Question Worth the investment?

[Yegboy]

Saw an ad on Kijiji about a MP on sale. Is it worth the investment?
I don't have experience in managing a SPA or a MP, but will hire someone with experience. I have experience with other businesses and have been successful in the past venturing into new line of business.

Kijiji - Buy, Sell & Save with Canada's #1 Local Classifieds

Visit Kijiji Classifieds to buy, sell, or trade almost anything! New and used items, cars, real estate, jobs, services, vacation rentals and more virtually anywhere.

www.kijiji.ca

 

[Paul007]

I saw this too and I was interested. I would probably do it if I had the money. I am a hotel manager with diverse and transferable skills that would help me to be successful to operate this business.

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[Yegboy]

I saw this too and I was interested. I would probably do it if I had the money. I am a hotel manager with diverse and transferable skills that would help me to be successful to operate this business.

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Your response begs another question for me. Are there any MPs that are managed by men? When you walk in and see a man behind the counter, I wouldn't feel very comfortable. Just me.
Want to clarify owner is different from manager, just in case.

 

[Paul007]

Right, yes I would feel uncomfortable if I walked in and a man was running the place. Owner/manager who runs the place from an off-site location, or maybe a back office with no visibility to the public. I remember back in 2011 I used to frequent platinum Asian spa at 124 and 107 and uses to hang out with the girls sometimes in their staff lounge. The business owner would come in every few days to collect money and check on things but they were never really on site. They had cameras to watch the place (outside of the rooms) and left the girls to manage/run the place themselves. I would imagine a similar setup for this place.

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[Yegboy]

Right, yes I would feel uncomfortable if I walked in and a man was running the place. Owner/manager who runs the place from an off-site location, or maybe a back office with no visibility to the public. I remember back in 2011 I used to frequent platinum Asian spa at 124 and 107 and uses to hang out with the girls sometimes in their staff lounge. The business owner would come in every few days to collect money and check on things but they were never really on site. They had cameras to watch the place (outside of the rooms) and left the girls to manage/run the place themselves. I would imagine a similar setup for this place.

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Thanks Tyguy27. That's a better way to manage than being on site.

 

[Yegboy]

Anyone been to this place "Massage Extra & Wellness Center"?

Searching for the name brings lot of results as it's got the "extra" in it .

Any feedback about the place and services are appreciated. I could give you a discount in future .

 

[Wills_willie]

49,500 does seem reasonable for all you get, just step in and it's ready to go. How does one go about hiring the staff. Especially if you want to provide the "extras". Hmmmmmm

 

[Sackattack]

It is the place across from Delsol I think.
I saw signs with name in area they stick in the grass before shut down.
Will need the extra to competition.

 

[Yegboy]

Found a thread about the place. Not very promising, based on the feedback.

Announcement - Massage Extra & Wellness Centre

OMG! was misled by the address and mixed up an existing place with a new place. Thanks for pointing out that gentlemen. I will take my lumps. New place across the street from Del Sol. Their address is so similar I mixed them up. Completely non chalant building that until now, have ignored for...

massageplanet.net

 

[Paul007]

Yeah... So maybe they were not successful, but that's part of the job as new management to get it off the ground with good staff and all to bring it up to the level where it needs to be

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[Rubmegood]

Not the first for this forum. It was tossed around a few years back- "What if we all got together and opened our own joint?"
What the heck! If you got the skills to manage/operate something like this, you guys should DO it! Like they say- the best time to invest is when the market is the lowest. And that's a pretty damn nice price! And you guys know who and where to recruit girls and where to advertise!

 

[Paul007]

I wish I had the capital or access to the raising the capital to take it over. Would need the purchase price plus extra to do improvements are renovations, hiring staff and so on... Should I start a GoFundMe page? Haha

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[Albertaman]

Purchase prices are deceiving. What exactly is one purchasing? Is there any goodwill, any repeat customers? Hard assets? Permits? It's not as if you are buying a reputation, or a franchise. What would it take to start up a massage business of similar size from scratch? Would you want to do it in the same area of the city? Would it make better sense to own 3 locations at various parts of the city, and have staff rotate between locations, while providing consistency in services, amenities, hygiene, ambience and customer experience? I think that with professional management, massage places could do much better in cultivating repeat, and more valuable clientele, even in difficult times. But if buying someone else's failure, better ask good questions. If a very experienced and trustworthy management and operating group ever got into setting up a chain of massage spas, I think there would be no shortage of silent investors like myself. I will invest but am not interested in the day to day operations. Mind you, there is some competition for people like us, ownership wise, twice removed. Also known as the Triads.


