It was reported that 31% of Americans are seeking no-touch, no-worries health and wellness services in the midst of the pandemic, and why shouldn’t they? Given the reality of life after COVID, touchless spa treatments that offer rest, relaxation and recovery without person-to-person contact are predictably booming.
Infrared sauna therapy is just one of these hot new wellness trends that’s taken off in the last year. Perspire Sauna Studio, an infrared sauna franchise, just had their best year yet despite strict COVID restrictions that threatened many businesses across the country.
So what’s their secret? A Perspire infrared sauna session provides guests with a personalized and isolated experience that’s safe, private and socially distanced. Guests reap a plethora of health and wellness benefits that simply make them feel better without the concern of close contact.
In this exclusive Q&A, we learn more about Perspire Sauna Studio from its founder and CEO, Lee Braun.
Franchise Chatter (FC): Welcome, Lee. Thank you for your time today. Can you tell us a little bit about your story? How did the idea for an infrared sauna studio come to be and why did you decide to make the leap to run and grow Perspire full-time?
Lee Braun (LB): When I was 24, I was introduced to my now business partner, Ken, who was getting started in the infrared sauna space. We both loved the idea of making this incredibly beneficial sauna treatment accessible to everyone – the way boutique fitness has been making fitness more visible and accessible to others. It was 2010 and the concept really didn’t exist.
For me, the opportunity to be a part of a wellness movement and help create a new segment of the wellness market was too interesting of an opportunity to pass up, so I quit my full-time job in construction management and moved from Michigan to Southern California to begin this new endeavor. This opportunity just felt right and I jumped on it.
It’s important to remember, wellness was not as celebrated 11 years ago. Wellness in many people’s minds meant leisure time spent at a resort spa with cucumbers over your eyes. It was more of a challenge to get masses of people to take 40 minutes for themselves. We were still figuring out how to market and operate this business and remind people it was an essential part of life to relax.
It wasn’t until 2014 – 4 years later – when we partnered with our now manufacturer and made real traction in the space. We hit our stride with marketing and operations, and more and more guests discovered what we were providing was really beneficial for their health routine.
FC: Tell me about your experience as the CEO of Perspire Sauna Studio. What has the journey been like thus far and what are you most proud of?
LB: In the last 4 years, I have been transitioning from a founder to a CEO mentality. As a founder, I jumped into any and all roles to help the business with whatever it needed in that moment. Growing into the CEO role is much more about building a great team that can support our franchisees and grow the brand.
I’m most proud of the foresight of Perspire’s founding franchisees, team members and business partners. These early movers saw the potential for IR Sauna wellness for communities across the country and chose to jump in and contribute their time, money and energy. It makes me incredibly proud and grateful.
FC: What was 2020 like for the brand? What were some of the business challenges you faced in the last year? How did Perspire survive and thrive during the pandemic?
LB: Despite the incredible challenges of 2020, both personally and in business, we were able to rise above and continue to grow. Despite having COVID impacts like supply chain, confused consumer sentiment, and since March of last year, we’ve opened 12 new locations, more than doubling our pre-pandemic footprint. Perspire has 32 more franchise locations in the pipeline.
The average studio revenue also increased year over year due to the increased demand for wellness. We expanded our reach considerably by entering new markets in Nebraska, Idaho and Florida, and have immediate plans to reach several more exciting markets like Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Diego.
It’s an exciting time for Perspire right now. We are growing our corporate team and more franchisees are signing on to open their studios. This October, we are anticipating our one-millionth session. That’s a whole lot of self-care!
FC: What can you say about the current state of today’s wellness industry and where Perspire fits into today’s trends? What is unique about Perspire that separates the brand from other wellness offerings in the space?
LB: Wellness is in a really expanding place right now because the pandemic increased everyone’s awareness about personal wellness – both physically and mentally. Now more than ever, people are seeking all-natural sources of treatment, therapy and recovery that don’t rely solely on prescription drugs or chemicals. It’s not surprising to me that the wellness industry is growing right now. The pandemic certainly caused a considerable increase in demand for services like Perspire because people are now more than ever taking their health seriously.
What’s unique about Perspire and where I think we fit into this recent trend is how isolated and personalized each individual sauna session truly is. People now are slightly more wary about close contact with strangers, and since each session is private and socially distanced, our guests are recognizing that they can get all of the health benefits of a traditional spa treatment without the concern of close person-to-person contact.
FC: What are your growth plans for Perspire? Where do you see the brand being in 3-5 years?
LB: We have a pretty aggressive growth plan that sees us, at a minimum, doubling in size each year for the next 3-5 years. The demand for what we are doing continues to grow each year and we are excited to bring our business to more communities across the country.
FC: Tell me all about your franchising opportunities. Who are the ideal candidates? How do you equip and train them? What are the investment costs?
LB: We look for people who are passionate about health and wellness and passionate about helping people. It’s more than just wanting to own a business; it’s about having personal and emotional connections to what we offer. The ideal candidate has a professional background in health and wellness, passion for serving others and wants to help their communities improve their wellbeing. Belief in the services and benefits is also vital; most of our franchisees started out as customers.
What’s attractive about franchising with Perspire is the minimal labor, simple business model and there is also no special licensing or certifications required.
Perspire is also the fastest growing infrared sauna studio with state-of-the-art technology and advanced therapy lighting. I think our 11-year track record is impressive, and due to the nature of infrared sauna therapy, our business model is pandemic resistant. The wellness industry was booming last year and forecasting in that vertical continues to show rapid upward progression.
With strong revenues and a membership model, our business model is simple yet effective, which is intriguing to potential franchisees. The cost of investment is $370,920 to $458,490.
FC: If someone is interested in franchising with Perspire, where can they go for more information?
LB: They can go to perspiresaunastudio.com to learn more or visit our Instagram account @perspiresaunastudio. I recommend anyone who may just be even mildly interested in learning more about infrared sauna therapy to check out our website because we have some great info. There’s so much there to learn about what we do at Perspire, whether you’re curious about using infrared or interested in starting a Perspire of your own.
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