model

[boeing707]

I was contemplating the semi-legit business model over the past days and not sure if it still is a good way for massage / spa operators to increase revenue. The main premise is that spa owners earn revenue from "Foot traffic" i.e., the room fee. So the primary goal is to "rent" out the room as often as possible, for the highest fee clients are willing to pay. Thusfar the semi-legit model has done so by (1) allowing girls to provide extras, thereby attracting male clients, (2) ensuring a quality massage is provided and (3) provide a clean and attractive environment. But if I look at only the Markham / Richmond Hill area, there could be as much as 500 business operating on that same business model. So there is very little chance to increase revenue and competition is quite fierce, specially in an economic environment where guests are less willing to spend money.

I think some spas / massage operators have caught on to this and are providing a different kind of service. To actually decrease the extras or ban them all together and focus on the massage aspect. This model is already popular in Europe where operators provide different types of massage, such as Thai / Bali massage at a superb level, by very attractive girls. Yes operators will loose clients that want the extras, but at the same time will gain new customers that looking for a great holistic / asian massage, and still like a bit of a tease by very pretty girls. The other advantage I see is that by moving away from the "extras" business model, operators can tap into the female demographic. If you can attract female guests, and get them to become repeat clients, it opens up a huge market, and more than sufficiently makes up for lost revenue due to loosing guests that want all the extras.

Bit controversial perhaps, and obviously not what a lot of us want, but just writing from the point of view of a spa operator that needs to differentiate from the hundreds of business doing exactly the same.

 

[Lalallala]

holistic? uuh.

It's almost as you are equating it to the legal cannabis business - there, basically all the shops offer the same thing - product that the OCS provides. It's not really the same thing at these massage parlours - the commodity is the woman and they are not all the same. Unfortunately, without actual reviews, it's hard to figure out who is good and who is not good. and having a flood of bad MPAs just ruins the entire industry if guys just give up after a couple of bad experiences.

That being said, the whole "hush hush" nature of what each person does is kind of annoying too. I've commented on a couple of other threads - who the heck has the time and money to figure out what you can get from who and when? There's only so many desperate men with money that will lavish money on those girls. Especially when there are better looking girls that will be able to satisfy the want list.

 

[boeing707]

I am more interested in looking at the point of operators / owners. The actual girls employed isn't too much of a differentiator to attract business, more so because there is a consistant large staff turn over. In the end it comes down to services and the quality of those services. If a new operator is going for the semi-legit model, it will be just another business that is exactly the same as all others. You can thus decide to attract more customers by turning it into a semi-brothel, which comes with a whole slew of potential issues, both with law enforcement, as well as pay offs to certain Chinese "protectors", or find another differentiator to stand out in the crowd. I know at least of one spa that is going into the direction of "less is more". In Europe this is a gold mine, there is a chain of Bali spas where bookings need to made at least a week in advance.

 

[Lalallala]

I am more interested in looking at the point of operators / owners. The actual girls employed isn't too much of a differentiator to attract business, more so because there is a consistant large staff turn over. In the end it comes down to services and the quality of those services. If a new operator is going for the semi-legit model, it will be just another business that is exactly the same as all others. You can thus decide to attract more customers by turning it into a semi-brothel, which comes with a whole slew of potential issues, both with law enforcement, as well as pay offs to certain Chinese "protectors", or find another differentiator to stand out in the crowd. I know at least of one spa that is going into the direction of "less is more". In Europe this is a gold mine, there is a chain of Bali spas where bookings need to made at least a week in advance.

I disagree that it's the same as others. The MPAs are different and if you can keep good MPAs then you have an advantage. Think of RMTs and hair dressers - there's many more of them but people follow their favourite hair dresser or RMT (ok, my ex certainly does) whenever they change places.