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[JAV4fun]

Purchase prices are deceiving. What exactly is one purchasing? Is there any goodwill, any repeat customers? Hard assets? Permits? It's not as if you are buying a reputation, or a franchise. What would it take to start up a massage business of similar size from scratch? Would you want to do it in the same area of the city? Would it make better sense to own 3 locations at various parts of the city, and have staff rotate between locations, while providing consistency in services, amenities, hygiene, ambience and customer experience? I think that with professional management, massage places could do much better in cultivating repeat, and more valuable clientele, even in difficult times. But if buying someone else's failure, better ask good questions. If a very experienced and trustworthy management and operating group ever got into setting up a chain of massage spas, I think there would be no shortage of silent investors like myself. I will invest but am not interested in the day to day operations. Mind you, there is some competition for people like us, ownership wise, twice removed. Also known as the Triads.


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From my understanding that the spa needs to have RMT with their CRMTA or NHPC in order they allowed to work at a massage spa. Open is easy, but staffing is tough and for most spa the owners have their RMT licenses to survive. Don't take the risk and save your assets for something better.

 

[Yegboy]

From my understanding that the spa needs to have RMT with their CRMTA or NHPC in order they allowed to work at a massage spa. Open is easy, but staffing is tough and for most spa the owners have their RMT licenses to survive. Don't take the risk and save your assets for something better.

Thanks for the input. Have been doing some research and found RMTs play a big role in running the center and have to trust and depend on them. They could make it break the business.

 

[sleeker]

I’d purchase this. The only problem is finding the right people to work there. I’m sure most spas now just find new girls through word of mouth.

 

[Guy2013]

The bottom line is not all massage places are gold mines. This one didn't make it, was it because of lousy service, poor locations, or who knows.

 

[Albertaman]

I’d purchase this. The only problem is finding the right people to work there. I’m sure most spas now just find new girls through word of mouth.

'The only problem' ? That's a massive problem.



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[Guy2013]

In my years in business I have seen many instances of individuals buying existing businesses they had no experience in or fully understood. Some survived, many didn’t. I witnessed many good businesses run into the ground despite the best intentions of the new owners. Even worse we’re the times when an inexperienced individual bought a failing business with the intention of “turning it around”. Let’s face it, no one buys or starts a business with the intention of failing, everyone thinks they know better than the last or the other guy.

As a potential buyer do you have any understanding of the behind the scenes operations of a massage studio?
Licensing, breakdown of massage fees, etc.

 

[distinguished.gentleman]

Purchase prices are deceiving. What exactly is one purchasing? Is there any goodwill, any repeat customers? Hard assets? Permits? It's not as if you are buying a reputation, or a franchise. What would it take to start up a massage business of similar size from scratch? Would you want to do it in the same area of the city? Would it make better sense to own 3 locations at various parts of the city, and have staff rotate between locations, while providing consistency in services, amenities, hygiene, ambience and customer experience? I think that with professional management, massage places could do much better in cultivating repeat, and more valuable clientele, even in difficult times. But if buying someone else's failure, better ask good questions. If a very experienced and trustworthy management and operating group ever got into setting up a chain of massage spas, I think there would be no shortage of silent investors like myself. I will invest but am not interested in the day to day operations. Mind you, there is some competition for people like us, ownership wise, twice removed. Also known as the Triads.


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Just to add a couple of points to Albertaman's great notes. No financial institution will look at extending a loan, or establishing a Line of Credit to a buyer/group without financial statements, proof of assets, or a lot of cash input. In most cases with a new business, they would definitely require a personal guarantee ( so you'd usually put your house up as collateral). Unfortunately, it sounds like the business has only been running for a short period of time, so if you want an accountant to review their business history to give you a valuation, there's not enough information there to warrant a review. They usually like to see 3 years of financial statement. So you would be buying on curb appeal only. I don't want to bum anyone out, but these are a few safeguards that you'd have to go through just to protect yourself from possibly making a bad decision.

If you decided that this is the type of business you'd like to get involved in, I'd suggest you talk to a seasoned manager of an existing massage business that is interested in becoming a managing partner for share opportunities, and percentage of earnings. It would take a bit of legwork. In other words, if you don't know much about the business you're starting, you'd better hire someone that does. I owned a construction business for 35 years that dealt with building new business ventures, and maintaining existing businesses. I saw a number of them fail in the first few years. By the same token, most did great

I also agree strongly with ABman alluding to the Triads. Personally, I have no information regarding them, but there is a dark side to the asian mp's that you'd want to be knowledgeable about. Akin to large construction companies in Canada being wary about working in Quebec with regards to mafia influence