Wellness is booming these days, thanks to the growing culture of self-care. Even men aren’t afraid to get regular massages and treatments anymore. As such, you may be encouraged to start your own wellness business.
Whether you choose to run a spa, gym, or holistic health clinic, there are essential physical characteristics your facility must possess. If you often visit wellness centers yourself, you’d notice all of them have something in common. That’s usually the lighting, interior design style, and the overall atmosphere. Yet each facility manages to be unique.
A typical wellness facility’s design may look cookie-cutter, but it doesn’t mean you can’t exercise creative freedom. Still, your creativity shouldn’t come at the cost of these essential physical characteristics:
1. Curb Appeal
A wellness facility should induce positive emotions from its facade. Hence, curb appeal is crucial. If your facade consists of nothing but the facility’s signage, it won’t draw enough attention and interest. And if it did manage to catch attention, the perceptions may be bad.
According to a study by CCIM Foundation, three dimensions affect sales in business curb appeal: architecture, atmosphere, and authenticity. The factors that make these three up are:
- Cleanliness
- Maintenance
- Signage and architectural features
- Social aspects
- Landscape
- Entertainment
- Safety
- Convenience
A clean exterior signifies that you stay on top of your business’s upkeep. Maintenance concerns details like the paintwork, light fixtures, driveway and walkway, and utilities. As such, it can be related to safety. For instance, if your driveway asphalt is cracked and raising, it could damage wheels and pose a trip hazard. But if you applied high-quality asphalt sealing in the first place, those issues won’t occur.
The signage of your facility should be legible even from afar. At night, it should light up. The architectural features should match the aesthetic of the signage’s font and the overall brand of your business. You can’t have a brutalist architecture style while your image is a Zen one, for example.
Your entryway should include a ramp for PWDs. This inclusive feature enhances the social aspects of your curb appeal. A landscaped garden does the same, as well as boost entertainment, especially if you provide some outdoor services. As for safety, your facility should have adequate lighting, security features, and doorways wide enough for emergency evacuations. These features improve convenience as well. In addition, convenience refers to parking lots and comfortable waiting areas.
2. Lighting
The lighting fixtures and design in a wellness facility shouldn’t be harsh unless it’s a hospital. But even hospitals are becoming creative with their lighting as well. Since hospitals promote better well-being, they’ve also used lighting to induce positive emotions.
As such, it’s even more critical for wellness facilities to achieve such a lighting design. You should draw out the same moods a luxurious hotel room draws out from its guests. Use warm lighting to promote calmness. Customers would love to fall asleep while being massaged. They just can’t do that with a white, LED light overhead. Use the wonders of natural lighting as well. Customers in a yoga or meditation class would appreciate it.
3. Flooring Material
A wellness facility should feel like home for customers. After all, they go there to receive care for issues they may not openly talk about, or make them insecure. As such, the interior design, right from the flooring material, should make them feel welcome and safe, just like a retreat.
Certain patterns of carpet flooring can reduce stress. These are simple patterns with monochromatic color schemes. Consider installing such flooring material in your lobby. It would calm a customer at once and make them look forward to their treatment.
Hardwood floors or luxury vinyl that mimic wood flooring are great options, too. They suit gyms, yoga classrooms, holistic clinics, and spas. The natural quality of wood can invoke a feeling of being close to nature.
4. Scents
There is such a thing as scent marketing. It intends to change a customer’s behavior based on what they smell. For example, if they breathe in the scent of lavender, their moods will become tranquil. This may entice them to avail your premium services. In turn, your revenue increases.
Scent marketing doesn’t just work on wellness businesses. In one case study, gamblers who used the slot machines in a scented area spent 45% more. Another study has found that Nike’s customers’ intent to buy increased up to 84% because of scent marketing. So use the power of scents to enhance the effect of your curb appeal, lighting, and interior design. Just be careful not to make the scents overpowering, or it may cause dizziness.
People love seeing attractive things and being pampered. Spruce up your wellness facility with that in mind. Your customers will itch to spend money the moment they walk in as a result.
